Welcome to the very first episode of The Sports Marketeer podcast.  My name is Amar Singh and I am in the business of sports marketing. I work for an agency called MKTG Sports + Entertainment as SVP for Content and Comms, helping some of the world’s biggest brands activate their partnerships in sport. I’m also professor for the Football Business Academy, teaching masters students principles of marketing and content strategy in the context of working in the football industry. As such, I am constantly learning myself and on the look out for the trends and influential voices that are shaping this sector. I write about those shifting trends in my newsletter which you can find on Substack - it’s also called The Sports Marketeer. One voice in the marketing industry who has really stood out to me in recent months is Marcus Collins. Marcus is head of strategy at Wieden + Kennedy - an agency with a huge reputation for culturally impactful work and one which can boast none other than Nike as its first client.  Marcus is an award winning marketeer, with an incredible body of work behind him. He is an expert in helping brands connect with and engage with cultural movements.  From running Beyonce’s digital strategy to launching the Brooklyn Nets to successfully pitching the Made in America festival to Budweiser, Marcus is the guy behind some truly famous campaigns over the last 15 years.  Marcus’s book For The Culture is essential reading for any marketing professional keen to better understand how to unlock the power of culture.  With the 50th anniversary of hip hop this year, I caught up with Marcus to explore hip hop’s contribution to sports marketing but our conversation spanned a host of other topics.