A North East media business is helping a global sports brand break into the US, after scooping a deal to handle its American advertising campaigns.
Sunderland based Smart Media – part of the Smart group of companies – has embarked on a media buying campaign for international brand STATSports, a world-leading GPS tracker and sports performance analysis business that counts England heroes Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Harry Maguire among its ambassadors.
The Belfast-headquartered firm has opened an office in Chicago and is targeting significant growth in the US, having signed up to a number of high-profile deals with sporting organisations and athletes across the pond.
The company – which has worked with Smart Media in the UK for over a year – has now extended the media buying agency’s contract to include deals in the US that will support it in its bid to crack this lucrative growth-market.
Smart Media has embarked on full-service planning and media buying for campaigns that will see STATSports commit significant investment to grow its reach and brand in America.
Mark Clancey, managing director of Smart Media, said: “We have formed a strong partnership with STATSports in the UK, and we’re delighted that they have trusted us enough to allow us to support them in the US, which is new ground for us – as it is for them.
“This US deal will enable us to grow our business, developing strengths in targeting markets we haven’t previously explored, so we’re excited about this campaign’s ability not only to grow STATSports’ business, but to develop a new niche for Smart Media. Ultimately, what we do at Smart is support our clients with strategic, insightful campaign planning, and we’re applying that same principle in the US for STATSports, working with a partner on the ground in Manhattan who knows the market well and who is ensuring we deliver a well-executed media campaign that meets the objectives of our client.”
The move into US media buying is a new move for Smart Media, but the sports and leisure sector is one Smart has operated in since it was launched in 2019. The firm works with clients including sportswear retailer JD Sports and American Golf among others. As part of STATSports’ global expansion plans, Smart is also planning future campaigns in the Netherlands, Germany and France, and even as far afield as Asia in recent months.
“We are booking TV, out of home, press and radio campaigns around the world now, taking the values that make us a strategic partner to our clients in the UK and rolling them out in the US, Europe and Asia too,” added Mark.
“It’s an exciting step into new territories for us, but we’re delighted to be building our credentials globally, which positions us well to support brands with international ambitions and reach, who are looking for a partner they can trust to deliver impactful campaigns.”
Smart has booked campaigns with media partners including NBC Sports, ESPN and Paramount Plus for STATSports, aligning advertising to key sporting events in the US calendar that will reach an audience that is interested in its active pursuits.
Ian Forrester, head of marketing at STATSports, said: “We have worked closely with Smart Media for over a year now and have a fantastic relationship with the team.
“They have fantastic media knowledge, have delivered campaigns with tangible results and have also created new ways of trading, which deliver high value back to our business.
“We have grown successfully with them in the UK and look forward to growing with them further, as we expand our marketing across the globe.”
Smart Media is one of four core parts of the Smart group of companies, comprising Smart Outdoor, Smart Vision and newly-launched Smart Communications, alongside Smart Sanitiser, which has also been set up to support clients with innovative new advertising solutions that double-up as sanitisation stations, which will be one enduring legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Smart business was launched by North East businessman Mark Catterall, and is based out of the Evolve Business Centre in Sunderland, serving some of the UK’s best known brands including Newcastle United strip sponsor Castore.
