In the fourth instalment of the Fuse Stories series, Tilak provides insight into his career journey thus far and his role at Fuse working on the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League.
9 Mins Read
Can you give our readers a bit of background on yourself?
My name is Tilak Patel, and I come from an Indian (Gujarati) background. My parents settled in England in the 70s, having migrated from Kenya and Uganda, respectively, as there was, and still is, a large population of South Asians in East Africa. The combined influences of different cultures from growing up in England and being raised in an Indian household have shaped the person that I am today, from my values to my interests. My parents ran a corner shop for 35 years (recently retiring), which was very demanding. However, seeing the hard work they put into running a business and family has given me the drive and motivation I have today.
When did you know you wanted to work in the Sports and Entertainment industry?
I’m a big fan of sports, but I closely follow football and cricket. My family are massive Liverpool F.C. and cricket fans, which has greatly influenced my passion for these sports. Some of my earliest and best memories are of watching sports – Liverpool winning the UCL in Istanbul in 2005 and India winning the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. I’m also a big music fan, influenced by watching Bollywood films and growing up in and around London, where it makes up a big part of the culture. With sport and music being my two main passions, and with the two worlds intersecting more and more, I knew I wanted to work in this industry to learn more about what happens behind the scenes and to be exposed to the inner workings of big events and competitions.
What has your journey into the industry entailed, and how did you land your role at Fuse?
I knew I wanted to work in the industry, but it wasn’t straightforward as I didn’t have a sports or entertainment-related degree or experience when I left University. I did a degree in Business Management at the University of Birmingham, which left me with several options, but honestly, I didn’t know where to start as it’s quite a broad discipline. My brother worked in media at the time at Mediacom, and he recommended it as being a good starting point. I decided to join and work on the ‘Bose’ account as I saw that they had naturally worked in the music space, and I thought this could be a good way to get my ‘foot in the door’. This didn’t quite work out how I imagined it would.
However, with the experience and knowledge I gained, I knew I wanted to move to an account that aligned more with my interests. My next move was to work on the EA account. Although I was never a gamer, I was a big fan of the ‘FIFA or FC’ games, and this was my first step into the sports and entertainment world. I learnt that you don’t need to be a ‘gamer’ to work in gaming, and my experience was predominantly across the FIFA launches, which gave me important insight into media, sponsorship, and the football landscape. Although I loved my time working on EA, I wanted a fresh challenge to learn new skills and be exposed to a different part of the industry.
This led me to Fuse, where I began my time working on the PepsiCo account on the ‘Lay’s RePlay’ project, a football for good initiative that builds pitches globally using recycled crisp packets and sets up programming for communities in need. This was the perfect next step for me for a few reasons – before University, I spent six months in Ghana in a village teaching and coaching football at Sacred Heart School (Acchim-Achiase), and a big part of my role was to create community events and opportunities for young people through sport. Thanks to that experience, I knew I wanted to do something in that space again at some point, and this role at Fuse allowed me to dive back into that space whilst also applying skills I had already picked up in my career. Since then, I have moved on to other accounts at Fuse to work in more sponsorship-focused roles, highlighting the breadth of opportunities available at the company.
What does your current role as an Account Director entail?
I am currently an Account Director working across two UEFA accounts, which is quite surreal for me, having watched these competitions as a fan. It has been great to learn about the inner workings of such sponsorships. One account is working on a logistics brand and managing their sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League. The other is for one of the biggest supermarket brands, working across their sponsorship of the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League.
My role, along with the team, is to ensure that clients are activating their contractual rights and to consult them on how best they can do this. With multi-year contracts, it’s our role to provide fresh thinking and new ways to activate these sponsorships in a way that aligns with the respective clients’ business objectives. A large part of the role is project management and stakeholder management, both internally and externally, as many teams are involved. I enjoy this part of the role as it’s a great way to interact with these teams internally (PR, Digital, Measurement) and externally (UEFA’s agency, creative), all bringing different areas of expertise.
Can you take us through what a typical week looks like for you?
I wouldn’t say there is a typical working week, and that is what I like about the role; every week is different, which keeps it exciting. The week tends to be dictated by where we are at in the seasons. Before the season, we usually work on strategies for the new season and brainstorm ideas; during the season, we will focus on activating our strategy, which is more operational, and ensuring rights are being activated. The weeks leading up to the finals are always crazy because it’s the time when clients plan their biggest activations. Seeing things you have been working on in the real world is very rewarding.
What are some of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of your job?
The role can be challenging due to the fast-paced nature of it. Plans can change overnight, and there will always be issues (nothing is perfect!); however, it’s important to adapt and be flexible with solutions. The most rewarding part of the job, as mentioned above, is seeing campaigns you have been working on over the course of the season go live (online or physically). It’s rewarding because there are probably a million different challenges you must overcome on the way to the final goal, but finding creative solutions is part of the job and makes it worth it in the end.
What skills are the most crucial to your role?
The most crucial is being flexible and adaptable, as things can change at any time, and it’s important to be calm and think of solutions. As part of the fast-paced nature of the role, there are always deadlines to hit, so it’s important to be organised and communicate effectively with the different teams. Finally, being calm and patient is very important as things may not always work out how you want them to, but it’s important to be able to move on and react accordingly.
What is your favourite thing about working at Fuse?
My favourite thing about working for Fuse is the culture and the people. There are always socials and events during the working week that allow people to interact with each other outside of a working environment, and this has led to a friendly culture at the company. In addition, even if you aren’t working directly on a project, it’s always great to hear about the work from other teams through our regular ‘Huddles’, which can help inform and inspire your own work.
What more do you think needs to be done to make the industry more accessible?
I think there needs to be a big education piece done within underrepresented communities, perhaps with measures such as grants or mentorships with companies in the industry to facilitate more diverse representation. Additionally, going into communities with high proportions of diverse and underrepresented backgrounds to present the multitude of opportunities in the industry and educate them on different routes would massively help. I think parents should also be targeted; from my experience, there is a stigma against these industries within the South Asian communities, but I think that is due to a lack of knowledge about career potential in this field.
Organisations such as Bridged are a great example of how this can be done and how direct links into the industry can be created. There’s a role for everyone, but there needs to be more visibility given to the breadth of potential roles in the industry, as there is something that will suit most skill sets.
What is one piece of advice you would give to a young person who is looking to enter the Sports and Entertainment industry?
Be open and willing to learn. You may not find your perfect role immediately, but there’s something to learn from every experience and role that will help shape you and open up opportunities you may not be aware of.