ABOUT ONSIDE
ONSIDE is a pioneering consultancy group with particular expertise in sponsorship and research services in Europe, the Middle East and North America. With decades of experience in independent insights, negotiation, activation, measurement and analysis, we bring exceptional intelligence and objectivity to uncover exponential new and improved outcomes from sponsorship and related fields.
Our clients see us as partners working with them to elevate their business performance and get the best possible return on their investment. From complete new strategies to supporting inspired activation and breakthrough evaluation models, we deliver highly advantageous business and brand outcomes through better built connections and relationships.
MEET OUR TEAM
As the founder and CEO of ONSIDE, John started the business in 2005 and has created one of Europe's leading Sponsorship Consultancy firms. He has more than 15 years’ experience of working with sponsors and rights holders across multiple sectors and platforms, influencing over €50m of sponsorship spend annually through his work in Ireland and Europe with many of the world's biggest and best brands. Recognised as a leading authority in his field, John is a recipient of a Fellowship from the Marketing Institute of Ireland for his contribution to the industry in Ireland, is a regular guest speaker and judge to major industry events in Ireland, Europe and North America, and served as the representative Irish Board Member of the European Sponsorship Association for a decade.
Eithne oversees ONSIDE’s financial and HR operations. Since 2005 she has been building systems and processes to shape the financial management aspects of the business. More recently, Eithne has assumed the mantle of driving the HR and culture function within the business. People are Eithne's passion and she brings a strong point of difference to ONSIDE's operations ensuring our teams are empowered to become the best that they can be, while supporting them in their day to day role.
Kim heads up the Intelligence & Insight team at ONSIDE and manages the varied programmes of research delivered within the business. Kim has over 19 years’ experience in marketing and insights where she led research teams and international agency relationships for brands including RBS, Ulster Bank, Vodafone, Full Tilt Poker, Golden Pages and Aer Lingus. Kim’s work at ONSIDE provides clients with a highly experienced blend of quantitative and qualitative skills, on varied projects from proposition development, continuous tracking and strategy expertise.
London-based Jon Long leads ONSIDE’s international activity with a focus on the UK and Middle East. As the former Head of Strategy at the International Cricket Council, Managing Director of Nielsen Sports and Entertainment and Founder of Bayridge Sports, he has discovered positive commercial, sporting and social outcomes at scale across five continents, working with over 100 rights holders, brands and media companies touching more than 30 sports as well as music, arts and culture.
He has a deep understanding of the industry’s main commercial drivers (particularly sponsorship, media rights and digital), societal role (including fan and community engagement and public health) and growth opportunities (data, distribution, digital engagement, new formats and broader partnership development).
He is inspired by helping rights holders grow their properties/sports and broadcasters/brands make better investment decisions and driven by a desire to bring ever-greater insight, innovation, professionalism and integrity to the industry that ONSIDE thrives in.
Munster based Ciara O ‘Grady joined ONSIDE in 2022 as Senior Consultant, Ciara comes from the Gleneagle Group where she was Director of Arts, Innovation and Corporate Services.
Ciara brings a wealth of experience in marketing, sponsorship programme management, corporate services and preferred partnership programmes. She has worked with both rights holders and sponsors across sectors and geographies, giving her a unique perspective which compliments her skillsets in client and project management.
Susan joined ONSIDE in 2019, as Finance Director she is responsible for managing the financial oversight of the company. She brings comprehensive technical and practical financial skills and experience for the benefit of the company. Susan is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Diploma in International Financial Reporting Standards and a Bachelor of Business Studies from University of Limerick. Susan has worked across a number of sectors including software, music and entertainment, government agency and multinational financial services.
Jim Andrews supports the ONSIDE consulting team in Chicago and brings 30 plus years of international experience to our work as an acknowledged expert in the fields of sponsorship, events and sports marketing. Previously, Jim was instrumental in building pioneering sponsorship firm IEG into a global leader in industry data, information and consulting, working on some of North America’s and the world’s largest sponsorship deals of the past 3 decades.
He was a founding member of the advisory board for the Center for Sports Sponsorship & Sales of the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University and is an adjunct lecturer in North Western University’s Master’s in Sports Administration program, where he teaches a course in sports sponsorship.
2017 Hurler of the Year, Joe Canning has an esteemed career both on and off the pitch. Joe is passionate about the potential of a data driven approach to achieve win-win sponsorship deals for brands, sports personalities and organisations. Joe uses his insight and expertise from his playing career and marketing qualifications to work alongside the ONSIDE team on a mix of client projects and strategy development.
Ireland and Ulster Rugby Captain Rory Best has led Ireland to their maiden two victories over New Zealand and to the 2018 Six Nations Grand Slam, just the nation’s third clean sweep in history. Off the pitch, Rory is planning towards his post playing career including working with ONSIDE around our strong ambition to develop world class solutions in sports intelligence, and in particular in the area of sports talent brand planning. His perspectives in particular in Rugby and Leadership are exceptional, and provide important back-up to the expert advisory team being built at ONSIDE to make game changing impacts on the outcomes of our client’s strategies and investments.
Jill is a highly accomplished marketing professional with over 15 years commercial sponsorship experience managing high profile sport, music and entertainment partnerships across Europe, the USA and the Caribbean. Throughout her varied career, Jill has a proven success record of developing outstanding Partnerships and campaigns with Manchester United, the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Irish Rugby, Live Nation, Ryder Cup, Amex World Golf Championships, Volvo Ocean Race, the Premier League, NFL, Caribbean’s Next Top Model, HBO plus multiple sporting brand ambassadors and International music artists. Jill was a core team member to launch The O2 Dublin, the first venue naming rights deal in Ireland. Jill works on behalf of both Rights Holders and Sponsors and provides expertise on the full sponsorship lifecycle; contract negotiation and disposal, strategy and planning, branding and activation, evaluation and assessment.
Michael Whelan is a Senior Consultant at ONSIDE. He brings to the consulting team a breath of experience in particular from his career at Diageo, where he had lead responsibility for one of Ireland’s largest combined sponsorship portfolios. He has worked on brands including Guinness, Budweiser, Carlsberg, Baileys and Smirnoff, managing a range of significant 7 figure sponsorship and commercial partnerships over the past two decades. His vast experience includes working on many pioneering sponsorship projects across diverse assets from Rugby World Cup, to Ryder Cup, and GAA All Ireland Championships to over 50 regional festivals in Ireland.
