NANCY ATUFUNWA NAMED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CLIENT SERVICES, OCTAGON
December 15, 2022
Atufunwa To Oversee Olympic Games, IOC, IPC, and USOPC Focused Partnerships for Octagon Brand Clients
Stamford, Conn. – December 15, 2022 – Octagon announced today that Nancy Atufunwa has been named Senior Vice President, Client Services. In the role, Atufunwa will manage existing and future Olympic and Paralympic-focused partnerships for Octagon brand clients, including Delta Air Lines and others.
Additionally, Atufunwa will oversee a team responsible for the creation, development, and execution of marketing strategies, initiatives, and campaign programs that connect brands with various entities of the overarching Olympic and Paralympic Movement.
“Nancy’s rich experience leveraging Team USA assets and initiatives across multiple sport governing bodies, coupled with her extensive background collaborating with brands and athletes on integrated marketing campaigns make her the perfect executive for this role,” said Lou Kovacs, President, Marketing North America, Octagon. “Her tremendous insights and vision will help us continue to create best-in-class opportunities for our clients to reach consumers and audiences, as we help them engage in efforts for Paris 2024 and begin to build new opportunities surrounding the 2026 Milan and Cortina Games, and 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Atufunwa will report to Woody Thompson, Octagon’s Executive Vice President and veteran marketer, with more than three-decades of Olympic and Paralympic sponsorship experience.
Atufunwa joins Octagon from GOAT Fuel, the energy drink company founded by three-time Super Bowl Champion and NFL Hall of Fame member Jerry Rice, where she most recently served as Head of Partnerships.
Previously, Atufunwa spent four years as Senior Director and Head of Marketing and Partnerships for USA Water Polo, overseeing partnership strategy, merchandising, and brand campaigns, including creating a first-of-its-kind “Water Polo Tough” campaign highlighting the mental toughness of its athletes both in the water and the community. Atufunwa has also held a succession of senior leadership positions, primarily focused on Olympic and Paralympic Marketing among other competencies, at sports marketing agencies MKTG, Learfield, and Endeavor.
Octagon has a long history of working with the IOC, IPC, International Federations, National Olympic Committees, as well as many of the most high-profile and successful Olympians and Paralympians in the world, in the development and management of brand sponsorships and partnerships that celebrate the Olympic Movement and the athletes that collectively help bring the world together. Current agency clients who have partnerships with the IOC, USOPC and other National Olympic Committees include Coca-Cola, Toyota, and Delta Air Lines.
Additionally, Octagon’s Talent + Properties division has been at the forefront of representing and marketing Olympic athletes for more than 25 years, leading the industry with commercializing athlete-driven content, initiatives and properties that successfully maximize the marketability and impact of Olympic athletes. Olympians represented by Octagon include 28-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps, seven-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles, six-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman, and three-time Paralympic medalist Brenna Huckaby, among many others.
ABOUT OCTAGON
Octagon is the preeminent creative, integrated marketing, and talent management agency in global sports and entertainment. The agency creates distinctive marketing campaigns for some of the largest brands and Fortune 500 companies across the globe and represents more than 1,000 of the most prominent and influential athletes, talent, and properties in the world.
With more than 1,000 employees worldwide, based in 50 offices, in 20 countries, Octagon is positioned in virtually all areas of sports and entertainment.
–OCTAGON–