Paddy Power’s influential social media marketing chief departs
Mícheál Nagle walks away after almost a decade of mischief-making at the Irish bookmaker
Paddy Power’s head of social and digital content, Mícheál Nagle, has announced he is leaving the operator to “seek a new challenge”.
Nagle revealed on LinkedIn that it was with “a heavy heart” that he has decided to move on after nine-and-a-half years at Paddy Power, with eight of those years spent with the award-winning social media department.
Nagle rose up the ranks to head up the 12-stong social and digital team from May 2016, following spells as Paddy Power’s social media manager and, before that, as a social media executive.
The Irishman was involved in a number of memorable creative social media campaigns over the years, including using planes to write tweets in the sky at the Ryder Cup as well as the hit video social series featuring riled football fans, Fan Denial.
He was also involved in growing the brand’s social following, which today includes over 650,000 Twitter followers, and in the early days of social marketing exploring new platforms like Instagram and Snapchat.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has confirmed they have received Man City's appeal against their two-season ban, and are currently reviewing the evidence submitted. pic.twitter.com/FJlYO4MKkw
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) February 26, 2020
In his post on LinkedIn, which has so far provoked almost 450 reactions, he wrote: “When I first started writing a few silly jokes on Twitter, I never thought PP would become the social juggernaut it is today.
“But I feel very proud of the work I’ve done, starting off on my own, then growing my team to 12 people and winning many awards through the years for our work.”
He added: “It’s never easy to leave a great brand like PP but the time is right for the next phase of my career. I’m happy to say I’ve left the brand’s content offering in a healthy place.”
As an illustration of Nagle’s influence on the industry, EGR’s contributing editor Alun Bowden included Nagle and Paddy Power’s former marketing guru, Ken Robertson, in his list of the top 10 most influential people of the past decade.
He wrote: “As for Nagle and the social team, it’s hard to find a UK-facing social account that doesn’t feel heavily influenced by Paddy Power. And its consistency and quality over the years is truly to be admired.”