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Brand & product storyteller with a passion for pr/marketing and 15+ years of expertise.

Communications Director

Digital & Media

Career Profile:
As an accomplished brand strategist and marketing and communications expert, my dynamic career has been focused on creating and executing integrated PR/Social/Marketing strategies for some of the most recognizable brands in the world. Throughout my career I’ve been able to make an impact and generate results spanning a variety of industries that includes sports and entertainment; video games and pop-culture; consumer electronics and technology.

Core Competencies:
Brand and product publicity and promotions; integrated marketing campaigns and branded entertainment; influencer and social media engagement; product launches and events; media and talent relations; brand and product spokesperson; media training and interview staffing; agency, people and budget management. Adept at cross-functional leadership and communicating and collaborating across the matrix with key stakeholders, executives, partners, agencies and vendors.

Career Highlights:
• Drove the PR campaign for adidas' sustainability efforts for Super Bowl LIV, including the first sustainable field made from 1.8M recycled water bottles and launch of the first North American Parley Ocean School at the University Miami, which generated over 400 pieces of online coverage with 1.1B in readership reach.
• Designed and led the PR campaign for the "World's Best Career Day," featuring adidas athletes and entertainers inspiring the next generation from underserved high schools in Chicago during NBA All-Star Weekend, with 300+ pieces of coverage.
• Piloted some of the most successful PR campaigns in the history of adidas' U.S. Sports business unit, including the adidas x BAPE collaboration for Super Bowl LIII, UltraBOOST & YEEZY cleats, the first celebratory adidas SPEEDFACTORY shoes the NHL Stanley Cup winners, $1MM NFL Combine contest and the Miami Hurricanes uniform launch. 
• Led the ideation and execution of a celebrity & athlete infused Super Bowl XLVIII ice cream truck activation for New Era Cap Company that generated 1.2B Impressions & $13M in ad-value with a $250K budget.
• Created a Mariano Rivera retirement street naming & limited-edition cap event resulting in $10.5K in single day sales for the NYC Flagship store, 700M Impressions & $11.2M in Ad-value and 300 new Facebook followers in just 5 hours.
• Served as strategic advisor for the ideation and launch of T-Mobile’s “Un-carrier” PR campaign at Waggener Edstrom.
• Pioneered the PR efforts for the first-ever album launch within a video game for Soundgarden’s Telephantasm and Guitar Hero® Warriors of Rock. Marked the first certified platinum album by the RIAA before its actual launch date.
• Led the PR efforts for the launch of the first-ever crossover between video games & toys with Skylanders Spyro's Adventure® for Activision Publishing, Inc.
• Spearheaded the media relations efforts for the global launch of the PLAYSTATION®3.


Leading holistic storytelling strategies for sports, entertainment, tech and beverage clients. Specializing in athlete & agent collaboration, media relations, social media amplification, and management and execution of fully integrated PR/social/digital/brand campaigns.


Maximized PR opportunities and harnessed the power of earned media for best in class results. Led the ideation and implementation of holistic PR and marketing campaigns that landed brand & product stories with impact across editorial and social media platforms.

•  Brand & Product Storytelling – Successfully drove integrated, cross-functional PR and marketing strategies to achieved brand / business unit (BU) objectives. Led some of the most successful PR campaigns in the history of adidas' U.S. Sports and Basketball business units, including the first sustainable field made from 1,8M water bottles for Super Bowl LIV that generated 400+ pieces of online coverage, 1.1B in readership reach and won share of voice over competitors, 2020 NBA All-Star ‘World’s Best Career Day’ with 300+ pieces of coverage, adidas x BAPE collaboration for Super Bowl LIII, UltraBOOST & YEEZY cleats, signature shoe launches for NBA All-Stars James Harden, Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell, the first celebratory adidas SPEEDFACTORY shoes for the NHL Stanley Cup winners and $1M NFL Combine contest. Created PR firsts for the BU and league partners, including both cross-category and real-time PR/Social campaigns for the MLB, NFL, adidas Running and Training.

• Digital Innovation – Pushed boundaries and explored new, innovative and digitally-led PR and social media practices to generate quality, on-brand storytelling across news, sport, lifestyle, sneaker and fashion media outlets. Partnered with the analytics team to transform the way PR campaigns were measured through Trendkite, Cision and MVPindex.

• Hybrid Marketing – Influenced and upskilled teams across the matrix on the value of earned media planning for a hybrid of integrated marketing programs that elevated adidas' global leadership position as the brand that fuses sports & culture with media, athlete and entertainer brand partners, influencers and consumers.

•  Newsroom – Provided thought-leadership, strategic counsel and collaborated with Social Media Managers and the PR team for KPI driven initiatives, product launches and proactive and reactive opportunities. Managed junior staff and led their career development; supervised agency partners and vendors.

Sr. Public Relations Manager – U.S. Sports

Spearheaded the development and execution of holistic consumer PR campaigns to drive brand awareness. Secured coverage in national and local media that drove conversion and sales.

• Brand & Product Storytelling – Directed data-driven marketing and storytelling initiatives in collaboration with business intelligence, engineering, marketing, and sales teams. Led the creation of PR strategies, messaging and integrated campaigns that championed the brand as an industry disruptor and leader in real-time, on-demand solutions and generated consumer mindshare. 

• PR News Bureau – Develop and maintain an editorial calendar to amplify Avvo’s messages around tent pole initiatives and product launches, while leveraging newsjacking, proactive and reactive opportunities and trends to drive buzz. Provided strategic counsel for C-level media interviews, press conferences and acted as company spokesperson. Managed junior team members and a PR agency.


Sr. Consumer Public Relations Manager

Led a three-person team and PR agency in elevating New Era’s global leadership position in sports and culture with consumers, media & influencers and brand partners through a hybrid of global PR & integrated marketing plans. Won the company's 2013 “Rookie of the Year” award.

• Storytelling / Brand & Product Publicity – Managed successful brand & product publicity campaigns, delivered and deployed annually and seasonally, in support of New Era’s business cycle, product launches and other strategic marketing initiatives. Developed brand & product concepts maps, along with an overarching storytelling editorial calendar.

• Integrated Marketing – Partnered with brand, retail & digital teams for the ideation, development, and implementation of fully-integrated PR, marketing, & social campaigns. Led the communications approach for short & long-term PR-based marketing strategies, which leveraged New Era’s heritage, on-field authenticity & cultural relevance in order to elevate the brand’s exposure, positioning & growth. Key products include the 2014 59FIFTY with Diamond Era Technology, the New Era Heritage Series, etc.

• PR / Marketing / Retail Events – Developed & executed strategic engagement plans for PR-driven & consumer-facing events in order to generate brand awareness, loyalty & purchase intent. Examples include a celebrity & athlete infused Super Bowl XLVIII ice cream truck activation that generated 1.2B Impressions & $13M in ad-value with a $250K budget, a Mariano Rivera street naming & limited edition cap event resulting in $10.5K in single day sales for the NYC Flagship store, 700M Impressions & $11.2M in Ad-value and 300 new Facebook followers in just 5 hours, etc.

• Brand Communications – Developed and executed strategies to inform employees, promote company pride, increase the company’s visibility and enhance its internal and external reputation, community relations and recruiting efforts.


Sr. Brand Communications Manager - Sports & Culture

Recruited to partner with clients (T-Mobile, HTC, Wattsmedia, Serevi Rugby, etc.) and internal teams for the ideation, development, and implementation of integrated marketing, social and PR campaigns that communicated a brand/product experience. Maintained in-depth knowledge of client culture, competition & business trends for consumer engagement and to create meaningful connections with key audiences. Areas of focus: Tech, Lifestyle, Entertainment and Pop-Culture media.

• PR Campaigns & Client / Media Relations – Led the development and realization of consumer PR campaigns including product/brand campaigning, launches & events; social media integration and communications; media relations; etc. Highlights include serving as strategic advisor for the ideation and launch of T-Mobile’s “Un-carrier” PR campaign and driving product placement and launch opportunities for HTC and Samsung smartphones.

• Account Management / Business Growth – Drove opportunities for new and existing clients by being ingrained in the latest tech, digital and new media, pop-culture, marketing, advertising and communications trends. Researched, evaluated and consulted on new development deals and marketing and communications opportunities in order to build and sustain business growth and profitability for the agency and its clients. Managed a team of consisting of SAM, AM, SAE, AE, AC.


VP, Consumer Engagement & Public Relations

Promoted from Sr. Publicist to Public Relations Manager within two years. Developed and drove global public relations strategies for multi-million unit selling franchises, including: product campaigning and launches; media relations; public relations writing; strategic planning and execution of media tours and events; social media communications; media training, managing and directing interviews; agency, vendor, people and budget management ($25K - $1.2M per title).

•  PR Strategies / Campaigns – Created strategic and insightful PR campaigns and led a team of four direct reports for high-profile titles and new IP's (Skylanders Spyro's Adventure®, Singularity®, Wolfenstein™, Blur®, Geometry Wars™, etc.) across multiple platforms (Xbox 360, XLBA, PS3, PSN, PSP, Nintendo DS, Android & iOS). Efforts resulted in coverage across top consumer, mainstream, entertainment and enthusiast outlets, ultimately generating millions of media impressions/dollars in ad-value and substantial gains in brand and product mind-share.

•  Talent Relations / Publicity – Pioneered the PR efforts for the first-ever album launch within a video game for Soundgarden’s Telephantasm and Guitar Hero® Warriors of Rock.  This marked the first time an album was certified platinum by the RIAA before its actual launch date.  Scheduled and managed press junkets and interviews with Gene Simmons for his role in Guitar Hero® Warriors of Rock and Danica Patrick for her role in Blur™.

•  Community / Social Media Communications – Generated and implemented integrated social media communication plans as part of the overall product publicity campaigns. Strategically disseminated information and assets through both social media and consumer facing channels, such as Facebook, Twitter and title specific websites in order to elevate product and brand awareness and generate consumer engagement.

Global Public Relations Manager

Created and executed public relations strategies for multi-million unit selling franchises including: product publicity and launches; media relations; public relations writing; project management; strategic planning and execution of events and media tours; managing and directing interviews; community relations outreach; agency, vendor and people management. 

•  Product Launches / Publicity / Promotions – Spearheaded the media relations efforts for the launch of the PLAYSTATION®3 in NYC. Served as spokesperson and PR product lead while developing and executing 12-18 month campaigns across all PlayStation platforms for key franchises (God of War®, Twisted Metal™, Wipeout®, Gran Tursimo™, F1™, World Tour Soccer, Gretzky™NHL®, NBA® and  MLB The Show™) that grew brand and product recognition, and generated millions of media impressions/dollars in ad-value. Developed and implemented cross-promotional opportunities and joint PR efforts with brand partners such as Nike, Inc., MLB, NBA, GUNNAR Optics, etc.

•  Event Creation / Management – Planned and managed PR events and promotions in conjunction with sporting events and various corporate initiatives that amplified brand and product awareness, yielded product placement opportunities and secured non-traditional PR coverage. (Examples: Super Bowls, NBA and MLB All-Star games, F1 Races, athlete motion capture sessions, launch and community relations events, etc.)

•  Media Relations / Athlete Relations – Built a network of key relationships with influential media, agents, professional sports leagues and athletes, and internal key stakeholders in order to support the publicity and promotions of PlayStation®2, PSP®, PLAYSTATION®3 and key software titles.  Also, developed, implemented and maintained SCEA’s press center website.

Public Relations Specialist

Promoted from Account Manager to Regional Marketing Specialist within one year. Helped drive the introduction and launch of Nike Golf clubs and Nike Golf balls into an over-saturated golf equipment market.  Implemented innovative processes in order to enhance account profitability, growth, and brand loyalty.  Organized and executed marketing events and promotions including: corporate initiatives; product launches; retailer programs; producing, evaluating and organizing marketing research and events.

•  Event Marketing – Developed and executed cost effective regional marketing events that leveraged regional insight, communication strategies/concepts, elevated products and grew brand recognition. Managed regional marketing tools, including: retailer resources website and calendars, product and imagery inventory and usage, that focused on driving sell-through.

•  Account Management / Sales Rep Management – Managed and consulted complex accounts for specified specialty retailers by building strong relationships and adapting to the account’s specific business needs while maintaining Nike’s interests. Generated sales and managed sales orders by partnering with high-profile sales reps and key accounts. Maintained positive relationships with the intention of growing the business for specific high-profile accounts, sales reps and the overall brand.

Regional Marketing Specialist / Account Manager

Executed PR tactics including: product launch and product campaigning for Nike Basketball and Jordan Brand; event coordination; athlete relations; advertising support; managing and directing interviews; agency management; creating and distributing press materials; website management.

Aided in developing and executing marketing strategies, promotions and athlete appearances including: product launches and campaigning; corporate initiatives; events; advertising shoots; edited and maintained Global/US sports marketing calendars.

•  Product Campaigning / Promotions – Secured coverage in key print/radio/TV outlets through timely research, service and strategic relationships that created buzz with key demographics. Conducted targeted product seeding to key media, influencers and celebrities.

•  Media Relations | Athlete Relations – Created and fostered a wide array of sports and media relationships Facilitated interviews, media requests and credentialing for sporting events that promoted key Nike products, athletes, campaigns. 

• Event Coordination – Coordinated athlete appearances in conjunction with sporting events, clinics, and retail openings, including management of athletes/agents that demonstrated Nike’s affiliation to athletes and performance.

FSU Campus Ambassador / Public Relations Coordinator 

Paul Murphy is a Communications Director at Transition Sports & Entertainment in Portland, OR.

Paul Murphy

Paul Murphy

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