It’s Monday – the start of Week 6 for MSBA 2017 – and I got to MISSION at 9am to start my daily routine of reports and data analytics. Since my last blog was all about MISSION, I will not bore you with all the nerdy stuff I did during my day (like KPIs, inventory turnover and sell-through percentages). Today’s blog will be focused on our Office Field Trip to CSM Advisory Group, and since it’s a lot to process I will divide it into two parts.

Part I: The Change

CSM Advisory Group is a brand consulting company focused on global sports and entertainment. Formerly known as GlideSlope, CSM Advisory Group is a New York based company that works with a portfolio ranging from Fortune 100 brands to the Olympic Games. As of April 2017, CSM Sport & Entertainment – a worldwide marketing agency – acquired GlideSlope; tonight, Molly Rauhauser, Jess Frieder and Samantha Zeiss walked us through the change, the rebranding and the improved version of CSM Advisory Group.

Every time we go through a significant change in our lives, it is important to ask ourselves, “What aspects are worth keeping and how can we use it to our advantage?” This is exactly what GlideSlope demonstrated as part of their transformation into CSM Advisory Group. Although they are now part of a multinational corporation, they held onto the entrepreneurial and “boutique shop” aspect of their business. By what I perceived from our Speakers, CSM maintains a culture where ideas are welcomed and employees are empowered with challenges. All in all, “it’s a culture about pushing ourselves to be better” and a skill that we should all apply in our daily lives.

Part II: The Outer Lens

Consulting is a world of analytics, strategy and research. Imagine what it would be like to put all these aspects into perspective and analyze the world’s largest sports event. CSM calls themselves the “Olympic experts” because of their top-level research and strategic thinking. I do not doubt this, as I have personally lived the craziness of an Olympic Games. Working for the National Olympic Committee of Costa Rica taught me the logistics and procedures necessary for one of the 207 nations that participated at the Rio 2016.

“In short, I want to thank CSM Advisory Group and MSBA for teaching me how to challenge myself and look at the sports industry with a more analytical and broader lens.”

Now, what about the sponsors and the external companies that support such a ginormous event? Who helps them navigate that space? This is exactly where CSM Advisory Group comes into play – they assist their client to make an optimum investment. Through several months of sports strategy, analytical insights and operational analytics, the “Olympic experts” tell the client how they should invest.

Since I was very focused on the internal part of the Olympic Games, I never thought about how complex the marketing and sponsorship world is; in fact, now that I put it into perspective, sponsorships are the basic pillars that make the Olympic Games such a remarkable experience.

In short, I want to thank CSM Advisory Group and MSBA for teaching me how to challenge myself and look at the sports industry with a more analytical and broader lens.