Meet...Shaun Whitmarsh, Hampshire Cricket Marketing Executive

What are you responsible for within your role?

My role at Hampshire Cricket includes a number of different responsibilities of which the main focus is assisting in the delivery of all marketing campaigns across the venue. Over the course of the season and year there is a shift in focus between cricket and events, including between domestic competitions, International fixtures and other key events held at the venue. During the season my other key responsibility is to plan and deliver match day activation. This stretches from arranging any pre-match activities, entertainment around the ground, live post-match musical performances and even the music played at the venue during the match.

During the season, what are your day-to-day activities?

With the cricketing fixture list jam-packed with games, it’s very rare that there is a time when Hampshire aren’t playing a fixture either here at the The Ageas Bowl or on their travels. With this being the case there are always upcoming matches to make sure fans are aware of and be encouraged to attend, whether that be for their first ever trip to the The Ageas Bowl or their hundredth! With T20 Blast fixtures attracting our largest domestic crowds to the venue, the vast majority of my time is spent raising the awareness of these in a variety of ways including email and direct mail campaigns, flyers and posters around the local area and onsite marketing material. On a match day you can normally find me pitch side when my role changes slightly as I coordinate and deliver the music and big screen production, with our big screen permanently installed in 2014.

What do you do during the off-season?

The majority of the off season is dedicated toward the planning of the upcoming season so areas such as planning marketing campaigns and devising new strategies to reach demographics we haven’t previously established contact with but feel would enjoy the The Ageas Bowl's offering.  A key way to achieve this is the management and the development of reciprocal working relationships with other sports clubs and attractions in the area, which is a key focus for me. Other events that I work on over the off season include the The Ageas Bowl's annual Firework Party which was once again a brilliant spectacle in 2015. During the Christmas period the events side of the venue goes into overdrive with the amount of Christmas parties hosted, so there are often ways in which we can help support the events delivery team through tasks such as sending out and collating feedback forms.

What inspired you to get into your current role?

Having worked for Hampshire Cricket for a number of years covering a wide variety of roles alongside achieving my degree in Sports Management from Bournemouth University I have always had a passion for sport and the sports industry. After several work placements, work experience opportunities and sports marketing based modules on my course I soon realised that I wanted to pursue a career in the industry.

Away from the The Ageas Bowl, do you have any hobbies and what do you like to do in your spare time?

Sport tends to dominate a lot of my time outside of work as I manage an 11 a-side football team for which I have even recruited some of the older members of staff to dust off their boots and join in! I’m also a keen American Football fan and participated in the staff cricket match this year, which was a great chance to play on the main wicket at the The Ageas Bowl. My performance on the other hand left plenty to be desired after getting out for a duck, luckily I managed to redeem myself behind the stumps by taking arguably the best catch the The Ageas Bowl has ever seen (in my opinion)!

Name an interesting fact about yourself.

A few years ago going into T20 Finals Day the club found themselves without a mascot for the legendary mascot race. Normally I would jump at the chance but seeing as I had recently torn my ACL for a second time I wasn't convinced; alas the lure of a pair of free tickets was too much to turn down. The race itself was incredible and against all odds I won (6^th place), a real fairy tale ending! Mascot race aside, Hampshire went on to win the T20 title that day!