Jeff Bennett's Blog

Big news today in sports marketing out of New York.

Tony Ponturo, said to be the “most powerful man in sports,” due to his long tenure as the head of Anheuser-Bush sports marketing, has agreed to invest and become Chairman of Leverage Agency.  Leverage Agency was founded just three years ago and has been run by one of the hardest working and creative marketing minds I have ever come to know, Ben Sturner.

Ben and I worked together at Lycos and then at Bennett Global Marketing Group.  We worked successfully with many brands on creative sports and entertainment sponsorship deals, including Dunkin’ Donuts, Reebok, Anheuser-Busch, Gillette, BMG and many others.  We were fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Tony when he was at Anheuser-Busch, which is the seed for today’s big news.

Brand and marketing budgets are under siege today with the recession.  The auto manufacturers are the biggest sports advertisers so this brings more dark clouds to sports and entertainment marketing.  A key for success in marketing today is knowing thy audience, leveraging multiple channels/platforms for promotion and driving action (activation) for the Brand.  Both Ben and Tony are experts at this based on their backgrounds and through their vast experience…these guys get it!

Ben and Tony shared their vision on the state of the sports and entertainment marketing with Darren Rovell of CNBC yesterday and a summary of the conversation is here.  Darren is an innovative reporter who has been tracking the business of sports for many years first at ESPN and now CNBC.

This combination under one roof at Leverage Agency will be a dynamo for brands and the sports and entertainment industry from my perspective. Congrats to Ben and Tony for forming the “Dream Team” at Leverage Agency!