U.K.-based sports marketing agency Synergy is setting up shop in the United States.
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CROW
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Synergy CEO Tim Crow said the 30-year-old sports agency’s first office outside the United Kingdom will be within and under the aegis of the New York City offices of Engine Group, the U.K. agency’s holding company, which was acquired last year by Chicago-based private equity firm Lake Capital.
Synergy’s U.S. operation will open with Standard Life Investments as its flagship client, and Synergy will leverage Standard Life’s Ryder Cup sponsorship.
Crow noted that Synergy has long operated in the United States, both for American brands like Coca-Cola and for offshore companies leveraging sponsorships in this country. But at a time of massive agency consolidation, Synergy officials are hoping to differentiate with an offering that’s not obligated to sell associated products from its agency network.
“Forty cents of every sponsorship dollar in the world comes from the U.S., so we have to be here,” said Crow, highlighting Synergy’s leading capabilities as creative, digital, experiential, logistics and public relations. “We see a lot of [U.S.] agencies brokering sponsorships, talent and media, and trying to consult with brands at the same time, and we know how brands distrust that. Six out of 10 clients just use their ad agency’s lead. We’re trying to offer an alternative that’s brand-facing.”
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Synergy’s creative efforts include the “mini-Mini” cars used to deliver field equipment during the 2012 London Games.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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Synergy is renowned for its breakthrough creative efforts, including putting Jack Nicklaus’ face on a U.K. 5-pound note as part of a Ryder Cup campaign for RBS, and having 39-inch-long radio-controlled “mini-Mini” cars deliver javelins, hammers, shots and discuses to athletes competing in the 2012 London Olympics. It expects to quickly staff up to 30 employees through both hiring and acquisition.
Heading the new American unit as CEO will be Dominic Curran, who will report to Engine Group N.A. CEO Rick Eiserman.
“For so many clients, sports marketing does not have borders anymore,” said Curran, the former global sport director for Bacardi. “Being able to operate globally is critical, and we want to do it in a way that starts with creative and is rights-neutral, talent-neutral and media-neutral. There’s just too much of a paid-media mindset.”
Synergy clients include BMW, Coca-Cola, Guinness and MasterCard, working on events such as the FIFA World Cup, the Olympics and the Rugby World Cup.
