Roger Duthie, Global Head of Sponsorships at Emirates Airline moves to Performance54
Performance54, a sports marketing and consultancy group positioned among the FT 1000 fastest growing privately owned companies in Europe, has added significant experience to its team with the appointment of a trio of golf and sports marketing industry heavyweights.
Roger Duthie, formerly Global Head of Sponsorships at Emirates Airline, arrives at Performance54 as Chief Sponsorship Officer, while maintaining management of his own sports marketing consultancy in Dubai. During his nearly 20 years at Emirates Airline, Duthie led a team of marketing professionals in activating some of the world’s most prestigious sporting and cultural events. He helped build Emirates Airline into one of the world’s most iconic brands through the platform of high-profile sports, arts and cultural sponsorships.
These sponsorships included The Ryder Cup, FIFA World Cup, ICC World Cups, IRB Rugby World Cup, several global football properties including Arsenal, Real Madrid, AC Milan, and PSG, as well as signing the biggest tennis deal at the time with the ATP to include the net sponsorship for all men’s tennis events worldwide.
Duthie has also worked with several cricket clubs and led Emirates’ foray into the Indian Premier League (IPL) by signing deals with the Kings XI Punjab and the Deccan Chargers. He has worked with most of the world’s major sporting organizations, including the PGA Tour, PGA European Tour, Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour, NFL and the tennis grand slams, including the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australian Open.
Additionally, he oversaw several stadium naming rights deals, including Emirates Stadium in London, Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg, and several cricket venues, including the famed Emirates Old Trafford. He will be based in Dubai.
“I’m thrilled to be working with one of the most exciting sports marketing and sponsorship agencies in the world,” said Duthie. “To have an opportunity to work on golf events that will change the history of the sport is incredible.
“I am particularly excited to be part of a team of industry professionals hoping to evolve the way we look at golf and help the sport to fully capitalise on its true potential. We plan to put on the greatest golf events in the world with unprecedented opportunities for sponsors and fans, alike.”
Anthony Banerjee joins Performance54 as Commercial Director KSA, having spent the previous eight-and-a-half-years with Manchester United working across almost the entire commercial function in various geographies and cultures. Initially headhunted to bring industry expertise to the club’s marketing partnerships, he was then seconded to Hong Kong to lead all media partnerships globally, before overseeing the Hong Kong office and managing the club’s sponsorships across the Asia Pacific region.
His final role for the Red Devils was Head of Strategic Market Development, where he was responsible for defining and evaluating new go-to-market strategies across the club’s future key markets.
Based in the company’s new Riyadh base, he has already set about growing Performance54’s team on the ground in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, while extending the company’s reach as one of the most ambitious and innovative marketing businesses in the country.
He said: “I’m delighted to be joining Performance54 Group in Riyadh where there are significant growth opportunities in golf and other sports as part of Vision 2030. I’m looking forward to using my experience across sport and technology to enhance the great work already being done by the team.”
Performance54 also announces Tom Hogg, a former Director of WME│IMG, as Event Director, working across the company’s growing portfolio of professional golf events internationally, including the upcoming Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour.
Having joined IMG in 2011, he was instrumental in delivering the staging and operations for events such as the Women’s British Open, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Johnnie Walker Classic, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Volvo World Matchplay and Ladies Scottish Open.
As the Account Director for over 5 years, Hogg played a pivotal role in successfully delivering HSBC’s global golf sponsorship programme. Working closely with golf’s major governing bodies, he helped HSBC fulfil their marketing objectives through activation and experiential concepts at the WGC HSBC China, HSBC Women’s World Championships in Singapore, The Open Championship and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Hogg was the Director of Staging and Operations for the 2019 Solheim Cup and had a successful run as Tournament Director for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, delivering year-on-year growth in earned media value, spectator attendance and sponsor satisfaction. Most recently, he held the role of Head of Covid-19 Operations within IMG Golf, working closely with key Government officials and medical experts to ensure the safe continuation of golf events in the UK.
“Having gained invaluable experience at IMG I’m really excited to be joining the Performance54 team as the Series Director for the Aramco Team Series,” said Hogg. “I love the concept of the Series; it’s exciting and engaging, and its innovative team format encourages participation and interest in the ladies’ game by bringing the worlds of sport and business together.
“With the support of the team at Performance54 and through the vision of Golf Saudi, I’m excited to be leading the series and helping to drive its growth in each of the major territories.”
Performance54 was named Golf Business of the Year at the 2020 World Golf Awards and was the first sports marketing agency to rank within the top 15 of the Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 (a list of the fastest growing privately owned companies in the UK) two years in-a-row. It was also listed as the 171st fastest growing privately owned company in Europe in the Financial Times’ FT 1000 list for 2020.
With a broad scope of service, including strategic consultancy, advertising planning, event creation, digital activation, creative design and research & analysis, Performance54 has evolved its proposition and acquired best-in-class talent, providing its clients and partners the most complete and diverse service mix.
