Asia

Supponor restructures as part of global growth plans

Virtual advertising leader Supponor has announced plans to double its global headcount and restructure its internal operations as it pursues rapid growth during the coming financial year.

The London- and Helsinki-based group said it will also put an increased focus on Germany and gave details of a boardroom shake-up.

Supponor said it will increase staff levels by 100% to support the rapid increase in the number of events it is delivering and to support further expansion in Europe and dynamic growth in the Americas, Australia and Asia. The group said it is now producing 800 events in the 2021/22 sporting season in Europe alone, compared to 600 events produced worldwide over the past decade.

Meanwhile, Massimo Magrì, has been promoted to managing director for Europe, and global head of Football, with Michael Drotleff, formerly at Infront Sports & Media and German side RB Leipzig, to join Supponor’s European team as director of commercial accounts for the DACH region.

“Supponor has been at the vanguard of the move away from traditional, hardware-driven, expensive, and complicated virtual advertising solutions towards revolutionary, software-based solutions which are more efficient, scalable, and remotely operated,” the group said in a statement.

“Rapid technological development and commercial success mean this is the perfect time for Supponor to revise its internal operations, in order to enhance resource allocation, to scale with the rapidly shifting market and to fulfil the company’s long-term vision.”

It added that its new office in Cologne will spearhead an increased push on supporting existing and expanding business in the German-speaking region. It plans to build on existing key partnerships, which include sports marketing agency SPORTFIVE and Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich.

“This is a remarkable time for virtual advertising and for Supponor, as we continue to transform the market with our highly disruptive technologies and solutions,” said James B. Gambrell, chief executive of Supponor.

“We have been a trailblazer in the development of innovative, software-based, scalable virtual advertising solutions and this is what has helped us record such great market success. As the market transforms, we will be scaling our business to support the growing market opportunities as we grow and consolidate our market leadership position within virtual advertising.

“This announced internal restructure is well timed to support our growth ambitions and market opportunities.”