P
am Hollander didn’t anticipate that marketing would be her career when she graduated from Syracuse University in 1989. “I was an elementary education major,” Hollander said. “I was in what I thought would be my career path, but after graduating, [I] realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do.”
Hollander, instead, went on to get her first job as an assistant account executive at Chicago-based S&S Public Relations. She continued working along that public relations path until she came to Allstate in 2000, when her career would take a turn more toward marketing.
Since then, Hollander, who assumed her current role in 2003, has made quite a difference in Allstate’s marketing and brand awareness. The company’s highly visible Good Hands field goal net program in college football was spearheaded by Hollander. She was a driving force in pushing to make the idea a reality, and the number of participating schools has since grown from 20 in 2004 to 78 in 2013. Additionally, with Hollander, Allstate became title sponsor for the Sugar Bowl, formed a partnership with the American Football Coaches Association to honor top student athletes, and created the Allstate Tailgate Tour, which visits more than 40 college football games a season.
So while Hollander isn’t involved in education and schools the way she originally anticipated, she clearly has left her mark in the college space.
— Tara Baird
“We’ve known each other for almost 10 years. She’s a terrific businesswoman; she’s smart, fair, open-minded. She pushes people to think outside the box, and she gives clear direction. She’s revolutionized sponsorship and branding with the Good Hands net campaign, and she’s made Allstate a name in college sports.”
— Lisa Murray | Executive vice president and chief marketing officer | Octagon
