Day 2 of the Octagon Sports Marketing Symposium opened with Kaiser Permanente Senior VP & Chief Marketing Exec Christine Paige and NBA Senior VP/Global Marketing Partnerships Kerry Tatlock discussing an official wellness partnership that began in ’15. Kaiser became the NBA’s first-ever healthcare partner as the Oakland-based company looked to expand its national brand. Kaiser had already been a longtime partner of the Warriors, as well as several other NBA teams. “There was a bit of a confluence between our desire to have more of a national voice and seeing this relationship which built on the local team partnerships we had,” Paige said. For the NBA, the partnership was about changing its outlook on wellness to include a stronger focus on mental health. “We have had a long history at the NBA of being focused on health and wellness, but frankly that has often been more so physical activity,” said Tatlock. “And we as an organization were thinking about how do we evolve our programming within health and wellness.”
MORE TO COME: Both parties see the relationship as a success so far and are excited about what’s to come, including more work in and around the WNBA. Paige called WNBA players some of the “most powerful speakers,” which is why the brand wants to amplify their stories to help connect with fans. Paige: “It’s something that we reflect on as, ‘how do we do more?’”
