Brian Gainor
Founder, Partnership Activation, and Director, Strategy and Analytics, Freshwire
Sports industry idol? To be honest, I truly admire the careers and passions of all the Partnership Activation Rising Stars, a group that I started that includes future leaders making a difference in the sports industry. If there’s anyone, I’d probably focus on them. I don’t really have a single individual that I guess I really aspire to. Favourite franchise/team/ athlete/brand in sport? As a graduate of the University of Florida I’m a huge Gators fan. In the world of sports business, I’m a huge fan of Manchester City. They’ve been struggling a bit the last couple of weeks but hopefully they can turn some things around. Brands, I’m a huge fan of what Vitamin Water does, as well as Chipotle and Chick-Fil-A. They’re the three brands that I’m a huge fan of.
Age: 29 Location: Milwaukee, USA Education: BA in business marketing from the University of Florida followed by an MBA and an MA in business and sports administration from Ohio University
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rian Gainor’s awardwinning blog and newsletter, Partnership Activation, won him fans across the industry. Having worked in PR with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then NFL Europe, he launched his bestpractice blog just before joining GMR Marketing in May 2007. At GMR, Gainor managed numerous consumer sports sponsorships, including Lowe’s various multi-million dollar partnerships, as well as, latterly, Comcast’s digital work in football. Partnership Activation has also added Partnership Activation Rising Stars, a scheme designed to recognise up-and-coming sports executives and encourage them to network together. In July this year, Gainor took up a new role at Freshwire, a joint venture between
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What his nominators said about him: “It is seemingly on a weekly basis that I’m receiving a request from Brian to speak at some industry event or another, as he has strategically leveraged his experience to be considered an industry thought-leader.” GMR Marketing and Fleishman-Hillard. Gainor is an increasingly frequent speaker at sports business conferences. Landmark moment of your career so far? From a personal standpoint, going through the Ohio University Sports administration programme really allowed me to build a foundation and a network for me to have a successful career in sports. From a professional standpoint I’d say the launch of Freshwire is game-changing. As teams and brands alike realise the need to position themselves more so as media companies and produce content on a regular basis, we’re delivering the content strategy and creation and syndication solutions for them.
Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time? I’d say leading a successful sports and content consulting practice, working alongside others that inspire me and raising a great family. One piece of advice for someone looking to start out in the industry? I always share six key pointers: think of yourself as a brand, build relationships, understand the industry, get experience, learn every day and do the little things that make a big difference. iPhone, Blackberry, or Android? iPhone. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Foursquare? Facebook for personal use, Twitter for professional use. Moët or Bud? Honestly neither. I’m a big fan of local Milwaukee craft beers these days but not a fan of either of those. One particular line you use to close a deal? I always say: ‘Think and act differently. Come up with that next game-changing idea that others in the industry aren’t even thinking about yet.’