Start Here / Never Stop Podcast: Brian Strong '00

UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media alumnus Brian Strong '00 is the senior vice president of brand communications at FOX Sports, working to elevate the brand storytelling strategy connected to key sports and entertainment moments, digital platforms, major marketing campaigns and special projects.

Previously, at Nike, Strong held the role of communications director on both the global corporate and North American communications teams. With the global team, he drove storytelling for the company’s corporate brand narrative. In North America, he led the strategic media relations work for basketball, soccer, football and training categories. Major projects during that time included the NFL x Nike partnership launch, Super Bowls XLVI thru 50, Olympics (2012, 2014, 2016), World Cup (men’s 2014 and women's 2015) and signature collection launches for professional athletes such as LeBron, Kobe, KD and Kyrie.

Prior to his time at Nike, Strong's independent communications consultancy, The Strong Group, focused on strengthening global awareness and executive profiles for a broad range of brands —from entertainment, art and publishing to beauty and emerging markets finance. In the years previous, he spent time with several renowned New York agencies such as HL Group and Dan Klores Communications, working across sport, luxury, hospitality and fashion. He started his career as a CBS Sports researcher.

Strong is a graduate of the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and was a part of the Morehead-Cain merit scholarship program as an undergraduate student, which he continues to serve actively as an alumnus. During his time at UNC, he interned at MSNBC, the NBC News bureau in London and was a sports reporter on the inaugural season of the award-winning student news program Carolina Week.

Strong supports Manchester United, his beloved Tar Heels and hometown Carolina Panthers, as well as the Red Wings and Tigers of his birthplace, Detroit. He and his wife Kari have two sons, Julien (6) and Bill (4).

Check out more Start Here / Never Stop Podcast episodes at mj.unc.edu/SHNSPodcast.

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