The regional agency is led by MD Ben Heyhoe-Flint out of Singapore, who joins after running his own sponsorship outfit, Podium. According to Heyhoe-Flint, PSM intends to bridge the current divide between sponsorship and ROI, by providing independent, media-neutral strategy, along with a range of evaluation tools. "We're trying to use evidence and creativity to build strategies in sponsorship," explained Heyhoe-Flint. "A lot of brands are just slapping a badge on something and not leveraging it."
PSM Asia will cover Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, and will roll out a China office in the near future. In particular, RedCard CEO David Mayo believes PSM will form a perfect fit with his agency's 'immersion' approach to marketing.
"When you're inside sports you know people are engaged," said Mayo. "At RedCard, we can set up the property, and exploit the opportunity." PSM is also aligned with Sports Marketing Surveys SEA, an independent agency which specialises in quanititative and qualitative research of the sports and leisure industry.