Partner Profiles – Get to Know the Personas Behind the Brands
Net Conversion values our partners and the relationships that we have formed with them over the years. In this edition of “Partner Profiles,” we had the privilege of meeting with Kevin Coulthart, the Vice President of Marketing for Orlando City and Orlando Pride.
Orlando City and Orlando Pride are two wildly successful professional soccer teams both on and off the field. With both teams racking up accolades in their respective leagues, they continually strive for greatness while bringing this amazing community together. We have partnered with Orlando City and Orlando Pride for the past two years as their marketing agency, helping both teams with their digital marketing and analytics efforts. It has been a pleasure to work with Kevin and other team members as we collaboratively strive toward the company’s goals (and beyond). Get to know the personalities behind the companies we’ve helped succeed as we ask them some light-hearted questions for our new partner interview series.
- Introduction
My name is Kevin Coulthart. I am Vice President of Marketing for Orlando City and Orlando Pride.
- Can you share a bit about how OC and NC partner together? Who from NC do you work with directly?
I love everybody at Net Conversion; everybody I’ve worked with here has been amazing. We’ve been working with Net Con for almost two years now. We started after the pandemic when we reintroduced our digital marketing efforts in 2021 – we never looked back. We have a great partnership and love everything you do for us. I always enjoy working with good people; you guys know what you’re doing and do a great job. You (Natalia), Justin, and Alexy are on our team and work with us directly. We’re very appreciative of the partnership and what you guys do.
- Can you share a bit about your journey with OC?
I started in 2015, the team’s first year in major soccer. I’ve known a bit about the team and some people at the organization. I still play soccer, so it was fun to follow as a fan. In the middle of 2015, they opened a position for a Director of Marketing, and I went for it. It was a perfect opportunity for me with my experience and passion for soccer. I haven’t looked back. It’s been a long journey since then. It’s been fun; it will be eight years this summer.
- What is your favorite thing about being a part of the Orlando City team?
It’s a fun organization; I love the people. It’s still a small company, it has grown a lot over the past years, but it is still a small company. We have a lot of great relationships and a lot of really good people that have a lot of fun in what they do. It’s working in pro sports; it’s not a corporate job in a tower somewhere downtown. Our offices are in the stadium, which is amazing. We get to have fun; we take what we do very seriously. At the end of the day, we’re doing sports entertainment, and our job is to entertain the fans and put on a good experience, and we enjoy doing that.
- What are some recent projects that you are particularly proud of?
We had back-to-back matches for Orlando City and Orlando Pride on June 10th and 11th. With June being pride month, it’s an opportunity for us to really focus on LGBT pride. We put on two amazing shows; fan zones outside the stadium with entertainment and everything. It’s a really cool connection with our community as we remember the 49 angels from the Pulse Nightclub shooting. It’s a meaningful weekend for us.
- What is your favorite OC soccer history moment?
Probably our first playoff match. We famously – or maybe infamously – hadn’t made the playoffs for the first four seasons. In 2020 we made the playoffs for the 1st time. The stadium capacity was limited due to covid, but I would have loved to hear what a full stadium sounded like. I was calling the show on a headset in the production room. It ended with a tie. Our goalie got a red card, but a field player stepped in. We won the game in the madness. Too bad the stadium wasn’t full for it. Apple TV released a five-minute video about that experience.
- What’s your go-to coffee (or tea) order?
I am just a straight coffee, cream, and sugar kind of guy. I’ll treat myself to a Starbucks caramel macchiato sometimes. I try not to spend eight dollars on a coffee too often.
- What’s the most interesting/weird fact you’ve learned recently?
I was just in Hawaii on vacation – which was awesome. We did a sunset dinner cruise, and the captain said one of the smaller islands right off of Maui was used as a US government bombing site. It’s uninhabitable, with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of unexploded bombs on the island itself. The island just sits there, and no one does anything with it.
- What are your hobbies/how do you enjoy spending your time?
I have two kids – 15 and 11 – they both play competitive soccer. So – constantly – when I’m not working at a soccer stadium or a soccer match, I am at one of my kids’ soccer practices or soccer matches, so that’s a big one for me. I mentioned earlier I still play (soccer) myself, so I enjoy doing that. That’s where most of my time is spent, to be honest with you. I love playing golf; that’s my other passion. I don’t get to do it very often, just with my work schedule and family schedule, but I try to get out about once a month or once every other month and play golf.
- What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
I went rock climbing in Vegas with my friend. We drove out to the middle of nowhere and climbed up a rock. I am scared of heights; never doing that again. I may have been still drunk from the night before. But it was Vegas, so whatever. Also, snorkeling and seeing a sea turtle a foot away was pretty cool too.
- If you had the world’s attention for 30 seconds, what would you say?
Oh my goodness gracious, go buy Orlando City tickets and click ads so Net Conversion will get credit. But on a serious note, just be a good person and be good to people. If everyone treated others nicely, we’d be better off.
