Event Marketer Spring 2023 - 3

CHECKING IN
®
SPRING 2023
EDITORIAL & BUSINESS
Group Editor & Publisher Jessica Heasley: jheasley@accessintel.com
Head of Content Rachel Boucher: rboucher@accessintel.com
Managing Editor Juanita Chavarro Arias: jchavarro@accessintel.com
Senior Editor, Digital Content Kait Shea: kshea@accessintel.com
Editor-at-Large Kaylee Hultgren: khultgren@accessintel.com
Senior Event Content Manager Shannon Given: sgiven@accessintel.com
National Sales Director Alex Chung: achung@accessintel.com
203-899-8463
GAME OF INCHES
At a time when brands are scrutinized for being
more talk than substance, sports sponsors are
stepping up their game big time.
Take women's sports. Last month, AT&T renewed its deal as partner of all NCAA
championships with a focus on " building parity " between women's and men's sports. And Buick
has expanded its content-driven See Her Greatness campaign, hosting in-person watch parties
for the Women's Sweet 16 basketball games at Portland's The Sports Bra-the only bar in the
country to exclusively broadcast women's sports. (We'll drink to that.)
Beyond shelling out big bucks for naming rights, sponsors are also digging into the details
to ensure a quantifiable impact. Procter & Gamble blazed that trail when it backed the U.S.
women's soccer team in its lawsuit for equal pay. As official sponsor of the March Madness
Bracket Managers, AT&T rolled out a campaign with WNBA star A'ja Wilson that encouraged
U.S. companies to fill out both men's and women's brackets in their office pools.
In this issue, we explore some of the strategic sponsorship plays in motion across the
industry and highlight the marketers carving out a space for their brands in women's sports. We
also look at the underdogs of sports activations and the challenger brands planting a stake in the
ground with hot properties like the backyard-turned-recreational sport of pickleball-which
experts predict could become an Olympic sport by 2028. Pop over to pg. 12 for the scoop.
We also examine how the world of higher education is supporting the next generation of
sponsorship and experiential marketers. Our report on curriculum/specializations focused on
brand activation being offered at universities across the country starts on pg. 40.
The sports world has long been a testing ground for innovation and engagement, which is
why it serves as a fitting analogy for our annual B-to-B Dream Team special report (pg. 54). In it,
we profile 10 of the b-to-b marketing industry's most valuable players developing awardwinning
playbooks for conferences, meetings and trade shows.
And as we're all in it to win it this year, we offer a crash course in connecting with people.
Three communications experts offer their tips for creating and participating in networking
experiences-including what you really should be sharing on LinkedIn (the guide starts on
pg. 18). Now, let's play ball.
Enjoy the issue.
Rachel Boucher
Head of Content
rboucher@accessintel.com
Sr. Production Manager Joann M. Fato: jfato@accessintel.com
301-354-1681
Sr. Graphic Designer TJ Sydnor: tsydnor@accessintel.com
MARKETING & MEDIA GROUP
Divisional President Kerry Smith: ksmith@accessintel.com
Senior Vice President Dan Hanover: dhanover@accessintel.com
Marketing Director Lynne Schreur: lschreur@accessintel.com
Marketing Manager Emily Makadok: emakadok@accessintel.com
Operations Director Sarah Yeomans: syeomans@accessintel.com
Fulfillment Manager George Severine: gseverine@accessintel.com
ACCESS INTELLIGENCE
Chairman Don Pazour
Chief Executive Officer Heather Farley
EVP, Chief Financial Officer John Sutton
Chief People Officer Macy L. Fecto
Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer Rob Paciorek
Senior Vice President-Event Operations Lori Jenks
Vice President-Production, Digital Media & Design Michael Kraus
Vice President-Finance Tina Garrity
Vice President, Corporate Controller Daniel J. Meyer
accessintel.com
VOL. 22 * ISSUE 1
iPark, Entrance F
761 Main Avenue, 2nd Floor
Norwalk, CT 06851
Phone: 203-854-6730
Event Marketer [ISSN 1930-2266] is published 4 times a year in Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter for marketers,
agencies and manufacturers involved in the event, sponsorship, mobile, trade show, production and field-marketing
arenas by Access Intelligence, 9211 Corporate Blvd., 4th Floor, Rockville, MD 20850-3245. Copyright 2023. All
rights reserved.
Subscriptions: www.eventmarketer.com/subscribe/. Content may not be reproduced without consent. Periodicals
Postage Paid at Rockville, MD and at additional mailing offices. Subscriptions questions: 800-777-5006 or clientservices@accessintel.com.
Canadian Post 40612608. Return undeliverable Canadian Addresses to IMEX Global
Solutions, P.O. Box 22542, London, ON N6C 2BC Canada.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Access Intelligence, ATTN: Client Services, 9211 Corporate Blvd., 4th
floor, Rockville, MD 20850.
REPRINTS: To purchase reprints, e-prints or plaques, or to license content from this magazine, please contact
Wright's Media at 877-652-5295 or via email at accessintel@wrightsmedia.com.
LIST SALES: MeritDirect, contact Danielle Zaborski, 914-368-1090
Our new monthly Pulse Surveys examine a trend
or topic through a few fast facts and a shareable
infographic. Our February " State of Work "
survey found that industry job sentiments are
high, with 90 percent of respondents reporting
they " love their jobs " in events.
eventmarketer.com
Check out the latest episode of our Event
Peeps podcast featuring Marrah Thomas,
senior manager-global internal events
and conferences at Delta Air Lines. Go to
eventmarketer.com/event-peeps-podcast or
find us on most podcast apps and channels.
It's been a busy season... a few of the stories
you'll find at eventmarketer.com: Inside Kohler's
best-in-show booth at KBIS; HBO's in-world
immersion for the " The Last of Us " series;
tourism-inspired engagement tactics; and an
" eye exam " activation for cars.
SPRING 2023 EVENT MARKETER
3

https://www.eventmarketer.com/ https://www.accessintel.com/ https://www.accessintel.com/ http://www.eventmarketer.com/subscribe/ https://www.eventmarketer.com/ https://www.eventmarketer.com/event-peeps-podcast http://www.eventmarketer.com

Event Marketer Spring 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Event Marketer Spring 2023