Wells Fargo, after buying Wachovia in '08, inherited the PGA Tour title sponsorship at Quail HollowGETTY IMAGES
The PGA Tour Wells Fargo Championship begins next week in Charlotte, and part of the bank's "message around its largest sports sponsorship will emphasize restoring credibility and trust with customers" after federal regulators levied a $1B fine against the bank for "saddling customers with unnecessary costs on mortgages and auto loans," according to Erik Spanberg of the CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL. Wells Fargo, like all tournament title sponsors, "buys extensive advertising time on the companion national TV broadcast" -- next week on Golf Channel and CBS. A bank spokesperson said that Wells Fargo "typically launches a new ad campaign in the spring and is following that schedule again" in '18. While Wells Fargo did not disclose specifics of the ads that will run during the tournament, the spokesperson said that the spots "will 'be consistent' with CEO Tim Sloan’s statements regarding the bank’s commitment to avoiding similar snafus and promising improved service." Wells Fargo, after buying Wachovia in '08, "inherited the PGA Tour title sponsorship at Quail Hollow," but the bank stripped its name from the tournament -- "renaming the event the Quail Hollow Championship while still paying millions of dollars each year in sponsorship fees." It wasn’t until '11 that the Wells Fargo name was "affixed to the tournament." The bank's title sponsorship contract "ends next year." Analysts and consultants said that Wells Fargo is "smart to try to use the PGA Tour alliance as part of what will likely be a years-long campaign of damage recovery" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/24).
