Marc Patrick

A jump. A dunk. A swoosh. The exhilaration of the finish line. The sweetness of victory. The agony of defeat. The need for redemption. Marc Patrick is familiar with it all. As a former Division 1 track athlete and the newly appointed Nike Vice President of North America Brand Defining, Purpose and Athlete Marketing, Patrick spends his days studying the needs of those who compete at the highest levels of athletic competition, and he helps them reach the heights of their potential.

Patrick began with Nike in 1998 and spent 21 years studying the evolving physical and psychological needs of competitors, which made him one of the masterminds behind some of Nike’s most compelling and effective campaigns.

“When I joined Nike, I never had a plan for a title,” Patrick explains. “I just wanted to do good work and be a team player. In terms of marketing, I had run track in college, and I had learned so much about what it took to compete mentally and physically, so I always kept that at the front of my mind as I thought about my work. The athlete is the person I keep at the vanguard of my mind.”

Patrick’s definition of “athlete” is not just the individual who competes professionally or one who competes at the non-professional level with distinction. It is the people “who are taking their fitness goals — their strength, their endurance, their flexibility, their mindset to the next levels.”

“In marketing, I want to reach out and speak to the athlete inside of each person— no matter their level of athleticism. I am marketing to the person who wants to grow.”

Marc’s personal path of growth temporarily diverted him from his role as Nike’s Head of Global Brand Communications in 2019 to become Senior Vice President of Beyond Meat, an organization that provides vegan and vegetarian substitutions for animal-based meat products. In 2021, he became Head of Sports Marketing at Amazon Prime Video, where he recently led the launch of “Thursday Night Football” this year at Super Bowl LVI.

Still, earlier this year, Patrick returned to Nike in order to elevate his professional home to the next level.

“There’s no place like home,” he humbly explains.

That’s true.

It’s also true that no one is more in tune with “the athlete” than Marc V. Patrick, often referred to by his initials, which are M.V.P.