Sponsorship & Experiential Marketing

Speaker Bios below

Welcome and Introductions (11:00-11:10AM ET)
Pamela Gross, Senior Manager - ANA

I. Roundtable Discussion (11:10-11:30am ET)
Hosted by Committee Co-Chairs:
Dee Hall, Executive General Manager - Advantage Solutions
Cliff Rigano, Head of Culture, Lifestyle & Event Marketing - Jägermeister

II. Nissan Creates a Hybrid Experience for NCAA Fans (11:30am-12:10pm ET)
Nissan North America (Nissan and Infiniti brands) has long been a major sponsor of the NCAA tournament. In 2021, with limited live fan attendance while facing a pandemic, Nissan has partnered with GMR Marketing to reimagine an activation that not only addresses this year’s unique situation, but builds equity for future “normal” NCAA Tournaments. Nissan’s March Madness headquarters, The Nissan Fan Cave, consists of an activation structure in Indianapolis featuring live, COVID-19 safe Influencer and VIP events, social media content and an interactive fan microsite to increase reach and impact with the fans watching at home. Nissan worked with EVP, longtime production consultant partners, to ensure maximum value for their investment.
Speakers:
Tony Weeks, Senior Manager, Media - Nissan North America
Katherine Pettit, Creative Director - GMR
Teri Beltran, Group Account Director - Ernst-Van Praag, Inc.

III. Findings: The IEG Decision Makers Survey (12:10-12:50pm ET)
IEG has consulted world-class brands and properties on strategy and best practices in sponsorship for more than 40 years. To identify trends and help inform the industry, they survey the biggest investors in sponsorship each year to see how they plan and manage partnerships. Today, they will share some of the insights that have come out of the survey and that will help to enlighten brands, properties and agencies.
Speaker:
Peter Laatz, Global Managing Director - IEG ANA Sponsorship Intelligence Partner

Closing Remarks (12:50-1:00pm ET)

**Schedule subject to change

 Speaker Bios

Tony Weeks, Senior Manager, Media, Nissan North America

A graduate of University of Georgia’s Grady School, Tony Weeks began his advertising career as an Assistant Media Planner at BBDO South (Atlanta) in 1996. Since then he held agency side positions in Media Planning and Buying, Account Management, and Strategy before moving to the client side at Nissan in 2008. Most of his Nissan work has been in Media and Marketing Communications Management, but also includes time in Model Line Management focusing on the 100% Electric Nissan LEAF. Currently, he serves as Sr. Manager Tier 1 Marketing Media and Activation, Nissan Business Strategy.


Katherine Pettit, Creative Director, GMR

Katherine Pettit is the Creative Director of Ideation at the experience agency GMR Marketing. She began her career in New York City after having been accepted into the prestigious Executive Training Program at Ralph Lauren. She spent the next 15 years leading marketing efforts and executing events for brands and brand partners within the Ralph Lauren umbrella, as well as at high-profile corporations including Amazon.com.

Katherine currently leads GMR’s experience and activation work with Nissan, where the team designs and executes innovative and ingenious solutions to propel the brand forward. Prior to working on the Nissan client, she led creative efforts to bring new business into the agency. Outside of the office, Katherine enjoys photography, fashion, skiing and traveling.

Teri Beltran, Group Account Director, Ernst-Van Praag, Inc.

Teri Beltran is a Group Account Director at EVP specializing in client service, account management leadership and oversight of high-level cost saving initiatives on behalf of our client base. Teri has more than 10 years of experience in production consultation to Fortune 500 advertisers, with a concentration in digital production.

Prior to joining EVP, Teri was a Digital Producer for Deutsch Los Angeles directing in-house creative and development as well as third-party production across multiple digital platforms. Teri has also served as the General Manager and Producer at various interactive advertising agencies where she was responsible for personnel management, client communications and digital production.

Peter Latz, Global Managing Director, IEG

Peter Laatz is the global managing director of IEG, the sponsorship authority. Peter is responsible for driving the organization’s innovation and growth and leads IEG’s proprietary approach to delivering sponsorship market intelligence, strategic counsel and thought leadership.

A 20-year veteran of sports, entertainment and media sponsorship with tenures at Chip Ganassi Racing, Repucom and Nielsen Sports, Peter has guided marketing, research, analytics and consulting services for hundreds of brands, leagues, teams and properties worldwide.

Peter is a sought-after speaker having participated in numerous sports marketing conferences and partner summits. He has been quoted in many media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, Adweek, Ad Age, Sports Business Journal and SportsPro.