Tom Grilk, Executive Director, Boston Athletic Association, Meb Keflezighi, Jim Gallagher, Chief Administrative Officer, John Hancock, photo by PhotoRun.net
Jim Gallagher is the Chief Administrative Officer of John Hancock Financial Services. John Hancock has been the partner and sponsor of the Boston Marathon and the BAA since 1986.
In 1986, I went to a press conference featuring David D’Alessandro, then CEO of John Hancock. D’Alessandro who was a PR person’s nightmare and a journalist dream, was eminently quotable. He could play chicken, so to speak, capturing the interest of media, and then provide them a captivating quote, while staying within the framework of a corporate public relations policy. Case in point: in 1986 Mr. D’Alessandro said, ” for three million dollars, I own the city of Boston for one day a year.” I asked him to repeat it, wanting to get the quote just right.
In the thirty years that John Hancock Financial Services has been title sponsor of the Boston Marathon, they have provided a model for other companies on how to take a sport that was mostly amateur and bring it, kicking and still screaming, into the world of sports entertainment.
I was fortunate enough to get five minutes with Mr. Gallagher and ask him a few questions on brand marketing and John Hancock’s relationship with the BAA and Boston Marathon…
