The growth and strategy behind GMR’s international business is the focus of part two of our conversation with GMR Marketing Exec VP/Sports Marketing Mike Boykin, who visited the SBJ/SBD Studio last week. Boykin acknowledges the company got notice from their clients years ago that they needed more international expertise (“What we learned from our clients is they wanted one agency. They wanted a global agency, they wanted one butt to kick”), he discusses the company’s work leading up to the '12 London Games (“We are entering into stage two of the preparation as it relates to the Olympics for both Visa, P&G and a lot of P&G brands”), what the planning schedule is for activation (“A lot of clients have learned, with the Olympics, is don’t just do it within 20 days of the Games”) and what type of activation consumers can expect to see around the Games (“More in digital, more in social, with still a focus on television, the power of television can’t be denied. … [But] how are we going to make it work at retail? That’s a key point for both P&G and Visa”). Finally, he talks about the company’s growth in markets hosting future international events (“We won’t be in Sochi long-term. Brazil is a much different situation. We will be in Latin America for the next decade, and in a big way”).
View part two of the conversation below, and see part one from Thursday's issue.
