MediaCom Sport was set up in 2011 to give the agency’s clients sponsorship strategies, rights negotiation, activation and measurement. The new Asia hub is the latest in a recent spate of expansion, which included launching offices in UK, Russia, and Germany with plans to open in the US and Brazil later this year.
MediaCom Sport Singapore will be headed up by Jin Wei Toh, the former managing director of Parallel Media Group Asia, a sports-marketing and event-management company.
Prior to PMG Asia, Toh held a series of executive level positions at IMG Group and has also worked at IQPC Worldwide. At IMG, he led the development of golf’s Asian Tour as vice president and director of sales.
Over the coming months, Toh will be looking to recruit more people into his team. MediaCom didn't divulge the potential size of the team.
Recently, MediaCom secured the rights to represent sports legend Pelé and currently works with clients such as Dell, Allianz, Shell and Proctor & Gamble. It is also the exclusive commercial partner for the world’s first electric powered racing series, Formula E.
MediaCom Sport will work closely with GroupM’s ESP division across the region to ensure best practices and full integration with the GroupM network.
“Asia is a fantastic, growing region with a young, digitally enabled consumer audience," said Marcus John, global head of sport at Mediacom Worldwide. "Building strong relationships with the sports they care about will enable brands to connect and engage much more powerfully than traditional advertising.“
About Toh’s appointment, John said it was his success at establishing new events and new opportunities for sponsorship that clinched the job.
“During my time in sports marketing I’ve seen many brands fail to take maximum advantage of sponsorship rights," Toh said. "Aligning these rights within the media agency ensures that they become part of every message to create a truly integrated communication.”