School of Tourism and Hospitality Management names BJ Zellers its 2014 Gallery of Success honoree
By: Jamie Cann
First Published: October 6, 2014
Topics: In the News, STHM School
BJ Zellers, a regional leader in sports marketing, is the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management’s 2014 honoree for Temple University’s Gallery of Success.
The Gallery of Success showcases banner alumni from each of Temple’s schools and colleges.
Zellers, President and Founder of Activation Sports Marketing (ASM)
Zellers, the President and Founder of Activation Sports Marketing (ASM), often lends her expertise to students in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management’s Sport and Recreation Management program as guest lecturer and a participant in networking events. A Philadelphia-area resident, Zellers devoted more than two decades of her career to sales and marketing positions at a number of Fortune 500 companies, including Kraft, PepsiCo, Nestle and Anheuser-Busch, before reinventing herself professionally in the sports marketing industry.
Athletics are the root of Zellers’ path toward sports marketing. A two-sport athlete at the University of Pennsylvania, where she completed her undergraduate studies, Zellers captained the Quakers’ lacrosse and field hockey teams in her senior year. At the time, she also worked within Penn’s athletics and sports information departments. Zellers has since been inducted into Penn’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
That passion for sports guided Zellers to Temple University, where she earned her Master’s of Education degree in Sport Administration. While pursuing her graduate degree at Temple, Zellers coached field hockey and lacrosse at Drexel University.
“I was honored to learn that I had been selected as a Gallery of Success honoree and to be recognized by the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management,” Zellers said. “I owe a debt of gratitude to my experiences at Temple. I believe in the university and the foundation it provided.”
Zellers eventually transitioned out of the consumer packaged goods industry in order to launch ASM, a fully integrated sports marketing agency that provides strategic planning, property management, and promotional marketing functions. She has been at the helm of ASM for six years, establishing a prominent list of clients and sports properties on a regional and national level.
Zellers serves on several prominent Boards; including the Athlete Health Organization; Coaches vs. Cancer; Women in Sports; and the Mid-Atlantic Food Trades Organization.
In her downtime, Zellers enjoys coaching and supporting her daughter, Morgan, in all of her athletic endeavors.
