Adman
I was born in Zeynep Kamil, Istanbul. My middle name is Kamil. I’m the first born of my father, a lawyer, and mother, an architecture school drop-out. My sister is the Eurovision Contest winner soprano Sertab. I grew up in Binbirdirek Park at Sultanahmet, Resit Pasa primary school, in the snowy spring waters of Akcay, in Robert College’s gardens, in Dostoyevski and Oguz Atay novels, in Bogazici University, in Serif Mardin’s noble assistance, in Nietzche, in Hayek, in Nozick. I became a liberal. I became a pragmatist. I became an advertiser. I had success at a local agency. The agency was sold to a foreign company. I headed the company. I served both as the executive director and screenwriter. Throughout the years I learned that advertising is not a mind game but rather an emotional one. I tried to learn all there is about my job. In the mean time, I left the foreign company after having a fall out with the big boss. My clients stuck with me. Most have trusted me with their brands for over 20 years. I married 3 times. I am the father of 3; Emine who is 23, Ali Omer who is 17, and Azazarif who is 3. I am both the fan and husband of Nil Karaibrahimgil. I read. I draw. I write ads. I shoot ads. I shoot arrows. I swing racquets. I think of myself as an architect. I even design stages. I eat little. I read the most. I read the most about evolution, science and neuroscience. I am 56. I lament every day about all there is to do and learn in the world. And I bemoan the nightfall every day.
Beşiktaş Legend “Mr.Goal”
One of the best striker in Turkish Football history, Feyyaz Uçar, was born on 27th of October 1963 in Istanbul. He started football in Avcılar Football Club, then he moved to Beşiktaş Youth Team. Under the management of Serpil Hamdi Tüzün, he was one of the rising star in the Beşiktaş Youth Team. In a short while he made it to the first team in 1982-83 season, where he scored various goals on Şeref Stadium. He acquired the nickname of “Mr.Goal”, he was the most scorer of the “Metin-Ali-Feyyaz” trio. During his 16 year career, he made 320 league appereances, managed to score 170 goals. He became the best striker of Beşiktaş in the Turkish League with these outstanding statistics. Feyyaz Uçar loved to play crucial matches, he scored 18 against Galatasaray and 16 against Fenerbahçe, he proved himself that he was the best striker after Hakkı Yeten and Şeref Görkey, the club legends. He also scored 17 goals in Turkish Cup. In his career, he won 4 league titles, 3 Turkish Cups, 4 Presidents Cup, 1 Prime Minister Cup and 6 TSYD Cups. He wore the Turkish National Team jersey for 25 times. During the 1994-95 season he had problems with the Beşiktaş board, got dropped from the squad. Feyyaz Uçar was transferred to Fenerbahçe, where he played there for a year. In his last seasons he played for Kuşadası and Antalyaspor, retired from football in 1997. He was always memorized as “Feyyaz from Beşiktaş”. After his retirement from professional football, he coached Göztepe and Denizlispor.
Beşiktaş Legend “The Blonde Storm”
Metin Tekin was born in İzmit, on 1964. His father, who was a lawyer, had given great efforts to start him to play football, therefore he started football at Kocaelispor Academy. His great pace and outstanding technical attributes made him the star player of the Youth League in a short time. Beşiktaş noticed his talent and transferred him right before he made it to the First Team. On 1982-83 season,at the age of 18, Metin Tekin was wearing the Beşiktaş jersey. He made 320 league appereances and scored 47 goals between 1982 and 1997, where he achieved 5 league titles with Beşiktaş. He never wanted to leave Beşiktaş, he played in Vanspor on loan for a season, this was the last season of his career. Later on he made his testimonial match wearing Beşiktaş jersey for the last time. He managed to score 13 goals to Fenerbahçe and 8 goals to Galatasaray during his career. He made 34 National Team appereances and scored 2 goals. In 1992-93 season, he scored 2 goals to Kosice, which aided Beşiktaş to qualify for the European Cup after many years, in overall he managed to score 6 goals in European Cups. After his retirement, Metin Tekin had a short experience in sports journalism which ended when he started his coaching career. He was the assistant coach on Gençlerbirliği and Samsunspor, under the management of head coach Erdoğan Arıca. Metin Tekin, still remains as a big legend for Beşiktaş fans, one of the most colorful person in the “Metin-Ali-Feyyaz” trio.
Beşiktaş Legend
One of the most polite and gentle personality in Turkish Football, Ali Gültiken, was born in Istanbul, on 1965. He started football in Bakırköy Yücespor Club, then moved to the Beşiktaş Youth Team. In 1984-85 season he was promoted to the first team. Under Beşiktaş jersey, he played 262 league matches and scored 91 goals. 1987-88 season was his best season where he scored 30 goals in 38 matches. In 1991-92 season, where Beşiktaş clinched the title without losing a match, Ali Gültiken faced a unfortunate injury on the decisive game for the championship. At the age of 27, he was forced to leave Beşiktaş due to his injury. During his career he won 5 league titles, 3 Turkish Cups, 4 Presidential Cups, 1 Prime Minister Cup and 5 TSYD Cups. He scored 7 against Fenerbahçe and 6 goals against Galatasaray. Ali Gültiken wore the Turkish National Team jersey for 38 times. In his last season he played for Kayserispor, had his testimonial match with Beşiktaş and got retired from professional football. After his football career he aimed to be a coach as he worked for Hatayspor, Mersin İdman Yurdu and Erzurumspor. He was also the Administrative Manager for Beşiktaş, under Mustafa Denizli’s management.
FIBA Media and Marketing Services SA. , Director General
Frank Leenders has more than 20 years of experience in international sports marketing at the highest level.
He started his professional career with ISL Marketing during the FIFA World Cup 1990 and subsequently joined start-up company TEAM Marketing in 1992, where he was part of the launch and development of the international benchmark project, the UEFA Champions League, since its very first season (1992-93). Frank held several positions in marketing and operations and ultimately was heading the Television department (sales and production) between 1998 and 2001.
He moved to Rome to join pay Television Sky Italia in 2001, where he was Director of Sports Rights Acquisitions, responsible for the acquisition of all sports related Television rights.
In 2002 he returned to TEAM, where he became Managing Director and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2005.
Following his departure at the end of 2010, he co-founded the independent sports marketing firm Value-Experience. In 2012, they developed a dedicated media and marketing unit for FIBA, the International Basketball Federation in Geneva, Switzerland. Frank holds the position of Director General of this entity: FIBA Media and Marketing Services SA.
Frank holds a degree in Economics from the University of St. Gallen (CH) and has an MBA from SDA Bocconi in Milano (I).
UEFA Champions League prodigy, TEAM Marketing, CEO
TEAM is the agency exclusively responsible for marketing the media, sponsorship and licensing rights of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, annual competitions that feature the elite of European club football.
Chief Executive, Jamie Graham, has 20 years’ experience in sports marketing having joined TEAM as Head of Marketing in 2007. Previous roles include Managing Director of ZenithOptimedia’s Sponsorship Consultancy and SVP at then industry leading sports marketing agency ISL, where he headed the company’s research division in the UK.
Sportsnet Group Chairman of the Board of Directors
Ahmet Gülüm was born in 1961, in Istanbul. After his education at Vefa High School, he studied Economy in Marmara University Administrative Sciences Faculty. He concluded his education after graduating from his master’s degree on business management. During his volleyball career, he played for Beşiktaş (1972-1979), Hisarbank Sakarya Karadeniz Spor (1979-1982), Galatasaray (1982-1991) and Arçelik (1991-1993). He was the team captain of Galatasaray for 9 years and Arçelik for 2 years. During his captaincy, Galatasaray Volleyball Team won the Turkish Championship for three times, from 1986 to 1989 successively. He wore the national team jersey for 158 times in different categories like youth, A, military and university. During his captaincy in the national teams, he received many international prizes in the tournaments such as Balkan Championships, Mediterranean Games, Spring Cup and World Military Volleyball Championship. When Turkey won the World Military Volleyball Championship and Galatasaray took in the third position at Balkan tournament, he was elected as the best setter. In 1984, he became the first athlete from volleyball to be nominated for the Athlete of the Year Award by Milliyet Newspaper.
After retiring from volleyball as an athlete, he pursued his passion in the business side of sports. In 1992, Ahmet Gülüm led the group which brought the first international Beach Volleyball organization to Turkey. He had notable impact on the growth of beach volleyball in the country. Later on, he was elected as the president of Turkish Volleyball Federation and Turkish Volleyball Foundation. He was in Beach Volleyball World Council and FIVB Marketing Council as a member. Furthermore, he was on presidential duty of CEV Marketing Commission. In 1998, he was chosen as the sportsperson of the year by two newspapers, Fanatik and Zaman. In 1999, he was selected as the sportsperson of the year once again, according to evaluation of Milliyet. He has been a member of Turkish National Olympic Committee since 1996.
Ahmet Gülüm founded Sportsnet in 2001, which is Turkey’s first and only sports focused marketing and communication agency. Sportsnet turned into a group of companies by specializing and growing in different service areas. First came the event company, Allsports. It was followed by Turkey’s first sports oriented digital agency Vo2. Following Vo2, sportstv was founded which brought Turkey’s most various sports content together with the TV audience. Since its’ inception, The Group has been giving sports related marketing and communication services to leading brands such as Beko, Petrol Ofisi, Vestel, Turkcell, Orkid (Always), Aroma, TEB, Turkish Airlines, P&G, Gillette. It also executed the communication works for important sports organizations hosted in Turkey. İzmir and Erzurum Universiade, Moto GP, Formula 1, World Basketball Championship, TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul 2011-2013 are some of the notable examples. Last but not least, in 2015 Ahmet Gülüm founded BİLGİSpor, an undergraduate sports business program, in collaboration with Bilgi University. He is an active lecturer in the program.
Google, Head of Industry - Ticketing, Sports & Live Events
Mike is a 14-year veteran of Google and has held multiple leadership roles on the revenue generating side of the business.
He’s currently heading up Google’s Sports & Live Events Group where he oversees Sales and Account Services Team responsible for fostering strategic relationships with key partners in Sports, Family Entertainment, Music and Ticketing Industries; and works closely with key stakeholders across Google’s Family of Brands to develop new ad formats and products for the Live Events category.
Prior to moving to Ann Arbor 11 years ago to help open Google’s local offices, Mike was involved in establishing Google’s Operations in his native Poland. He also ran Mid-Market Sales team for Google Canada.
Co-Owner of AFC Ann Arbor – Minor League Soccer Team in Ann Arbor, MI and (new!) – Head Coach of U-10 Boys Rec&Ed Soccer (his son’s team)
He also teaches Video and Digital Marketing courses at Michigan State University and acts as Executive In Residence at Eastern Michigan University’s Center for Digital Engagement.
Marketing & International Business graduate of Loyola University of Chicago, Mike currently resides in Ann Arbor, MI and considers himself extremely lucky to work in the cross-section of Sports/Entertainment and Online Marketing worlds.
World’ s Leading Sports Agency Octagon, International Marketing President
As President, Marketing International, Jeff Ehrenkranz is responsible for overseeing operations and new business across all of Europe and APAC regions for Octagon’s Marketing division.
A company veteran of more than 20 years, Jeff was recently promoted to President, Marketing International from Managing Director EMEI where he oversaw Europe, Middle East and India. He moved into this role from Octagon’s U.S. Headquarters where he served as Executive Vice President, directing the agency’s Marketing Solutions and Entertainment divisions. He successfully led the divisions’ businesses and supported clients across a variety of service offerings and product categories, gaining the reputation as one of the industry’s top marketing strategists. Jeff has broad global experience, having spent a number of years working for Octagon in Asia, Australia & Europe.
Jeff’s vast industry experience includes working with clients across a variety of categories with sponsorship investments across sports and lifestyle properties including Football, Rugby, Golf, Olympics, Motorsport, Music & Film and others.
In 2011, Jeff was named to SportsBusiness Journal’s “Forty Under 40” class, one of the sport’s industry’s highest honors, recognizing his skills as an effective new business “rainmaker” and thought leader.
Jeff resides in London with his wife Brianne and sons Seamus and Rory. He holds a BS in Political Science from Tufts University and an MBA from Columbia University.
Nielsen Sports, Managing Director Europe
Marco Nazzari has been fully committed to sport marketing industry since 1996 in leading positions.
Since 2013 MD of Repucom Italia that was one of the world’s leading sports marketing market research.
His mission has always been to provide the Sports Business and Entertainment industry with professional tools aimed to optimize the relationship between property and investors.
He has been managing powerful sports marketing and entertainment projects in areas such as F1, MotoGp, UEFA Champions League and the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games.
Starting from 2016, Marco took over as Chief Revenue Officer Europe in Repucom, with the aim of strengthening the business in markets where the company had consolidated offices and planning the expansion into new territories.
With the acquisition by The Nielsen Company of Repucom now Nielsen Sports, Marco Nazzari has continued to go ahead his task both at Italian and European level, acquiring the role of Head of Commercial Europe and Middle East .
Currently he has been appointed as Regional Managing Director for Nielsen Sports in Europe and he is responsible for managing the end to end business across all the existing offices and expansion markets.
Marco lives in Milan with his family.
Director of Award Winning Movies
Ömer Faruk Sorak who is the director of awarded films, graduated from communication faculty of Ankara University. He worked as assistant cameraman between 1987-1990 and as cameraman between 1990-1995 in TRT (Turkish Radio Television).He started his director career on 1995.He established Böcek Production in 1998.He succeded to make many ads, full lenght film,television programs and video clips.He has 5 full lenght films. He is the one of prominent directors of Turkey with the films reached more than 13 million spectators and they have more than 58,5 million dolars revenue.
The films that he directed:
-Vizontele(2001)
-G.O.R.A.(2004)
-Sınav (2006)
-Yahşi Batı (2010)
-Aşk Tesadüfleri Sever (2011)
-8 saniye (2015)
İlancılık, Agency Co-President
Fenerbahçe Sports Club, Coordinator of Amateur Branches
Fikret Çetinkaya completed his primary and secondary education in Adapazari, Turkey. He moved to Istanbul for his university degree where he graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. His first relation with athletics started in middle school when he was selected to the athletics team. He has won the city tournament after he became the 4th best in his region. On 1975, he got transferred to Fenerbahçe Sports Club Athletics Team from Sakarya Sports Club, this was a milestone for his career. After 5 years of Professional sports career, Fikret Çetinkaya started operating in the accounting department of the club, therefore he ended his sports career.
Later on as a sports Professional, Fikret Çetinkaya was selected as a board member in Turkish Athletics Federation under Ali Ergenç and İlker Çetin’s presidential period. Together with his enourmous efforts for the Turkish Athletics , he was involved for the foundation of Balkan Athletics Union.
On 2007, he was appointed as the head of Athletics Department of Fenerbahçe Sports Club, where he carried this task succesfully until 2013. On 2013, he became the Coordinator of Amateur Branches for Fenerbahçe.
Fikret Çetinkaya contributed to the achievements and success of National Athlete Ramil Guliyev, who became the World Champion recently as well as world no.5 Eda Tuğsuz.
La Liga General Director MENA & International Sports Projects
REAL MADRID C.F. PLAYER (1994–1999)
‣ Mr. Fernando Sanz played for Real Madrid C.F‘s Academy for sixteen years, besides, for Real Madrid C.F B Second division on the seasons (1993-1994) and (1994-1995).
‣ On the Season 1992-1993, he was loan Stint to Union Espanola de Chile, where he was participating as well in Libertadores Cup and Chile Cup.
‣Mr. Fernando Sanz played for Real Madrid C.F (1995-1999)
‣ Part of their UEFA Champions League victory in 1997–98, Super Cup 1997-1998.
Intercontinental Cup victory in 1998 and Spanish League victory in 1996–1997.
MÁLAGA C.F. PLAYER (1999–2006)
‣ For the start of the 1999–2000 season, as well as Mr. Sanz was team leader for 7 seasons.
‣Victory of UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2002.
‣ Mr. Sanz retired from football in 2006 due the bad economic situation of the club in order to save it.
MÁLAGA C.F. PRESIDENT (2006–2010)
‣ In an attempt to save the club, which had a massive debt of 42 million euros and was
in the Spanish League Second Division, he impetuously retired as a football player
and immediately became President of the club after buying, as a sole investor, 98% of
its shares.
‣ After stabilising and improving the club for four years, he resigned on 27 July 2010, as
Málaga C.F. was sold as a Spanish League First Division club earlier in the summer to
a Qatari investor, member of the Qatar Royal Family, Al-Thani.
‣ It was the first time ever, that any Spanish Club was acquired by an investor of any of
the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
ROYAL SPANISH FOOTBALL FEDERATION (2006-2010)
‣ Mr. Fernando Sanz was a very proactive member of the Royal Spanish Football
Federation, which was victorious in the UEFA EURO in 2008 and the FIFA World Cup
in 2010
REGULAR COLLABORATOR AT OUTSTANDING SPORT MEDIAS (2010- Currently)
FIRST LALIGA GLOBAL AMBASSADOR
LALIGA GENERAL DIRECTOR MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA AND INTERNATIONAL SPORTS PROJECTS. (2012- Currently)
2017 World Athletism Championship Winner
Ramil Guliyev was born in Bakü on 1990. He is a Turkish sprinter originally from Azerbaijan. He gained Turkish citizenship in 2011 and started to compete for Turkey.He had been a national athlete and athelete of Fenerbahçe Sports Club since 2013. He competed for Azerbaijan on 2009 Youth European Championship, and he won a silver at 100m ,gold at 200m. He holds 100 and 200 meters national and international records. Also he has 60 meters national record.He has the second best time at 200 between youth athletes after Usain Bolt.He was the first runner up of European Rising Star Prize in 2009.He is the third white athlete who run 100 meters under 10 seconds with time that 9.97.
La Liga Head of Business Development, MENA
Jose Maria Arrabal completed his university degree in Malaga University Economics and Administrative Sciences Faculty between 1993-1998. He moved to the U.S for a year where he worked as a Intern in New Jersey Nets. He returned to Spain as he became the Marketing Manager of NBA Europe (Spain & Portugal). Between 2002 and 2006, he worked for Real Madrid Basketball Team, as he operated the Marketing activities. Later on he became Real Madrid’s International Business Development Manager. On 2007 he moved to Malaga FC, as he became the Business Development Director, generated major projects in this period. His success and accomplishments drew the attention of La Liga, Arrabal ended up being the Business Development Director for MENA Region, and still remains as a very key Professional for the organization.
Nissan Turkey General Manager
Sinan Ozkok’s career started at Oyak-Renault Bursa in 1993, then he took part in Oyak Renault Headquarters for 4 years. Mr. Ozkok continued his career at Renault SAS in France between 2001 and 2007 till he had returned to Turkey. He has been involved in many top positions, including sales and network director of Renault and Dacia brands with Turkey’s largest dealer development network. Sinan Ozkok has been performing as Nissan Turkey General Manager since October 2015.
İnteltek (İddaa), General Manager
Ahmet Sezer, joined İnteltek as General Manager in 2004.
He graduated from İstanbul Technical University, Electronic and Communication Engineering Department in 1982.
He started to his career at Aselsan and continued at IBM Turk, Intertech, Vestel Group and Vestel Consulting. Before joining İnteltek, his last position was General Manager of Probil.
Nielsen Media Research, General Manager, Turkey & Business Development Director, Central Europe
Erdem Tolon joined The Nielsen Company in 2005 and in 2012 he became the General Manager for Nielsen Media Research Turkey. Since 2017, he has also been serving as Business Director for Central Europe.
He graduated from Koç University with a major from Economics and he holds a Masters Degree from Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).
For the last 10 years Erdem Tolon has been focusing on both offline and online media research, ROI analysis, media mix optimization and Digital Research. Erdem is a board member of Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and IPTV Association.
beIN MEDIA GROUP CEO Vekili ve Digiturk CEO
As early as 2003, Yousef Al-Obaidly played an intricate role in the successful launch of the now most prominent pay TV sport network in the MENA region. Later on in 2012, he kick started the international expansion of the network, with the launch of beIN SPORTS France, Americas and Asia-Pacific. In December 2013, alongside beIN MEDIA GROUP CEO, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, he completed the transition of Al Jazeera Sport into beIN SPORTS, the international sports network.
He is currently Deputy CEO of beIN MEDIA GROUP and President of beIN SPORTS France, Americas and Asia-Pacific. In addition, he is the Secretary General of Qatar Tennis Federation, a board member of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), and a board member of PSG Football Club and PSG Handball Club. He graduated from Seattle University.
Çaytaş, Member and Deputy Chairman of Board
Born in Rize, Yavuz Sütlüoğlu completed elementary school in Hatay Antakya and secondary and high school in Rize. He got his bachelor’s degree in Anadolu University İ.İ.B.F Business Administration in 2003. He completed his MBA in Yeditepe University. In 2003, Sütlüoğlu started his career in private sector, working in various positions in Sales in finance and FMCG companies. He also took part in project-based operations both for domestic and export markets. In 2008, Sütlüoğlu stepped into the public sector and joined Çaykur Purchasing Department. Having performed in different operations related to marketing and sales, Sütlüoğlu is now a member and Deputy Chairman of Board in Çaytaş, a Çaykur affiliate, besides leading his position in Çaykur.
TEB Genel Müdürü
Mr. Ümit Leblebici has been General Manager of Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S. since September 1, 2013. Mr. Leblebici served as the Chief Executive Officer of Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S. Mr. Leblebici served as Deputy General Manager of Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S. from February 2013 to September 1, 2013. Mr. Leblebici served as Deputy General Manager at Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S. Mr. Leblebici served as an Assistant General Manager of Asset Liability Management & Treasury at Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S. since 2001 until 2013. Mr. Leblebici served as an Assistant General Manager of Treasury at Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S. since 2001 until 2013. Mr. Leblebici served as Assistant General Manager of Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S. From 1999 to 2001 at TEB. He served as Treasury Manager. From 1997 to 1999 at Osmanlı Bankaı› Mr. Leblebici served as Treasury Manager, from 1997 to 1997 at Ulusal Bank as Treasury Manager and from 1991 to 1997 Midland Bank as Treasury Manager. He has been an Executive Director of Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S. since September 2013. He studied at Istanbul University with MBA in Finance in 1994 and at Istanbul University in Faculty of Business Administration in 1988.
Soccer Development Manager and Director of Youth National Team
Tolunay Kafkas was born in 1968 in Ankara. He began playing soccer for Ankara PTT.
He played for Keçiörengücü, Diyarbakırspor, Erzurumspor ve Konyaspor and Trabzonspor. He then transferred to Galatasaray, afterwards playing for Bursaspor and Denizlispor.
He ended his career as a soccer player after playing for 3 different teams in Austria.
He played for the Turkish National team 35 times.
He then became a football manager for U 19 National Team, Kayserispor, Gaziantepspor, Trabzonspor, Karabukspor and Akhisarspor, winning the Turkish Cup for Kayserispor.
Between 2011-2013 he served as the Soccer Development Director at TFF and football manager for Turkey’s U21 National Soccer Team.
Since August 2017, Kafkas has been the Soccer Development Director and is also responsible for Turkey’s Youth Football Team.
Captain of Turkey's National Ice Hockey Team
He was born in Izmit in 1985. He first began playing ice hockey on the municipality’s ice ring. He first played for Turkey’s National Team in 2002 in Lithuania. He has been playing on the National Team ever since. In 2015,he transferred to Zeytinburnu Municipal Team and has been the team leader ever since.
He is the team captain of the Turkish National Ice Hockey Team.
2014-15 Turkey Ice Hockey Super League
2015-16 Didi Turkey Ice Hockey Super League
2016 IIHF div.3 group world champion
2016-17 Didi Turkey championship 1st place
2015 Continental cup grup A 2nd place – Serbia
2016 Continental cup grup A 1st place – Bulgaria
2016 Continental cup grup B 3rd place – Spain
2017 Continental cup grup A 2nd place – Serbia
Garanti Bank, Senior Vice President of Corporate Brand Management and Marketing Communications
Ms. Elif Guvenen is Garanti Bank’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Brand
Management and Marketing Communications. She leads the team managing the banks’
brands and products, as well a team managing corporate brand communication. Her
responsibilities extend to Garanti’s non-profit organizations, including its
educational foundation and cultural institutions, as they are a strategic
function of corporate brand and reputation management. Prior to her position at Garanti, between the years 2003-2008, Ms. Guvenen was Beko’s Brand and Communications Manager at one of the largest appliance companies
in Europe, Arcelik, of Turkey’s largest private-sector companies. There, she transformed the brand management strategy for Beko, initiating and implementing a Global Brand Management System.
Ms. Guvenen is a graduate of Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. She has
simultaneously held important positions such as member of the Effie Jury Board
and Member of the Turkish Advertisers’ Association’s Executive Board.
She has a perfect command of written and spoken Turkish, French and English and
is conversant in Italian.
Creator of Sport Brands
Stephen is the former Marketing Director of TEAM Marketing, where he was directly responsible for the UEFA Champions League’s Brand management for 20 years. Recently he has authored a book called “Making Champions: the inside story of the UEFA Champions League Brand” to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the brand’s creation in November 1992.
In addition, Stephen has created the Brands for the UEFA SuperCup (2006) the Europa League (2009), the WTA Finals (2014), the World Boxing Super Series (2015), the Danish SuperLiga (2016), the Dutch National Olympic Committee (2017) and many others. Having helped to create around $5 billion in Brand value (as measured by InterBrand), Stephen has unique perspective on how to create value for sport through Brand building.
One of Stephen’s proudest achievements (outside of sport) was the creation of the current Eurovision Song Contest Brand. Which was born in Istanbul in TRT’s office following Sertab’s victory in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.
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