SportsMark

It’s a Summer Olympic year, so SportsMark is front and center executing corporate hospitality programs. Come August, SportsMark will help 15,000 customers for 11 clients navigate the ring roads of Beijing.

SportsMark’s global reach and expertise adds to a portfolio of planning, reliability and ability in helping clients measure the impact of their investments.

“They have a great knowledge base,” said Brice McKeever, Visa’s senior business leader for global sponsorship marketing. “I trust their judgment.” Visa will bring 2,000 key contacts to China.

David Lafrennie, The Hartford’s director of sports marketing, for whom SportsMark manages NCAA properties, said: “Sometimes in this business the plates are flying around and flames are flying up back there in the kitchen. Then, the food comes out, it’s a beautiful presentation and it tastes great. That’s how I think of [SportsMark]. When it comes to details, they’re all over it.”

Since 1988, SportsMark and corporate hospitality have evolved together. On-site cultural education and serious business information exchanges or product introductions are now components. For instance, SportsMark is already planning Nortel’s product showcasing at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

“We grew up on the operations and logistics,” said SportsMark CEO Jan Katzoff. “Now, we’re much more on the strategic marketing side.”

SportsMark wants to be viewed as staying fresh for clients. “It’s not easy,” chief marketing officer Keith Bruce admitted, but, somehow, they keep plates flying and customers sated from Atlanta to Athens.