- Age: 36
- Title: Vice President and Group Director, Sponsorship Research International
- First job: Landscaping back in high school
- College education: Bachelor's degree in marketing, Penn State University
- Resides: New Canaan, Conn.
- Grew up: Big Flats, N.Y.
- Executive most admired: Bill Gates
- Brand most admired: Nike
- Favorite vacation spot: Chatham, Mass.
- Last book read: "Big Joe's Trailer Truck" by Joe Mathieu, to the kids
- Last movie seen: "Kung Fu Panda"
- Favorite movie: "Caddyshack" and "Slap Shot"
- Favorite musician: Billy Joel

1) What is the biggest risk you've taken in your career?

Jeff Eccleston: It was probably back in late 1999 when I took the job with SRI. I had no idea that less than a year later their parent company [ISL Worldwide] would go bankrupt.

2) What is your biggest professional accomplishment?

Jeff Eccleston: When SRI's parent company went bankrupt, I remember we were all called into a conference room, and via global conference call, we were all told they were closing the doors immediately, so basically no notice. So a colleague of mine and I were able to keep the SRI business going and make it into the company that it is today.

3) What career advice do you have for people wanting into the sports industry?

Jeff Eccleston: Having experience in other industries [that] can be applied and brought to this industry is extremely important. Also, there is no substitute for hard work.

4) What is one story you are continuing to watch in the sports world today?

Jeff Eccleston: The story that I'm watching, certainly in my world, is from an ROI perspective, and watching the research techniques that we are developing … [that] are evolving at a very rapid pace. Lots of people are talking about ROI and are really getting to a point where we have techniques and process that can deliver on that need.

5) What is the one element you would like to see changed about the sports industry?

Jeff Eccleston: Just the real commitment to measurement, really understanding what is driving impact. As an industry everyone is talking about it, but I would still like to see us become much more proactive in evaluating versus being really reactive on the back end.

6) How is the importance of media measurement in the current recession changed?

Jeff Eccleston: The importance of media measurement is waning a bit. … Brands are becoming much more focused on not only just media measurement, but quantifying how the activities have built their brands in terms of building brand equity. So media measurement is really only one small component.

Back to In the News