Jerry Cionci II
A VERSATILE BUSINESS LEADER AND VISIONARY.
Social Media Marketing Professional and Entrepreneur.
Currently serving as the Senior Social Media and Influencer Marketing Manager at Trulieve, the world’s largest cannabis company.
Previously led Social and Influencer Programs at Foot Locker Inc. for over a decade.
Brand Marketing Work
Proven Social Media Growth and Brand Engagement
Drove Social Strategy for Champs Sports community, hitting 7 Million fans to date, (including building a 2.1 Million Instagram page from scratch) through premium content development, credible influencer relationships and strategic brand partnerships.
Led strategy to build Champs Sports Women’s community to 800k+ followers on Facebook + Instagram in three years.
Strong Network of Influencer and Partnership Relationships
Established Champs Sports, in the retail space, as one of the best in class retailers with always on influencer strategy since 2013.
Led with building direct relationships with over 500+ influencers through monthly seeding programs, content creation with micro/macro partners including athletes and celebs, to the grassroots level sneaker-head. (Favorites include DJ Khaled “Jordan Gatorade Cooler” Influencer Package and TikTok’s Daniel Labelle )
Seasoned experience in negotiating contracts and terms with talent and brand partners alike.
Omni Channel Campaign Management
Helped build strategy based on key insight for numerous brand marketing campaigns of all sizes and scopes; including idea generation, production, content development, Media Agency briefs, testing new media platforms, to execution of the plan.
Champs Sports first Retailer to leverage Snapchat AR Sneaker Try-On BETA
Showcasing Trulieve's Excellence in Quality Control and Education.
As the Senior Social Media and Influencer Marketing Manager at Trulieve, my vision is to highlight the exceptional quality and rigorous standards behind our state-of-the-art cannabis products through engaging and informative videos. These behind-the-scenes glimpses showcase our stringent quality control measures and advanced cultivation techniques, building trust and underscoring our commitment to excellence. Our educational content demystifies cannabis by explaining the science and craftsmanship involved, empowering our audience with knowledge. By creating high-quality video content that tells the story of our products and processes, we enhance Trulieve's brand reputation, foster customer loyalty, and solidify our position as an industry leader.
Created a "Masterful Touch" Series to showcase the craftsmanship of the cannabis oil vape extraction process, showcasing high-quality, informative content that highlights our commitment to excellence and transparency.
Developed social media series "In The Garden" to highlight expert cultivation team to educate patients on strain, process and quality control to let people know we have the best products around.
Jesser “Out of Control” Content Series and Product Capsule
Insight(s)
We at Champs Sports saw an opportunity to build credibility in the gaming space, given the affinity our consumers had towards influencers in that realm.
Along with generating engagement, and diversifying our influencer network, we were looking to commercialize through a product capsule as well.
Execution
We partnered with Complex to develop a video gaming series with a gamer that crossed over into sport, for a new series called “Out of Control” with our host Jesser. Each episode, we paired Jesser to play athletes in specific video games, as we had free flowing dialogue to talk gaming , lifestyle and kicks.
After the initial success, through tapping into Jesser’s community, we teased out the idea of a “Out of Control” collaboration after Season 1. Which during Season 2, partners came on board (Puma, New Era and JBL) which helped Jesser design the product.
Just in time for the finale, we launched the highly anticipated “Out of Control” capsule campaign.
Results
“Out of Control” Generated over 7 Million Video Views to date, netting average of 275k views, generated $500k in revenue and 63% VTR.
The product collab sold out in one day, with 100 units at a $350 price point.
Champs Sports leadership as appetite to mimic strategy with other series, and we are renewing for a 3rd season.
Champs Sports “The Moment” Series
Insight(s)
Rappers and their impact on fashion trends has been undeniable.
There was also a void to go inside the minds of an athlete’s mindset and to tell that story of “the moment” they knew they were destined for greatness.
So we wanted to blend the best if both worlds.
If we had to make a soundtrack to that athlete’s moment, what would it be?
Execution
Partnered with key brand partners to align brand, athlete , product and rapper to produce content including custom track to celebrate “The Moment”.
We were searching for up-and-coming artists that had similar career parallels and trajectory to the athletes.
Three years and a handful off bangers later, we ended up launching five total campaigns from adidas (Tory Lanez + Joel Embiid, Gunna + Jalen Brown) to Under Armour (Migos + Julio Jones, 2 Chainz + Cam Newton , Quavo + TI + Brandon Marshall) as brand partners.
Results
This gave Champs Sports credibility in the culture with millions of earned impressions , millions of views and double digit sell-through through on each campaign.
The timing for most of these campaigns was getting the athlete and rapper on the cusp of “blowing up” which that cultural insight and positive reception made Champs Sports live up to mantra ‘We Know Game’.
The @jerrycionci viral video of Quavo’s half-court football toss in basketball hoop garnered over 46 million earned impressions and was most viral moment for Champs Sports all time. https://www.xxlmag.com/watch-footage-quavo-throwing-football-into-basketball-net/
Nike X Champs Sports “Refresh Your Game”
Insight(s)
No one is wearing the full Nike Tuxedo anymore.
Individuals mix and match (High/Low Fashion).
Let’s market authenticity.
The head to toe hook-up was a story that was forced throughout the sports retail industry. For authenticity and inspiration, we saw the need to go into athletes closets to pair items with key products they would realistically style.
Execution
With the insight, we partnered with Nike on a seasonal platform called “Refresh Your Game”, where we met up in the offseason with athletes such as Deshaun Watson, Travis Kelce, Ben Simmons, Khalil Mack, Baker Mayfield, Bradley Beal and Kyler Murray on a weekly video series launching throughout the season to highlight their styles.
Being unscripted, we keep the dialogue free-flowing, steering the conversations into style inspiration, motivation, mindset and confidence when it comes to on and off the field.
Results
With the success of the campaign, and over 70 short videos, high double digit sell-throughs and millions of video views, the really helped solidify the Nike + Champs strategic partnership.
Nike started to open up their sports marketing roster to Champs Sports to leverage more top tier talent, as well from an assortment standpoint, this helped build the case to gain access to more depth in key Nike Sportswear products.
WWE Sneaker Watch
Through market research, we saw our consumers were gravitating to pro-wrestlers both from a current and nostalgic perspective. In addition we noticed the trend of wresters rocking sneakers in the ring.
We identified talent, and jumped on the opportunity to seed with unreleased sneakers to create hype, having WWE Superstars just tag @ChampsSports in exchange.
From organic relationships established, we then formalized a partnership with WWE, lasting for three-years. This was led with bi-weekly Snapchat Takeovers, media placements and community events.
Over the duration of working with WWE, ten’s of millions of impressions were generated, we gained over 100k Champs Sports snapchat followers, and featured over 23 wrestlers to take fans behind the scenes, hours before their shows.
This partnership helped give Champs Sports credibility in the wrestling space with many WWE Superstars still linked to our brand, and to this day are friends of the brand often organically shop at our stores routinely tag us.
Put In Work
We are re-positioning Eastbay’s brand to validate, motivate and inspire our core consumer as the go-to for the competitive athlete to cop their performance gear each season.
We saw an opportunity to launch an evergreen campaign to motivate and drop knowledge on athletes, through quick sports drills, through series called “Put in Work”. By partnering with credible trainers and athletes to educate our audience on these sports drills, while showing off the latest performance gear, this adds value to the content and helps align with brand objectives.
This series has generated hundreds of thousands of views thus far, included on the Eastbay Blog, and is going to be integrated into upcoming Eastbay catalogs, rotating specific sports and seasonal products.
Passion for Real Estate
Florida REALTOR® and Investor
$15,000,000 Million+ in Total Sales Volume
Over 25 Transactions on Buying + Selling Side
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Jerry was wonderful to work with. He was responsive, accommodating to my time / work schedule, and proactive In helping me find house options. In the current market it’s a challenge to find a house and win the bid. His positive attitude that it would all work out in the end helped keep me from getting discouraged. I would definitely recommend him. We finally scored a gem of a house! " - Carolyn Benson (Realtor.com Review)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ " Jerry is hands down the best realtor in Florida I've worked with. His professionalism, communication skills, market knowledge & upbeat positive attitude made my home buying experience enjoyable and exciting. Many people talk about how nerve-wracking purchasing a home can be. At no point throughout working with Jerry did I feel stressed or pressured. If you are looking to purchase a home, look no further than Jerry Cionci!" - Gregory Betz (Realtor.com Review)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Smooth transaction. No complaints.” - Carlos Perez (Realtor.com Review)
