Sports Marketing Strategy III

We had another great class tonight … I love teaching at Georgetown University …. especially when the students are engaged, attentive and interactive. This is the fourth year of teaching the Sports Marketing Strategy class to seniors in the McDonough School of Business.

The focus of the first half of tonight’s class was a discussion of Super Bowl commercials. We showed a number of the best and most classic spots of all time, including the Apple McIntosh commercial (which many experts consider the greatest TV commercial of all time) and the Coca Cola / Mean Joe Greene spot (which might be the most popular commercial of all time). I asked the class to intently watch the commercial spots of this coming Sunday’s Super Bowl (so we can drill down on the marketing and branding messages behind the spots).

Then we went through our expectations for the HBS case studies for the semester. The first one we will review is the Real Madrid case, which will be due next Monday.

For the second half of the class, the guest speaker was one of my best friends in the sports business, Billy Stone of CBS Sports. He was outstanding in tonight’s class! His enthusiasm, professionalism and thorough presentation on how to build and program an event was superb. In this instance, he discussed how they developed the “Collegiate Nationals,” the X Games version for college athletics for College Sports TV / CBS Sports.

Then, as is the usual tradition with the guest speakers, we headed over to the legendary Tombs for a quick meal and catch-up. Mondays are long days … I leave the house at 7:30 am and don’t get home till past 10:00 pm … but it’s well worth it, especially when you have a class of outstanding students.

Jimmy Lynn

Jimmy Lynn, a veteran of more than 25 years in the Sports and Entertainment sectors, is one of the pioneers of the Digital Sports space and is regarded as one of the leading relationship brokers and connectors in the sports industry. He is a co-founder and Vice-President of Kiswe Mobile, a interactive mobile video start-up focused on bringing a rich viewing experience for live media content such as sports and entertainment events to mobile devices. Previously, Lynn was the managing partner of JLynn Associates, a global strategic advisory firm focused on sports-related digital media, marketing, and retail for a diverse set of clients including teams, athletes, leagues and associations, media outlets and other businesses. Prior to founding JLynn Associates in 2009, Lynn served as Vice-President, Strategic Development and Partnerships at AOL, where he and his team were responsible for the strategic development and account management of AOL Sports’ strategic partnerships and organizations including the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, MLB, WNBA, NHL, PGA Tour, ABC Sports, CBS Sports, HBO Sports, Sports Illustrated, Turner Sports, NFL Players Association, WWF, The Sporting News, STATS, SportsTicker, etc. During his 14-year career at AOL, he was instrumental in developing AOL Sports into one of the leading global sports destination internet sites. Lynn also served as a Vice-President, Diversity Partnerships and Strategic Relationships for AOL's Office of Diversity and Inclusion. In this role, he managed AOL's employee affinity networks and partnerships with community service organizations. Lynn also was a member of the Time Warner Sports Forum, which included executives from Sports Illustrated, HBO Sports, Turner Sports, AOL Sports, Time Warner Cable, Time 4 Media and Warner Brothers Licensing. The group focused on cross-company sports initiatives for Time Warner. Previously, Lynn was the Advertising Manager for Home Team Sports, the CBS-owned regional sports network serving the Mid-Atlantic Region (TV partner of the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals) and the Promotion Manager for WLTT-FM, the CBS-owned and operated station in Washington, D.C. Lynn has been actively involved in philanthropy and community service over the past 15 years. Lynn was one of the 2006 recipients of Time Warner’s most prestigious public-service prize, the “Andrew Heiskell Community Service” award. This award is given to employees who exhibit outstanding leadership and accomplishment in voluntary public service, human rights and/or equal opportunity efforts. Lynn also was recognized in 2008 by Greater DC Cares as one of Washington DC's top 10 rising leaders in philanthropy; as one of City Year's "Idealists of the Year"; and by Year Up as an "Urban Empowerment" award winner. In 2010, he received an award from Washington, DC Mayor Fenty for outstanding community service. Lynn is a board member of the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy Lynn is a full-time faculty member of Georgetown University's Sports Industry Management graduate program, where he also serves as the "Special Advisor." Lynn received the "Dean's Outstanding Service" award in 2010 and the “Faculty Service” award in 2014. He is also a member of the Adjunct Faculty in Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. He has a B.A. in Public Communication and an M.B.A. in Marketing from American University.

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