Octagon
Meredith Kinsman
Senior Vice President, Digital, Octagon
Born: Tulsa, Okla.
Education: University of Connecticut, B.A., marketing
Since joining Octagon in 2015, Meredith Kinsman has utilized two personal tools to help her transform the company’s digital strategy: a productivity planner and a focus timer.
What’s the need? For Kinsman, it’s a way to stay ahead in an always-changing marketplace.
“What we do is some of the most logistically complicated things that any agency could pull off. We’re at the World Cup, we’re at the Olympics, we’re at MLB All-Star,” she said. “Our organization has really adapted to the capabilities that are required to execute digital marketing in this day and age.”
Kinsman in the last two years developed a global social activation plan for Anheuser-Busch InBev around the FIFA World Cup, collaborated on a safe water play campaign with Huggies and Michael Phelps and designed Octagon’s influencer marketing tools to help clients test engagement programs.
In 2018, she led Octagon’s influencer program for the launch of PlayStation’s Spider-Man video game, a campaign that delivered more than 20 million impressions and 1.2 million engagements. Throughout her career, she also has built digital campaigns for brands such as Marriott International and Mastercard.
Kinsman, the mother of a child with special needs, works closely with Autism Speaks by volunteering with fundraising and World Autism Awareness Month and providing sensory-friendly experiences for children at local businesses. — Thomas Leary
Getting to know...
Favorite day-off activity: Hanging out in the backyard with my “boys”: my husband Matt, my son Colton and dog Dale.
Attributes I look for when hiring: Hard skills in digital media, analytics, web and app development, or creative production.
Misperception of working in sports business: It’s all about sports! We spend most of our time focusing on analytics, business outcomes, marketing technologies and creative branding executions.
Proudest professional achievement: Helping Octagon grow its digital capabilities across media buying, influencer marketing and digital sponsorship activation.
Role of sports in social issues: Sports have long been a training ground for core values such as leadership, teamwork, practice and self-discipline. I think sports can have the same role in addressing social issues by instilling values that help our society become better together.
