The duo behind ticketing platform SeatGeek‘s pop culture-savvy creator partnerships are starting their own marketing agency.
Ian Borthwick, formerly SeatGeek’s VP of influencer marketing, and Greg Hempenius, formerly SeatGeek’s manager of influencer partnerships, are today launching Leveraged Media–and revealing they were behind TikToker Alix Earle‘s recent viral appearance at an NCAA basketball game.
At SeatGeek, Borthwick and Hempenius put together campaigns with more than 2,000 creators, including Noel Miller, Cody Ko, Emma Chamberlain, Casey Neistat, Pat McAfee, Kian Lawley, and JC Caylen. These campaigns have collectively generated more than 3.5 billion views to date.
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“Ian and Greg—now Leveraged Media—have been instrumental in driving SeatGeek’s growth,” Sarah Kettler, SeatGeek’s VP of brand, consumer, and enterprise marketing, said in a statement. “They have helped make SeatGeek the leading ticketer amongst the next generation of fans through their unique approach that both builds SeatGeek’s brand and delivers performance-backed results. We look forward to the strong creator partnerships to come.”
Borthwick and Hempenius tell Tubefilter they decided to start Leveraged Media because they saw that “brands are struggling to find agency partners who have built influencer programs to scale themselves.”
“We’re builders. We built influencer marketing at SeatGeek to the industry leader—and we want to bring that playbook to other brands,” Borthwick says. “Too many agencies are short-term focused, recommending a spray-and-pray approach to their clients instead of focusing on consistent long-term partnerships.”
SeatGeek is joining the agency as a client. Meanwhile, Earle’s splashy appearance at a recent Miami Hurricanes vs UConn Huskies game was the kickoff to a partnership advertising the NCAA’s Final Four, and is just the first of Leveraged Media’s planned creator campaigns.
@alixearle GO CANES 🏀🧡💚 @seatgeek #marchmadness #finalfour #umiami #houston ♬ original sound – alix earle
