How Great Brands Build Audiences: Lessons from inside global sport

Drawing on lessons from global sport, media and startup leadership, Sharon Fuller explores how brands cut through, build audiences and create something people genuinely care about. 

Sharon Fuller has travelled the world working across different countries, sports and audiences, with experience spanning major global organisations and startup leadership. 

This session will draw on lessons from her career across the BBC, Red Bull, the NBA and her own startup, Original Version, to explore how brands connect with people, stand out in crowded markets and build something people genuinely care about. 

It will also look at why the sports industry needs disruption, where change has happened across Sharon’s career, and how leaders can prioritise the work that creates the greatest impact. 

Who should attend

This session is for founders, marketers, brand leaders, commercial teams, media professionals and anyone responsible for growing an audience, customer base or following. 

It will be relevant to businesses of all sizes looking to strengthen engagement, build visibility and create stronger market impact. 

Why it’s relevant

In crowded markets, attention is hard to earn and even harder to sustain. Great brands are not built simply by being visible; they are built by understanding audiences, creating relevance and giving people a reason to care. 

Sport offers powerful lessons because it sits at the intersection of identity, emotion, community, content, performance and commercial growth. 

This session is relevant because those lessons apply well beyond sport, particularly for businesses trying to build stronger audience relationships, improve engagement and create more distinctive brands. 

What you’ll take away

You will gain practical insight into how audiences are built, why some brands and organisations cut through more effectively than others, and what it takes to create impact in highly competitive environments. 

You will also hear behind-the-scenes lessons from a remarkable career spanning global sport, media and startup leadership, with takeaways that apply well beyond the sports world.