Coca-Cola intends to demand incentive-based pricing in its sponsorship deals in '19, company Senior VP/Strategic Marketing Geoff Cottrill said on Wednesday at the Octagon Sports Marketing Symposium. "We're also keeping a close eye on the stuff that (Anheuser-Busch) is doing, with the variable pricing," Cottrill said during an interview with SBJ/SBD's Abe Madkour. "That's something we're very interested in doing." Cottrill was pressed on a timeline, saying, "In 2019, 2020 and beyond. Absolutely. We're all compensated on variables, based on how we do our business, but our sponsorship models are fixed. That makes no real sense in today's world." A-B in April said it would institute incentives in all future sponsorship deals that could add up to 30% to the base price. Cottrill said Coca-Cola is happy to discuss specialized incentives on a property-to-property basis, but added the concept is coming one way or another. "We want our partners to succeed, we want them be relevant with consumers, no question," he said. "But if they're not, we also don't want to be held accountable for paying huge prices toward something we don't get the value on."
