Mike McCloud
- Role
- President CEO at Mma Creative
- Location
- Cookeville, TN, US
- LinkedIn followers
- 500 followers
Experience
President CEO
Jan 2012 — Present
World Food Championships CEO Mike McCloud is a marketing entrepreneur focused on making food competitions a long-term, fun-filled legacy for the culinary industry. A self-described champion of Food Sport, McCloud has been advising, strategizing, marketing and building brands for 30+ years. His major accomplishments include acquiring two agencies, publishing a regional business journal and creating/funding new ventures like the World Food Championships and a Food Champ talent firm. His marketing firm, MMA Creative, was the Agency of Record for KCBS, the world’s largest barbeque society. During that 12-year tenure, MMA also developed new marketing programs like the Great American Cookout tour, The Bull Burger Battles, and Cookoff Before Kickoff, a rivalry-based football tailgate program for Coca-Cola, AT & T, Heinz and Kingsford. In 2012 McCloud partnered with Las Vegas venues and culinary celebrities to produce the largest competition in Food Sport history – the World Food Championships. Almost 300 culinary champions gathered in Las Vegas to compete in the inaugural event. The event was filmed in 2013 for a reality show that aired 2014 on A&E’s FYI Channel. WFC’s 2014 competition grew 35% and culminated in the first grand prize. In early 2016, WFC debuted its second TV show on the Discovery Network and is now syndicated in 10 countries. Such rapid success prompted a search for alternative destinations for strategic growth. That search landed WFC in Orange Beach, Alabama, where its 5th Anniversary in 2016 featured a World Food Fest and the event\'s debut on Food Network with a special show called Kid Chef Nation. In 2020, McCloud purchased the International Chili Society and relocated the World Championship Chili Cookoff to Myrtle Beach, SC. In 2022, WFC celebrated its 10th Anniversary in Dallas, Texas, where International team count soared and the brand achieved a record-setting media reach of more than 6 billion.
Skills
- Online Marketing
- Cause Marketing
- Public Relations
- Nonprofits
- Strategy
- Press Releases
- Newsletters
- Digital Marketing
- Marketing Strategy
- Social Networking
- Online Advertising
- Public Speaking
- Social Media Marketing
- Direct Marketing
- Advertising Sales
- Advertising
- Social Media
- Digital Strategy
- Product Marketing
- Brand Development
- Media Relations
- Futurism
- Corporate Communications
- Email Marketing
- Website Development
- Customer Service
- Marketing Communications
- B2b
- Fundraising
- Strategic Communications
- Event Management
- Copywriting
- Event Planning
- Training
- Marketing
- Publicity
- Account Management
Find verified contacts for anyone on LinkedIn
Unifers gives sales teams verified emails and direct dials, enriched profiles, and outreach that lands in the inbox.
Free plan included · No credit card required
This profile is compiled from publicly available professional sources. Unifers is not affiliated with or endorsed by LinkedIn. Request removal of this profile.