THE FOUNDATIONS OF FIFTY-THREE SIX
Fifty-Three Six is a sports marketing agency with digital video at our core.
As consumption habits rapidly change, brands are increasingly putting video at the heart of their marketing strategy. Lots of brands feel compelled to create content and there has been an emergence of ill-conceived, poorly executed video, which ultimately sells sports fans short.
We see things differently. We don’t believe in creating content for the sake of it. We feel that content has immense power and should bring fans closer to their passions.
Brands become the patrons of this story-telling and benefit from the positive effect of bringing fans content that matters.
BACKGROUND
Global mobile video traffic from 2016 to 2021 (in terabytes per month)
Source: Statistica
A number of key trends formed the foundations from which Fifty-Three Six was built:
Exponential growth in online video consumption
The growing need for sports sponsors to activate through digital content
An increasing appetite for rights holders to commercialise their digital assets and provide ROI for sponsors
Working in the sports rights sector in London, Marcus noticed these trends and as a sports fan himself, ultimately felt that brands had the opportunity be champions of this form of this storytelling.
Upon founding the company, he noticed a lack of cohesion between producing video and distributing that content. Lots of amazing video was being produced by talented film-makers but was not getting the audience it deserved, while ill-conceived videos and cheap campaigns prevailed.
There was a disconnect between the video and the audience, namely much of the content being produced wasn’t built for success on social and digital platforms. This prompted a conversation with lifelong friend, Tom, who was in Twitter at the time.
Tom then joined in January 2017 to head up the distribution and content marketing side of the business. The goal became not about creating content and thinking about a distribution strategy, but considering the audience and their online behaviours when producing content.
After years of analysing what type of content works online, our campaigns are purpose built for performance on digital platforms with the target demographic in mind.
A common perception has been that you can’t drive ROI with digital video content. We disagree. We believe that this very content should help you communicate with your audience in a more meaningful way and delivered in the right way, can actually be more effective for driving tangible results.
We conceive, create, and distribute the best content driven campaigns. We work with rights holders, sponsors and media across the sports industry. And, we love what we do.
ABOUT US
Tom and Marcus have been best friends for 20 years and share a mutual love for sports. As huge fans themselves, they craved the behind the scenes content that would bring them closer to what they loved.
Marcus has a wealth of international experience in the sports industry across broadcast and digital media rights, sponsorship, events and production. Having spent six years in the NBA (not bad given his 5’ 11” frame), Marcus went on to head up digital rights for Pitch International before founding Fifty-Three Six in August 2016.
As well as managing Fifty-Three Six’s production and commercial divisions, Marcus also offers consultancy services for sports rights.
Tom spent two years managing the digital output for sports broadcaster, Setanta Sports, before being one of the first hires in Twitter’s EMEA HQ in Dublin. He then went on to spend over four years in Twitter, working across the mobile and sports sectors in the UK before managing the emerging markets business in Europe and Africa.
Tom heads up content marketing and performance.