Soccerex are delighted to announce that James Kirkham, Head of Copa90, the world’s largest independent football media business, will be speaking at the Soccerex Global Convention 2017, Manchester, 4-6 September. James will be adding his expert insights and sharing thoughts on Copa90’s success within the football media industry in a session looking at the future of fan generated content.

With a proven background in mobile and social media, James was brought in by Copa90 to head up the channel’s global expansion, and since his arrival the company has teamed up with Bleacher Report to create ‘Saturdays are Lit’; a successful mini TV series exclusive to the social media platform Snapchat. Copa90 have created a diverse range of successful fan generated content, distributed across multiple channels, such as they’re infamous ‘FIFA and Chill’ show which has featured stars such as Dele Ali, Gary Lineker and Theo Walcott playing FIFA whilst being interviewed. Copa90 also report heavily on fan culture including showcasing some of the biggest football rivalries around the world, by interviewing fans and showcasing the rivalries’ history leading up to the match.

Beyond just providing entertaining content for their youthful demographic, Copa90 also showcase a number of social development projects and were recently involved with The Liberté Cup, a football tournament made for refugees living in northern France. Demonstrating their production quality and eye for a story, Copa90 collaborated with ITV to produce a programme for the channel which demonstrated how football can be used as a tool for social change.

Before working at Bigballs Media as the Chief Strategy Officer, the corporation behind Copa90, James was Global Head of Social and Mobile at leading advertising agency Leo Burnett Worldwide where his clients included Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, Coca Cola, and Kellogg’s. He was also the co-founder of digital agency Holler where he worked with brands such as Arla Foods, Mercedes-Benz, P&G and Red Bull.

At the Global Convention, James will be channelling his years of experience working with elite brands and his time as head of Copa90 to give his thoughts on the commercial opportunities presented by fan generated content, it’s potential use by rights holders and how to ensure the network maintains its most vital characteristic; authenticity.

James will be contributing to a thought provoking conference programme at the Soccerex Global Convention 2017, designed to deliver unique business insight across a variety of football’s key sectors from stadia design, sponsorship, international investment, the latest in wearable technology and the rise of influencer marketing.

(Soccerex Press Release)