Mike Hersom, President

Mike’s experience in the experiential marketing industry began before entering high school when he had a unique opportunity to work with the Busch City Ski program in 1985. His years of marketing and specialized project management experience have helped Mike fill a variety of roles within ignition. Previous to his promotion to president, he headed the Global Projects Group and has had the opportunity to work in more than 60 countries. He has also worked on most facets of the agency’s business, including account management, field and tour management, production, and logistics, staffing and market intelligence.  Promoted to President in 2007, his vision for the agency’s long term growth focuses on eco/social experiential marketing.
 
During his tenure with ignition, Mike’s signature projects have included leading program operations for Coca-Cola and its sponsorship of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay, development and production of both the Indy Racing League Fan Experience and the Vodafone Test Track program leveraging Vodafone’s sponsorship of the Ferrari F1 team, and the recent world-wide tour of the authentic FIFA World Cup™ Trophy. He led the international production in 2007 of the inaugural around-the-world-on-foot running event for non-profit Blue Planet Run Foundation. Additionally, he directed the global sponsorship activation efforts for Live Earth, the worldwide concert series that took place on 7-7-07 in eight countries.     
 
Previous to ignition, he was the division experiential marketing manager for Coca-Cola Southern Africa from 1997 to 2001, where he was responsible for ten countries.  From 1993 to 1996, Mike worked at Momentum and McCann Erickson Event Marketing.