When Sports & Marketing Collide With Simon Arsenault.
I would like to start things off with a shocker and a fact. Here’s the shocker, even though I’ved worked with professional athletes in the course of my career and always respected their winner mindset; sports never really spoke to me like that before. Here’s the fact though, Simon Arsenault is probably the only person on planet Earth that really painted me a picture where sports and real life can actually affect one another. I might never wear boxing gloves, throw myself on ice or swim my heart out but my perspective on sports and more specifically the professional athletes in it is forever changed.
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I don’t really care or want to know what you do in life, I’m more curious to know how you feel about what you do.
To me Simon Arsenault is the epidemy of what passion sounds and feels like.
Working closely or in team with Simon gave me a window in his world and somehow someway the only word that remains is : Sports.
I used to think sports wasn’t something I should pay attention until I’ve met and talked with an athlete in real life.
Not only I was shocked to see the humility that some had but I was inspired also by how much work goes into it and excited and focus they all seem to be.
It sorta clicked in my mind that this is what Simon actually does for a living. He takes an athlete and exposes their greatness for the world to see.
MVP Group was founded in 2016 and gave birth to an idea.
Often times sports athletes in Quebec go on and have a career, then retire and then…nothing.
Not to say that they don’t have anything going on for themselves but it seems like their relevancy and their public appreciation are out the window once they don’t wear the skates anymore.
That’s where Simon had the brilliant idea to combine sports personnalities with the advertising world.
Even though you might think you’ve seen it all in the US, it was fairly new in Quebec at the time.
I’m talking about giving heroes of the past, because they are heroes, a chance to stay in the public eye and yet still affect the social climate.
When you hear advertising, the thing that comes to mind is mass consumption.
For MVP Group, the idea was to build the bridge between brands and athletes but also to push role models in the forefront.
Campaigns like ”Soyez le Jouer Étoile” with Guy Lafleur for lung cancer and the historical moment where we saw Patrick Roy and Mario Tremblay make ammends for a Uber Eats‘ campaign.
It’s all those little things that tell me there must be more than a cheque for someone like Simon Arsenault.
Today marks the 5 year anniversary of his company, with a roster counting George Saint-Pierre, Sébastien Toutant, Bruny Surin, Lucian Bute and many more. I can’t wait to see how this entrepreneur will bring to life greater projects and how once again this will change the landscape as it always did.