 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary of Interpublic Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| Headquarters | Stamford, CT |
Number of locations | 50 |
| Website | www |
Octagon is the sports and entertainment content marketing arm of the Interpublic Group of Companies. [1]
| | |
| Company type | Subsidiary of Interpublic Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| Headquarters | Stamford, CT |
Number of locations | 50 |
| Website | www |
Octagon is the sports and entertainment content marketing arm of the Interpublic Group of Companies. [1]
Octagon was founded as Advantage International by former executives of the tennis marketing agency ProServ on April 1, 1983. Advantage was headquartered in Washington, D.C. It has been owned by Interpublic since 1997 and has operated under the Octagon brand name since 1999.
In 1970, Donald Dell, Frank Craighill, Lee Fentress, and Ray Benton founded the Washington, D.C., law firm Dell, Craighill, Fentress & Benton. [2]
Craighill became Managing Director in the 1990s. [3] In 1997, Interpublic Group completed the merger of Advantage and other agencies to form Octagon, overseeing athletes from Steffi Graf of WTA to Moses Malone of the NBA. [4]
Octagon and the Badminton World Federation developed a rule that women badminton players must wear dresses or skirts "to ensure attractive presentation." It was included in the official rulebook in 2011, but was dropped before it was supposed to go into effect in 2012. [5] [6]
On April 5, 2021, John Shea was named CEO of Octagon Sports & Entertainment Network (OSEN).
Phil de Picciotto serves as President of Octagon, overseeing its Talent + Properties business.
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is an American publicly traded advertising company. The company consists of five major networks: FCB, IPG Mediabrands, McCann Worldgroup, MullenLowe Group and Marketing Specialists, as well as several independent specialty agencies in the areas of public relations, sports marketing, talent representation and healthcare. It is one of the "Big Four" agency companies, alongside WPP, Publicis, and Omnicom. Phillippe Krakowsky became the company's CEO on January 1, 2021.
Donald L. Dell is an American sports attorney, writer, commentator, and former tennis player. Dell was the first sports agent in professional tennis, and represented Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl during the golden age of pro tennis. He was also the founder of Professional Services (ProServ), one of the nation's first sports marketing firms established in 1970.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member nations. In 1981 the IBF merged with the World Badminton Federation, and on 24 September 2006, at the Extraordinary General Meeting in Madrid, the name of the organization was changed to Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Professional Services Inc., (ProServ) was one of the first sports management firms. Initially focused on tennis, the company would grow to become among the world's largest sports marketing, athlete management, event production, and TV companies.
Weber Shandwick is a marketing communications firm formed in 2001 by merging the Weber Group, Shandwick International and BSMG. The company is part of global agency network Interpublic Group (IPG), as part of the parent company's IPG DXTRA operating division.
Jack Morton Worldwide is an American multinational brand experience agency. It is a subsidiary of The Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG). The company's current chairman and CEO is Josh McCall.
David B. Falk is an American sports agent who primarily works with basketball players in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He began his career representing professional tennis players for Donald Dell's ProServ and is best known for representing sports icon Michael Jordan for the entirety of Jordan's career. Besides Jordan, Falk has represented more than 100 other NBA players, and is generally considered to be the most influential player agent the NBA has seen. During the peak years of Falk's career in the 1990s, he was often considered the second-most powerful person in the NBA behind Commissioner David Stern, and in 2000 he had at least one client on all but two NBA teams. He was listed among the "100 Most Powerful People in Sports" for 12 straight years from 1990 to 2001 by The Sporting News, and was also named one of the Top 50 Marketers in the United States by Advertising Age in 1995.
George Washington High School is a public high school in the Somerton section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, near Bustleton. The school serves Northeast Philadelphia, including Somerton, Bustleton, and Fox Chase. Named after the first president of the United States, George Washington, it is located on Bustleton Ave. Washington had an enrollment of 1,875 in 2012.
Trousers are a staple of historical and modern fashion. Throughout history, the role of trousers is a constant change for women. The first appearance of trousers in recorded history is among nomadic steppe-people in Western Europe. Steppe people were a group of nomads of various different ethnic groups that lived in the Eurasian grasslands. Archaeological evidence suggests that men and women alike wore trousers in that cultural context. However, for much of modern history, the use of trousers has been restricted to men. This norm was enforced in many regions due to social customs and laws. There are, however, many historical cases of women wearing trousers in defiance of these norms such as the 1850s women rights movement, comfort, freedom of movement, fashion, disguise, attempts to evade the gender pay gap, and attempts to establish an empowered public identity for women. Especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, the customs and laws restricting this manner of dress have relaxed dramatically, reflecting a growing acceptance and normalisation of the practice.
The District of Columbia has a mayor–council government that operates under Article One of the United States Constitution and the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The Home Rule Act devolves certain powers of the United States Congress to the local government, which consists of a mayor and a 13-member council. However, Congress retains the right to review and overturn laws created by the council and intervene in local affairs.
Larry Weber is an American entrepreneur and the founder, chairman & CEO of Racepoint Global, a communications agency headquartered in Boston, MA. He has served as CEO of both mid-and large-scale companies, and has founded several other public relations and interactive marketing agencies including The Weber Group, ThunderHouse and W2. His clients have included AT&T, Boston Scientific, Coca-Cola, Deere, General Electric, General Motors, IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Lotus, Microsoft, Panasonic, SAP, and Verizon Wireless.
Frank Craighill was one of the founding partners of the sports marketing firm ProServ. ProServ was created in 1970 in Washington, D.C. by attorney and former professional tennis player and U.S. Davis Cup captain Donald Dell and Craighill. Their first clients were Dell’s Davis Cup teammates Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith. At its peak, ProServ represented more than 200 professional athletes and coaches, including Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, and Jimmy Connors. The company also managed and promoted professional sporting events and created ProServ Television to handle sports television production and rights representation.
Rogers & Cowan is a global marketing and public relations agency. A division of the Interpublic Group of Companies, the company is based in Los Angeles, with offices in New York, Miami, and London.
Universal McCann (UM) is an international media and advertising agency. UM is a member of Interpublic Group, operating under the IPG Mediabrands branch. Some of its regional offices are known as Universal Media rather than Universal McCann but are still generally all known as UM.
Imogen Bankier is a businesswoman and former badminton player from Scotland. After starting playing the sport at the age of 9, Bankier won the national championships at every age level from Under 17 upwards. The highlight of her professional career was reaching the final of the mixed doubles at the 2011 World Championships in Wembley, London. She and her partner Chris Adcock were defeated in the match by the Chinese team of Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei.
Jeffrey Ajluni is the senior vice president, corporate partnerships, for the Major League Soccer club D.C. United in Washington, D.C., having joined the team in September 2021. Ajluni leads all partnership development and partner activation and services for the team. Prior to joining DC United he was senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development for the US Travel Association in Washington, D.C. Ajluni oversaw all new business growth for the association, with a focus on developing partnerships and alliances that strategically benefit the U.S. travel industry.
MikeWorldWide is a public relations firm. The company works in public relations and marketing, technology, digital and social media marketing, public affairs and government relations, corporate communications, healthcare, sustainability, and visual branding. Michael W. Kempner is the company’s founder and CEO. The firm's corporate headquarters is in East Rutherford, New Jersey; the firm's operating headquarters is in New York City.
Gary R. Stevenson is an American sports marketing executive. A graduate of Duke University and George Washington University, he helped start The Golf Channel, developed the business plan for the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and launched Pac-12 Networks. He built a consulting firm, OnSport, that crafted the Wachovia Championship and put together the NASCAR Nationwide Series. After 10 years, he sold OnSport to Wasserman Media Group for a reported $25 million. Since 2013, he has been president and managing director of MLS Business Ventures, a division of Major League Soccer. Stevenson has also served as an independent director for Kilroy Realty Corporation, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, since 2014.
The advertising industry is the global industry of public relations and marketing companies, media services, and advertising agencies. Several large advertising agencies, including WPP plc, Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, Interpublic and Dentsu, are among the industry's largest. It is a global, multibillion-dollar business that connects manufacturers and consumers. The industry ranges from nonprofit organizations to Fortune 500 companies.
Lisa Ellis is an American businessperson and financier. Starting her career in management roles at the Pepsi-Cola Company, Reebok International, and Sony Music's Columbia Records, in 2003 she became Sony Music's vice president of strategic marketing and music licensing. She became president of Sony Urban Music in 2005 and executive vice president of Sony Music Label Group in 2006. She then became an operating partner at the investment firm Fireman Capital Partners in 2009, also serving on the board of directors for several Fireman portfolio companies. Ellis currently operates Box Three Eight Eight Management and is the managing partner of Provenance Ventures, a holding company for Provenance Media and Provenance Films. From 2006 until 2009 she was named to Billboard's “Most Powerful [20] Women In Music” list, ranking 3 in 2006 and 2007.
