Octagon Marketing North America Announces Senior Management Promotions and New Assignments

NORWALK, Conn., Nov. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Octagon Marketing North America has announced the promotions of three members of its senior management team and the creation of an internal ideation group. The promotions and the new group, led by Octagon Executive Vice President Woody Thompson, were announced by Jeff Shifrin, President of Octagon Marketing North America. A division of The Interpublic Group of Companies , Octagon is one of the world's leading sports and entertainment content marketing companies.

John Shea, previously Senior Vice President of Octagon's consulting group, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and will now oversee all sponsorship consulting and activation on behalf of Octagon's corporate clients. Jeff Ehrenkranz, a Vice President in the Marketing North America consulting group, has been promoted to Senior Vice President. In addition to managing his current clients, Ehrenkranz will assume responsibility for Music & Entertainment consulting.

"These promotions not only recognize the contributions John and Jeff have made to the success of our clients' sponsorship programs and Octagon's growth in North America, but also further ensure that Octagon remains the leader in the development and implementation of sports and entertainment marketing programs that help brands fully engage their customers," said Shifrin.

Simon Wardle, Ph.D., Vice President in charge of Octagon's research department, has also been promoted to Senior Vice President. "Simon Wardle brings more than 15 years experience in market research and consulting, with an emphasis on the sports marketplace. The Passion Drivers(R) research he created and has conducted in eight countries among more than 20,000 sports fans and music enthusiasts has been an indispensable element of many sponsorship programs," said Shifrin.

Wardle will join Thompson and Gord Lang, Senior Vice President for Business Development, in the evolution and implementation of Octagon's new idea lab -- id8. "As Octagon's creative engine, this group of key senior executives is totally dedicated to providing our clients and prospective clients with key insights based on data-driven analysis of categories and trends," explained Shifrin. "This group will be at the forefront of thinking about sponsorship in new ways while introducing innovative concepts in such areas as promotions, thematics, events and affiliations," he said.

"Our job is to integrate sponsorship platforms of all shapes and sizes with branded promotional ideas," said Thompson. "We've got great people, great strategic thinkers, proprietary insight into fan passion, and our clients have really responded," he said.

Octagon is the world's leader in sports and entertainment marketing with global expertise in consulting, athletes & personalities, event management, property representation, marketing solutions, licensing and merchandising, talent procurement and television production. As part of The Interpublic Group , one of the world's leading organizations comprised of advertising and marketing services agencies, Octagon employs marketing specialists based in major markets on six continents. For further information please visit: http://www.octagon.com/.