The shifting landscape of sponsorship was the topic of "The Playbook Has Changed," a panel discussion during today's virtual InterSport Brand Innovation Summit. WWE Exec VP & Global Head of Sales & Partnerships John Brody and Constellation Brands VP/Field, Lifestyle & Experiential Marketing Rene Ramos appeared and broke news about a new aspect of their sponsor relationship, making Constellation's Victoria brand the official beer of WWE's SummerSlam event (see more in SBJ Marketing). The two were joined by NASCAR VP/Partnership Marketing Jeff Wohlschlaeger, Comcast VP/Branded Partnerships Matt Lederer and our Terry Lefton as moderator.
Ramos said of sales of Constellation's beer brands during the pandemic, "We're going to be up, that's for sure. Whether that up is going to be a double-digit or a high-single-digit clip, we haven't landed on that yet, but we're feeling pretty bullish."
Brody, on weathering the disruption of the pandemic: "Our leadership with Vince McMahon acted swiftly and reacted aggressively. And we had kind of one key operating principle, which is to continue to entertain our fans and continue to put smiles on people's faces. And how do you do that? You do that by continuing to put content on the air. ... And I applaud Jeff and our friends at NASCAR, Steve Phelps, and the team for doing similar work."
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Wohlschlaeger, on being flexible amid a series of crises: "I described it to someone who's not in the business the other day, I said, 'Imagine having a year in which every single one of your partners has to renew.' That's the kind of way we had to look at it this year."
Lederer talked about providing make-goods to advertisers: "We've made a lot of progress this year, but obviously we're waiting to hear what the NBA and NHL 2020-2021 seasons do, and that'll have an impact to what goes on. There are still a few lingering out there that we're working through. But yes, I would anticipate we're not done with make-good conversations. ... Although for the record, I'd love to be."
