John Zerafa Email & Phone Number

London, England, United Kingdom

We advise / have advised a wide range of sport clients on corporate reputation challenges & opportunities - including UEFA, The FA, European Tour Golf, U.K. Sport, UK Athletics, Nordic Football Associations, Faroe Islands Sports & Olympic Committee, U.K. & Ireland FAs & Laura McAllister, VP of UEFA. Our team of highly experienced associates includes presentation designers, campaign film makers, digital content creators, social media experts/doers and brochure designers. They all understand the power of narrative & the importance of bringing to life a compelling, authentic story.We also work with AI experts Signify to use data to better understand and reach fans and decision makers. Whether you need a highly targeted social influencer strategy or much better impact from your digital spend, fusing data insights with creative content is critical. We’ve worked hard to create that combo. At the heart of Clear Thought is the creative power to bring your story to life and deliver specific outcomes - from winning a bid to host a major event, securing a leadership position in world sport, ensuring your story gains traction with those who matter most to growing your international fan base.

I play a central role advising Signify in building its sports business. We are world leaders in protecting athletes and officials from online abuse, and I am proud that we are leading the way in this crucial space - delivering real change & real solutions. We also use clever AI and big data to help clubs, leagues and brands deepen & grow their fan bases. The insights we unearth are also massively value add to sponsors, brands, broadcasters & event hosts. We work/have worked with some of the biggest organisations in sport - FIFA, UEFA, Arsenal, World Athletics, International Tennis Federation, US Soccer and FIFPRO to name a few.

London, United Kingdom

Co-founder advising high profile international clients in the business of sport, including FIFA World Cup bids [Qatar, Morocco], Olympic bids [Paris], sports presidential elections [Gianni Infantino, FIFA; Seb Coe, World Athletics], football club takeovers [Fenway Sports Group/Liverpool FC] and corporate reputation of many international sports bodies [Confederation of African Football, International Cycling].Key skills: strategic communications, corporate reputation, narrative and message development, media relations, influencer strategy, speech writing, media training, presentation development and brand building. Company Secretary leading on all financial elements of agency. Mentoring/developing team and colleagues. Managing large scale client marketing budgets.

Led the creation, development and implementation of London 2012 Organising Committee's political communications and stakeholder communications activity, following the bid's victory in July 2005. Left to jointly create VERO.

Led the bid's political communications strategy and its implementation. I worked with senior politicians [Downing St, FCO, DCMS, Parliament] and their advisers to ensure cross-party political support for the bid. Ensured active senior political engagement in the bid's domestic and global media activity and voter [International Olympic Committee] influencer strategy. I was the bid's press spokesperson on political issues, drafted speeches/lines to take for political VIPs and oversaw briefing of foreign ambassadors based in London.

Devised and ran political communications across key Whitehall departments, Downing St and Parliament to support Sport England’s Treasury budget negotiations, and Cabinet Office review of sport in the UK. Led Sport England’s written response to various Parliamentary Select Committee inquiries, including on high profile issues such as Wembley Stadium

Devised and ran political outreach programmes (UK and Brussels) to enhance ITV Digital’s profile and impact on key issues [e.g. BSkyB dominance]. Drafted ITV Digital submissions to various select committee and EU inquiries. Represented ITV Digital on Parliamentary All-Party Digital Group. Led outreach with key stakeholders such as Consumers’ Association.

Media Relations Manager for key client, the FA Premier League – gained significant front-line press and media communications experience for world’s leading football league. Led client teams across a number of sectors including utilities, broadcasting and sport. Led new business coordination across pan-European network. Four promotions culminating in Account Director.

Speech writer, article drafting, policy briefing, constituency letter writing