TAMPA BAY, FL (BRAIN)—World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), owner and organizer of Ironman, Ironman 70.3, 5150, Iron Girl and IronKids branded events, has hired Mark Gouge as the central regional and Ironman.com sales manager.
Gouge comes to WTC after almost seven years as the interactive sales manager with Competitor Group, and will be an integral part of the upcoming re-launch of Ironman.com and more than 120 Ironman-branded websites.
“I worked with Mark for years and am thrilled that we have added him to our Ironman.com sales crew,” said John Duke, vice president of global sales and media at WTC. “This is the first time that Ironman.com has had someone dedicated to advertising sales and it marks the first step in a major redevelopment of our website properties. Mark is well known in the industry and is going to be an integral part of our expansion plans.”
Gouge is an avid cyclist and triathlete who has completed 10 Ironman races, so is very familiar with the brand and the sport. He will be responsible for advertising sales for all of Ironman's web properties.
“I am super excited to join the Ironman team and combine something I’m passionate about,” Gouge said. “Ironman is a known quantity in the sport of triathlon. Ironman.com is the No. 1 triathlon website in the sport when it comes to year-round traffic, with over six million unique visitors, 16 million visits and almost 80 million page views. This is a huge platform for marketing products to influential buyers—a platform that has been untapped until now.”
“Ironman.com has struggled to keep up with the rapid expansion of our brand over the last few years, so I am very excited that Mark has agreed to join us and help take us to a new level,” said Kevin Mackinnon, managing editor of Ironman.com. “We're in the process of making some huge changes to the site and he will be an integral part of our upcoming re-design set to launch in December. The new site will provide athletes with a more visual feel for our sport and the athletes who take part. We'll also be providing a much richer experience on our event-specific sites, too, making them a valuable resource for competitors.”
Gouge can be reached at mark.gouge@ironman.com or (303) 904-1194.
