John Shea has been named Global President, Marketing and Events, Octagon Worldwide. Octagon released a statement last week announcing the promotion of Shea. In his new role, Shea will oversee all U.S. and international marketing specialty groups for the agency, which include Brand Marketing, Property Consulting, Experiential Activation, Creative, Content, Production and Digital Marketing for more than 40 major brands and clients, including Budweiser, Cisco, Delta, General Mills, LinkedIn, Mastercard, MGM, Shell, Taco Bell, The Home Depot, UPS and WWE.
As Global President, Shea will lead a team of more than 1,000 employees across 50 offices in 22 countries. He will be responsible for overarching strategy and management of the agency’s entire client portfolio.
Shea will report to Rick Dudley, Chairman and CEO, Octagon Sports and Entertainment Network. “The contributions John has made to Octagon and our valuable clients over the past 25 years is immeasurable, and we’re proud to have him leading our Global Marketing and Event divisions,” said Dudley. “Octagon’s many decades of success across the globe has always been based on providing the highest level of work and exceeding expectations. John leads by example and epitomizes those guiding principles. His experience, insight, creativity, and incredible leadership will continue to guarantee our clients the best marketing and event strategies and service in the industry.”
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work more closely with our talented Octagon Marketing and Events teams across the globe, and continue to advance the business goals of our incredible clients,” said Shea. “We have a tremendous opportunity to build upon the great work of our Octagon teams around the world, to further differentiate our global service offerings, as well as expand our footprint and reach, to the benefit of our clients.”
Shea has served as President of Marketing, Americas since 2016. He managed all efforts for Octagon’s U.S. based Marketing and Event practices, offices and clients. In his new role, Shea will look to expand on his efforts globally, taking Octagon’s international efforts to a new level.
Octagon has realigned the overall global marketing team and promoted additional executives who will report to Shea. Lou Kovacs will become President of Marketing, North America. Jeff Meeson has been appointed Managing Director, Europe. Aykan Azar Becomes Managing Director, APAC, Middle East and Africa. Ben Hartman is moving in to a new role as Chief Client Officer, International.
John’s team influences more than $3 billion in sports sponsorships spending annually.