Danny Rogers on PR: Pay day for other golden Olympic stars
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Your support makes all the difference.Still glowing from their plaudits and New Year's honours, the marketing and communications executives behind the London 2012 Olympics are starting to find new jobs.
Much has been written about the rewards of the top bosses behind last year's games. Locog chairman Lord Coe added Companion of Honour to his long list of titles, as well as the chairmanship of Chime's sports marketing arm, which could net him £12m over the next few years.
Meanwhile CEO Paul Deighton gained a knighthood and a seat in the House of Lords.
But the marketing specialists are similarly well-positioned. Commercial director Chris Townsend and director of comms Jackie Brock-Doyle bagged OBEs among other awards.
And although both are busy with various initiatives, neither has yet announced a fresh full-time role. One suspects they are inundated with offers but still enjoying the afterglow – and well-earned rest – following the generation-defining event.
The harsh reality is that the end of 2012 actually saw all Locog staff unemployed, after six or seven years of intense work. Many are now chomping at the bit for their next "proper job".
Thus it emerged last week that Locog's well-regarded head of PR and media, Joanna Manning-Cooper, has been snapped up by England Rugby 2015, the tournament organiser of the next Rugby World Cup.
As comms and marketing director for "ER2015", Manning-Cooper is tasked with creating an Olympic-sized buzz around the next really big sporting event to take place on British soil.
A former director of global comms for the Financial Times, and a long-suffering fan of Portsmouth FC, she is well positioned for such a challenge.
Elsewhere, Greg Nugent, Locog's director of brand, marketing and culture, has been busy enough. He has been working for Join In, a charity to encourage a post-Olympics grass roots involvement – which I would argue is the really crucial "legacy" of 2012 – but we should now expect a new, high-profile role for the former Eurostar marketing director.
Understandably, this is a group of marketing professionals forever bound by the success of London 2012.
But now they must move on emotionally and professionally. Britain's headhunters are rubbing their hands with glee.
Danny Rogers is Editor of Campaign and Editor-in-Chief, Brand Republic Group
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