Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerry Cionci.
Hi Jerry, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
While at UCF, I got into the beverage industry as a campus brand ambassador for Coca-Cola. I joined the vitaminwater team, where I would sample bottles out if the student union and MC the vitaminwater van, interacting and educating consumers. After a of couple years, I was promoted to the North Florida Field Marketing Manager for vitaminwater/smartwater/PowerADE during senior year at UCF. I was responsible for managing a team and coordinating key events to build the brand from Orlando to Jacksonville to Tampa. I always wanted to be in brand marketing, and my goal was to take the next step as I wanted to help write the playbook and be involved in more strategy. So by networking with the right people, there was a job opportunity in Bradenton with retailer Champs Sports to join as a Brand Marketing Coordinator. I left Orlando to pursue the new position in the sneaker industry!
My first year, I was working with malls on new store opening signage, planning programs with Asics, New Balance, Timberland, adidas, Nike and helping brainstorm marketing campaign ideas. Then a year into the role, I was offered to take over the Social Media Channels for Champs Sports in 2013! Social Media was so new for brands, and Champs had only had a Facebook and small Twitter presence. There was no Social Media classes at UCF, so I had to learn on the fly, especially with a Billion Dollar brand… no pressure! Having to dive into Social, I quickly leaned how to interpret data to steer creative decisions, copy-write to stay on brand tone, build influencer partnerships too generate brand awareness, and execute campaigns digitally.
Fast forward to eight years later, my team and I have built our Champs Sports community to over 7 Million Followers, including @champssports Instagram from scratch at 2.1M Followers and TikTok at 100k. We have hundreds of influencers in our network, generate millions of dollars on social media through advertising and have one of the top social media teams in our industry. I have been fortunate to work along many of the world’s top athletes and brands, as well as directly with partners like Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.
As of 2020, I was promoted to Sr. Manager of Social for Champs Sports and Eastbay. Given COVID and the working from home, time frees up a bit. I always had a passion for Real Estate, and always trying to learn and push myself, I became a Florida REALTOR. Sneakers are my main love, but I partnered with Florida Executive Realty and a Top Producing Agent Jim Henning to serve the Tampa Bay and Orlando area markets. I will be focusing on pushing myself to learn the ins and outs of this industry in 2021 and balance my current role. In life you have to have options and grow.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Organizationally, especially with Champs Sports, I have learned in order to move up, you have to set clear goals and expectations with your manager about where you want to be and what you can improve on. No one is looking out for you, so you have to look out for yourself and speak up. Some of these conversations might be uncomfortable about what you are doing wrong, but at the end of the day, if you take criticism well you can push yourself to be better and get those big promotions.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Sneakers and Real Estate. I am known for my brand marketing and social media expertise, from creative, influencer marketing to 360 marketing campaign development. What sets me apart is my ability to see trends before they go mainstream and my relationship building and having an eye for viral content. Here are some examples, but very proud of the following programs from capturing a viral video with Migos, doing the Mannequin Challenge with rapper Designer, working with DJ Khaled on a video game, to being the first retailer to test brand new Snapchat Augmented Reality Sneaker Try On Lens:
https://www.xxlmag.com/watch-footage-quavo-throwing-football-into-basketball-net/
https://solecollector.com/news/2016/11/desiigner-adidas-champs-sports-mannequin-challenge
https://solecollector.com/news/2017/01/champs-sports-dj-khaled-video-game
https://www.marketingdive.com/news/champs-sports-boosts-photo-sharing-with-ar-shoe-try-on-in-snapchat/585551/
Regarding Real Estate, what I’ve learned from branding, being a problem solver, and my natural relationship building, I know I will succeed to help people buy and sell their dream homes. Contact me at jerrycionci.homes@gmail.com and I would be happy to help you solve your problems!
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Attend networking events and try to meet as many people as you can. Don’t force it. Be genuine and ask questions to open people up. You want to listen more, talk less and have them get “time of possession” as people love to talk about themselves! Once you listen, you can probe and steer the conversation to get the most out of it. Once you connect with someone you would like as a mentor, make sure you check in on a regular basis, building rapport and make it mutually beneficial to add value to one another.
Contact Info:
- Email: jerrycionci.homes@gmail.com
- Website: https://jerrycionci.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jerrycionci/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/public/Jerry-Cionci-II
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJF6xZtHVTLkwUiA_zDSaFQ
