B
orn and raised near Cleveland, Jessica Giordano had never been west of the Mississippi River until she landed a job with a San Francisco-based sports marketing firm out of college.
Jessica Giordano
GMR MARKETING,
VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT CONSULTING
A couple of days into a trip to Rio for the Olympics this year, Giordano reflected on the path that began when she met that firm’s founder, Jan Katzoff, at a speaker series while she was in school.
“I could have never in my wildest dreams imagined operating in this global role that I have been in throughout my career,” said Giordano, vice president of global sports and entertainment consulting for GMR Marketing, which worked with 15 clients in Rio. “Not only have I seen the world, but I’ve learned so much. … I’m proud that I’ve been able to continue to evolve but without ever taking a 180. I’ve always built on my previous experience to continue to make things better and better.”
A soccer player while at Mercyhurst University, Giordano spent almost four years as an account manager at SportsMark Management Group before leaving for graduate school at Ohio University, where she built both her skills and network before returning to the firm in business development. Her first major assignment was on the ground in Cape Town, South Africa, for the 2010 World Cup, where she hired and managed about 100 students to staff events for sponsor Visa. When parent Omnicom merged SportsMark and GMR in 2013, Giordano’s role became one that included both strategic consulting and event hospitality.
“Every step along the way has informed the next step,” said Giordano, who recently led the naming-rights activation strategy for client U.S. Bank at the Minnesota Vikings’ new stadium. “I’m better at consulting because I’ve lived the other side. I know what the teams on the ground are experiencing. So when we’re developing platforms and putting forth recommendations, we’re setting our clients up for success.”
— Bill King
