Steve Martin on Sport, Storytelling and Building a Career in PR
In conversation with Chris Haynes and Sarah Pearce of the CIPR Sports Group, MSQ Sport + Entertainment co-founder Steve Martin brings valuable insight and strong career advice drawn from his stellar career in our latest webinar.
With support from his father and wise words from a mentor, Steve started his PR career before sport was even seen as an ‘industry’ in the UK. And since that first summer job at adidas, he has worked with The All Blacks, Real Madrid and David Beckham, set up two successful agencies, and now drives MSQ Sport + Entertainment with long-term business partner @Jamie Wynne-Morgan.
MSQ Sport + Entertainment co-founder Steve Martin
As he says; “If you can find something you're passionate about, you can wake up in the morning and care about, then it won't feel like a job. Care about it, have an emotional engagement with it, follow your dreams a wee bit, and you can navigate and create chances for yourself because you're so focused on it.”
In our conversation, Steve explains how the principles of story-telling and influencing remain constant whilst the channels, tools and opportunities change and why we are seeing a renaissance in the power of Public Relations.
Among his nuggets:
Technology: “What's changed over the last 5 years is the information and data you've got on your audience, right there at your fingertips; what people are reading, sharing, buying, what they want, what they're watching. The science and data have helped communication.”
Constant curiosity: “I think we've learned hugely from the entertainment industry. And we've learned from the fashion industry; how they create collections, how they tease things, how they work with talent, how they launch things, how the live moment is this big newsworthy global reveal”
Athletes as brands: “The power shift in terms of athletes controlling their own channels, we started to see 10 or 15 years ago in a smaller way, but now there’s this explosion of athletes controlling their own destiny.”
Fresh thinking: “The whole industry has grown and it's wonderful. But with that momentum it needs new talent coming in, new minds coming in, people from so many diverse backgrounds.”
The challenge of noise: “It’s a hard job now for a younger generation - there’s so many channels and so much content out there. It's probably harder to cut through than ever before.
To watch the interview on YouTube, click HERE
To listen to the interview click HERE
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