Fuse the sport and entertainment marketing agency, part of Omnicom Media Group has hiredSophie Forrest to the newly created role of International New Business & Marketing Director to spearhead its market expansion. The move into new markets will enable Fuse to utilise its international specialists to capitalise on big sporting moments, from the Paris Olympics to the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
In her new role, Forrest will oversee marketing and new business internationally, helping Fuse strengthen its sport and entertainment offering across 16 current international markets. Current international clients include PepsiCo, Nissan, Enterprise, Google, FedEx, and JustEat Takeaway.
She joins with extensive background in commercial sport and sponsorship strategy with a significant tenure in Asia Pacific. Forrest previously spent 4 years at CSM Sport & Entertainment in Hong Kong, leading some of its biggest regional accounts, before joining East Asia Super League to help build its regional business and proof-of-concept basketball tournaments. In 2020 she joined Football Marketing Asia where she worked her way up to Senior Vice-President of Commercial Strategy.
Fuse has also promoted Ellie Mainwaring to Head of New Business & Marketing in the UK. Responsible for driving new business strategy, Mainwaring will oversee new business processes from lead generation and prospecting to pitch conversion. She has over 20 years’ experience on both agency and client side and has extensive connections across the wider OMG agency group. During her 8 years at Fuse, she has served as Director of Fuse OMD UK, and latterly Director of Business Development.
Forrest and Mainwaring’s appointments follow Fuse’s launch in Spain in January, with Juli Ferre joining Omnicom Media Group as Head of Fuse Spain.
Louise Johnson, CEO of Fuse said: “Sophie and Ellie are hugely important members of the Fuse team. Sophie’s background in commercial sport and sponsorship strategy in international markets and Ellie’s eight-year stint in business development at Fuse means they bring a wealth of experience and expertise as we ramp up our services in new and existing regions.”
Sophie Forrest, International New Business and Marketing Director said: “I am delighted to be joining Fuse at such a pivotal time for the business. The company already delivers best-in-class activations and sponsorship strategies for some of the biggest brands in the world and I am looking forward to supporting its business growth on an international scale.”
Ellie Mainwaring, Head of New Business & Marketing said: “I am thrilled to take on this new role, delivering the new business and marketing strategy for the UK business, whilst collaborating with the international team to support our continued market expansion.”
Forrest will report to CEO, Louise Johnson and Mainwaring will report to UK Managing Director, Sarah Kendall.
Fuse’s Board is 66% female and now 61% of the senior leadership team and 58% of the overall team is female, resulting in a salary gap in favour of women.
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