Fanatics Collectibles, Fanatics’ trading cards and collectibles business, announced the appointment of Ken Turner as its first Chief Marketing Officer. In this newly created role, Turner will further build out a best-in-class marketing organization and oversee brand vision, strategy and marketing efforts across the entire portfolio of physical and digital collectibles within Fanatics Collectibles including the company’s iconic, cornerstone sports trading card brand, Topps. Turner will report directly to Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan.
Before joining Fanatics Collectibles, Turner held the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Red Bull North America where he was responsible for directing innovative programming to create premium experiences for consumers, spectators, and audiences. Prior to Red Bull, he spent 10 years in traditional CPG at SC Johnson where he worked on a number of large-scale consumer brands.
“As our collectibles business continues to see enormous opportunities for growth, I’ve been focused on building out a world class team to execute our vision for delivering the best collector experience possible, bringing in more fans into the sector and creating truly connective moments across culture and sports,” said Fanatics Collectibles CEO Mike Mahan. “Marketing the category is one of our highest priorities, and I couldn’t think of a better fit to lead this effort than Ken given his incredible track record and expertise that perfectly aligns with our business goals.”
Turner will play a central role in the company’s efforts to bring in more fans to the trading card hobby and collecting spaces. As part of this, he will work closely with Fanatics Collectibles’ partners – sports leagues, player’s associations, athletes and creators – to deepen storytelling in the category and create compelling campaigns, activations and experiences throughout Fanatics Collectibles’ marketing, advertising and content verticals.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join Fanatics Collectibles during a time of incredible growth and opportunity in the collectibles category,” said Turner. “Our business sits at the intersection of sports and culture, with an enormous amount of passion from the collecting community. The combination of those factors opens abundant possibilities to not only enhance the collector experience today, but to grow the category overall, bring in new audiences and build cultural relevance through unique experiences that we’re perfectly positioned to deliver to fans.”
A native of Wisconsin, Ken was recently named by Savoy Magazine as one of 2022’s Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America and holds an MBA from Kellogg’s School of Management and a BS in Finance from Marquette University.
About Fanatics Collectibles
Fanatics Collectibles is a new model and vision for the hobby fundamentally changing the experience for current and future collectors, leagues, and players across many professional and college sports. The organization secured long-term, exclusive rights to design, manufacture and distribute trading cards for several sports properties, including MLB, MLBPA, NBA, NBPA and NFLPA. In January 2022, Fanatics Collectibles announced the acquisition of Topps, establishing the preeminent licensed trading card brand as the cornerstone of Fanatics’ trading cards and collectibles business and jumpstarted its MLB and MLBPA rights to design, manufacture and distribute trading cards.
