ESPN appoints head of ad sales for Southeast Asia

ESPN has named Manu Sanghi as its new head of ad sales for Southeast Asia (SEA). The new appointment is yet another addition to its recently aligned leadership team in the region.Sanghi who started the new role on 4 September 2017, will be based in ESPN’s offices in Singapore. He reports to Joyee Biswas, head of ESPN SEA, and will be responsible for managing the expanding position of the ESPN business in the region.Additionally, Sanghi will be focusing on custom content solutions and creating original programming for advertisers, as well as supporting various business partners in the region. ESPN said its ad sales business within SEA has seen significant growth over the last 12 months, with highlights including TCL’s Inspiring Bonding Moments and Heineken’s Champion The Match campaigns; both of which drove sports fan engagement using custom content and targeted media.Sanghi brings over 15 years of experience managing global brands, having worked in media agencies across multiple markets including Dentsu, MEC and Havas. Prior to ESPN, Sanghi spent five years with MEC in Dubai before moving to Singapore to join Havas Media, where he managed Hyundai-Kia, Emirates Airlines and LG Electronics. A move to Scripps Networks in early 2015 saw Sanghi manage its regional business development with highlights including new business partnerships with Emborg, AccorHotels and Emirates.“I am really excited about this opportunity to work with the ESPN SEA team. It’s a dream come true for a huge sports fan like me to be joining ESPN. I feel a combination of my passion for sports and media industry experience will help me deliver on my responsibilities and grow our business in SEA,” Sanghi added.“We are so happy to welcome Sanghi to the ESPN SEA team. His new perspective and creative thinking will strengthen the great team we already have in place here,” Biswas said.“Our business here in SEA has recently gone from strength to strength and due to increasing interest in ESPN’s content driven programs in market, we are looking forward to Manu taking the Sanghi sponsorship business to the next level," ESPN’s director of advertising and sponsorship sales for APAC, Marc Mallett, said.The American sports media company made a slew of new appointments for content and strategy teams in June this year. This included announcing a change in the teams overseeing ESPN’s strategy and business development work. Among the changes of roles and duties, ESPN appointed Connor Schell as the executive vice president of content. Schell oversees all of ESPN’s content creation across ESPN’s television, digital and print platforms. He also undertakes additional responsibility for studio and remote production, and digital and print content creation.As part of these overall changes, Ryan Spoon, senior vice president, product and digital media, will now report to Aaron LaBerge, executive vice president and chief technology officer, fully integrating product and technology development under LaBerge. Spoon will continue to lead the design, product management, and audience development for all of ESPN’s digital products and will add responsibility for digital media prioritisation and strategy.