In a new feature on the website, each week we will interview someone from the sport media and marketing industry to find out a bit more about them, what they do and their sporting loves.
If you want to be featured, drop us an email at hello@jdgsport.com
Second in the hotseat is Barry Gough, Managing Director of Memento Exclusives. Check out the previous edition with Simon Boynton from Digital Sports Group.
Tell us more about your company and what you do in sport
At Memento Exclusives, we take genuine pieces of sporting history and transform them into innovative memorabilia for fans to own! For example, we work as a licensed partner ofMERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One™ Team to ‘re-engineer’ their race-used car parts into stylish and practical pieces for fans’ homes – from Lewis Hamilton Championship-Winning Wheel Rim Tables, to Nico Rosberg’s Framed Car Bodywork.
How did you personally get in to sport?
I have always been interested in sports since a young age playing football & rugby. My first job was working in motor racing at the age of 16 and I worked as a Formula One mechanic for Jordan F1 Team and BAR Honda.
What is your favourite sport / clubs?
I like all sports especially motor racing, I follow football and I support Arsenal.
What is your earliest sporting memory?
My Dad used to take me to the Silverstone GP from an early age.
How do you use social media within your business?
Our social media use is definitely increasing as our customers like to interact with us via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Most of our products are completely unique and they tend to be popular on social media.
What can you do to stand out from the crowd?
Our objective is to design and produce stunning, authentic sports memorabilia which places a genuine piece of the sport in fans’ hands. Due to the genuine sporting heritage of the pieces we produce, they are often only available in highly limited edition runs.
Do you find one of your biggest challenges is authenticity and establishing yourselves as trustworthy and reliable, given anyone can set up in the digital space?
We only work under official licenses with sports teams and athletes to ensure that everything we produce is 100% authentic. All of our sports heritage pieces come with an official certificate of authenticity.
What is the favourite item you’ve ever had at Sports Memento?
We recently sold Ayrton Senna’s 1984 Toleman race car – Senna’s debut F1 car. Every piece of memorabilia that we sell has a story behind it, and the story behind that car will live on for many generations to come.
Formula 1 has only recently started to embrace digital channels – do you think that it’s been less behind and that fans of F1 are less used to being engaged online?
Formula 1 has used digital channels for a long time, they have just been opened up more lately so I don’t see it as a problem
If you could have three sportsmen/women round for tea, who would it be and why?
Arsene Wenger (I’m a big Arsenal fan), Jenson Button (he’s a genuinely great guy) and Usain Bolt (I’d love to meet him)
