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Tag: George Pyne

  • IMG, WPP join forces for global licensing collaboration

    IMG, WPP join forces for global licensing collaboration

    MUMBAI: Communications services group WPP and IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and media company, have announced a worldwide partnership to collaborate in offering consumer products licensing and merchandising services.

    As part of the multi-year agreement, WPP and IMG will establish a joint team and share resources to offer and provide licensing services to clients from WPP‘s portfolio of agencies. 
     
    WPP CEO Martin Sorrell commented, “More than ever, licensing is emerging as one of the new creative ways of developing brands and sales. It is a capability we see as increasingly important to our clients. We wanted to offer this important discipline in a global execution and with the market leader – that is IMG. In our view, there could be no better partner to help us achieve our goals in this area.”

    IMG‘s Sports and Entertainment Group president George Pyne said, “WPP‘s agencies have an impressive roster of clients coupled with the brand knowledge and consumer insights that come from years of experience working with them. We believe that our global execution capability and specialized expertise in the licensing business coupled with their deep-rooted knowledge and relationships with certain client companies can yield some very beneficial and successful partnerships. This is a really natural collaboration that was waiting to happen.”
     
    Executives from the WPP-IMG partnership will be meeting with advertisers who have expressed interest in developing brand licensing programmes or who have potential to do so.
     
    The new WPP venture is an additive unit to IMG Licensing‘s existing operations and the latter will continue to serve existing and new clients without change.
     

  • Rothwell, Maglione to head IMG’s sports, entertainment worldwide licensing

    Rothwell, Maglione to head IMG’s sports, entertainment worldwide licensing

    MUMBAI: Global sports, entertainment and media company IMG has announced that Tim Rothwell and Bruno Maglione have joined the company as executive VPs and Co-MDs of worldwide licensing and consumer products.

    They will report to IMG Sports and Entertainment president George Pyne. They will leverage IMG’s relationships and intellectual property assets to launch licensing programmes across the company’s entertainment, media, fashion and sports businesses in the US and internationally.

    Rothwell will be based out of Los Angeles, whereas Maglione will function from London.

    IMG chairman and CEO Ted Forstmann says, “This is a very significant step in our strategy to develop our entertainment and media businesses, and more fully leverage our fashion and sports properties, as we continue building IMG’s global sports, entertainment and media presence worldwide.

    “With Tim and Bruno’s energy, experience and talent, we believe there are unlimited opportunities for IMG, and we are delighted that they are joining the company to lead the licensing business around the world.”

    Pyne commented, “I know from experience that investing in licensing with world-class talent is an opportunity to exponentially accelerate the growth of all the brands IMG owns and represents around the world. Tim and Bruno have worked together for a number of years with great success, first at Universal Studios and then at Marvel Entertainment, where they launched some of the most significant, innovative, exciting and successful licensing programs for the leading entertainment brands in the world. Adding this accomplished team is a perfect fit with IMG’s growth strategy.”

    Rothwell added, “Both Bruno and I see great promise in Ted Forstmann’s vision for the Company. While we have built many brands and businesses together in the past, we are amazed by the breadth of properties and resources housed within IMG. We are already full of ideas for leveraging IMG’s entertainment, media, fashion and sports assets in new and creative ways.”
    Maglione said, “We are very excited to be joining IMG during this key period of development. IMG’s global presence in 60 offices in 30 countries and strong roster of relationships and brands are unique assets with which to work. Together with Ted’s compelling new vision for the company, they offer outstanding growth potential.”