Even after the pandemic has passed, COVID-19 may bring aftershocks that change the economic and social fabric of our communities. That includes the sports marketing world. In today’s “SBJ Unpacks - Weathering COVID-19 Podcast,” our Terry Lefton speaks with former Anheuser-Busch sports and entertainment marketing head Tony Ponturo about ways in which the sports marketing world might turn in the coming weeks, months -- and maybe even years.
On how businesses and people change when they emerge from a crisis:
Ponturo: We all get somehow smarter coming out of it, and I think this will happen again as we go through this. It makes people think past the routine of everyday management of their business, whether that’s the league, whether that’s the team, whether that’s even the athlete. … It makes you open up and think differently, which then positive things can come out of it.
On the messaging that resonates with people during turbulent times:
Ponturo: Empathy is very important right now. We're all in this together. It’s going to be important, not to be preachy, but not only to a Budweiser or a Coca-Cola but to a league and the players to not look like, "The only reason we want to get back is we gotta start making money again." … If it’s just, "Three months have gone by. We’ve gotta get back to work," I don’t think that’s going to sit well, particularly for that millennial generation, but I don’t think it’s going to sit well with anyone.
On widespread optimism that the resilient sports industry will bounce back:
Ponturo: Does the consumer come back … and does the advertiser come back? … Let’s say everything really doesn’t get started until, I’m going to use July 4th to be somewhere in the middle. That’s a lot of product that’s going to go into a six month period. I’m not sure between the capacity of attention, the capacity of advertising dollars, capacity of overall interest. Can that all fit into that short period of time? … Will it be too much, and will it be better in some cases, that less may be more to get through 2020 and then move onto hopefully a clean 2021.
On whether the social changes created by coronavirus will remain in place after the pandemic passes:
Ponturo: Families learned that we really enjoyed being together on Sunday. We have a nice brunch together. We’re not all running out to something. There’s sort of more personal time. … A lot of things are going to change, only because people have learned by just slowing down a bit, albeit for the wrong reasons, that, "That was nice, and I’d like to keep that in my life," no matter what that nice is.
