Millsport was one of the first sports

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

agencies in the

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. Founded in 1975 by James R. Millman, a 25-year-old event marketing executive with

Philip Morris Phil(l)ip or Phil Morris may refer to: Companies *Altria, a conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the tobacconist **Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group **Philip Morris Inter ...

, Inc., Millsport gained notoriety and national prominence with its involvement in Olympic and

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

sponsorship in the 1990s by Visa, GTE, Pepsi, Frito-Lay and others.

History

Millman, an

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

grad who began his career in 1968 as a production assistant with

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Sports, served as the agency’s chairman and CEO until 2004. In 1981, Millsport joined

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

agency

Doyle Dane Bernbach DDB Worldwide Communications Group LLC, known internationally as DDB, is a worldwide marketing communications network. It is owned by Omnicom Group, one of the world's largest advertising holding companies. The international advertising networks ...

(now DDB), one of the largest ad agencies in the U.S. Six years later, Millsport left Doyle Dane Bernbach to once again become an independent agency. In 1996, Millsport and

Omnicom Omnicom Group Inc. is an American global media, marketing and corporate communications holding company, headquartered in New York City. Omnicom's branded networks and specialty firms provide services in four disciplines: advertising, customer re ...

's Diversified Agency Services division formed a new sports marketing partnership. It marked Omnicom's first venture into

sports marketing Sports marketing as a concept has established itself as a branch of marketing over the past few decades, however, a generally accepted definition does not exist. Academicians Kaser and Oelkers (2005, p. 9) define sports marketing as 'using spor ...

, and, under Millman's leadership, the firm achieved the strongest record of long-term client retention in the sports industry, with +20 year service relationships with the agency's three largest accounts. In 2002, Millsport VP Mike Bartelli opened an office in Charlotte, N.C., dedicated to its Motorsports practice. The following year, Bob Basche, a managing partner in the business, was promoted to CEO, replacing Millman, who remained as chairman. Millsport became the sports

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

and motorsports consulting and activation division of fellow Omnicom agency

The Marketing Arm The Marketing Arm, also known as TMA, is a marketing and creative agency owned by Omnicom Group. With offices in New York City; Los Angeles; Chicago; Dallas; Wilton, Connecticut; Irvine, California; London; Manchester; São Paulo; and Shanghai. The ...

in 2004, a move that triggered several personnel moves within the agency. Howard Jacobs was promoted from senior VP/marketing and business development to president of Millsport. Basche moved to chairman of Millsport and chief relationship officer for The Marketing Arm, while Millsport founder James Millman ended his association with the company to launch a new agency in partnership with Omnicom, called Partnership Marketing Connection (PMC). In 2006, Dan Belmont joined Millsport as president, replacing Howard Jacobs, who left to join Millsport client

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...

as SVP of strategic partnership marketing. In 2008, Bartelli was named President, Motorsports. He left later that same year, joining Petty Holdings as CMO.

References

{{Omnicom Sports companies Marketing companies of the United States