Canoe icon Jessica Fox joins Grant Thornton as brand ambassador

Professional services firm Grant Thornton has brought on board world champion canoeist and Olympic gold medallist Jessica Fox as a brand ambassador ahead of the Paris Games in July.

The firm said that Fox – a 10-times canoe slalom world champion who took home gold in the inaugural C1 event at the Tokyo Olympics – personified the company’s business approach, captured under the slogan ‘reach for remarkable’.

“It’s exciting to have our brand in market, particularly as mid-market professional services firms are consistently showing high growth,” stated Grant Thornton CEO Greg Keith. “It is time to be bold about how we communicate our firm’s strengths, including good governance backed by accountability and transparency.”

In a multi-year deal brokered by sports & entertainment creative agency Always Human, Fox will feature as the face of an integrated marketing campaign which includes outdoor and billboard advertising together with a print, digital, and social media roll-out under the tagline ‘Reach: It’s about what you go for and how you go for it.”

Grant Thornton said that Fox’s “skilled navigation of the whitewater, adaptation to fast-changing conditions, and intelligent negotiation of upstream and downstream challenges” reflected the accounting and consulting firm’s services, purpose and values, while her disciplined approach and perseverance in pursuit of excellence aligned with the concept of reaching for the remarkable.

And she certainly has had a remarkable career and life story. Described as the “greatest paddler of all-time”, Fox emigrated to Australia from France as a child in 1998 when her parents – both canoe slalom world champions – took the opportunity to coach the Australian team in preparation for the Sydney Olympics. Fox has since won close to two dozen world championship medals, and is studying an MBA in her spare time.

“When you think of accounting, tax and advisory, you don’t really picture sport or canoe slalom as they are quite different, but there are so many parallels between what I do and the business world,” Fox stated. “I’ve got to constantly adapt to a changing environment, strive to be the best person I can be on and off the water, and work together with my team to achieve the best results.”