Vince Thompson is a world-class, award-winning (2017 and 2015 ABA Agency
of the Year, 2015 ADA Father of the Year, 2014 Cynopsis Brand Marketer and
Social Good, Event Marketer EX Award, Biz Bash Top 50, Adweek Buzz Award)
brand builder and one of the leading sports marketers in the country.
In 2000, Thompson founded and has built MELT into one of the largest
full-service sports, culinary and entertainment marketing agencies in the
country. This includes MELT’s 17-year representation of The Coca-Cola
Company, one of the nation’s longest-running agency partnerships. Activations
include 15 straight Final Fours; the creation, in 2003, of the NCAA March
Madness Music platform; the creation, in 2017, of the inaugural “Taste of The
Tournament” with Hershey’s, Kroger and Mondelez, and four straight seasons
of ESPN College GameDay. Other brand activations include Core Power,
Powerade and Sprite. MELT represents many Fortune 1000 companies
including Aaron’s, Caterpillar, Gildan, GA Crown, GA Lottery, IHG, KIA,
Popeye’s and others.
In 2015, Thompson founded MELT Culinary as a new division aimed at unifying
chefs and the culinary community globally to offer CPG companies insight and
innovation as consumer consumption habits shift rapidly.
Thompson graduated from Auburn University in 1984 with a BA in
Communications. While there he worked as a Student Assistant in the Sports
Information Department covering Bo Jackson and Charles Barkley. He was a
Sports Editor of The Auburn Plainsman, the campus newspaper. It was these
career shaping experiences that led Thompson to form MELT University, an
intern program that provides invaluable experience for current college students
and recent college graduates to explore the various facets of the sports
marketing industry. Thompson also lectures at major colleges and universities
across the country on career development and at other major trade industry
conferences.
A well-known philanthropist, Thompson believes in the concept “To whom
much has been given, much is expected.” Thompson received the Wellspring
Foundation’s HOPE Award for work with abused and battered women in 2015.
He also received the Showcase Group’s 2014 Rise Award for his work with
victims and their families. Additionally, Thompson and MELT continue to be
very involved in eliminating sex trafficking in Atlanta.
A beach and ocean lover, cigars, fine red wine, fishing, exercising in Chastain
Park, Thompson lives in Buckhead with his son, Carter.
