Sponsorship & Experiential Marketing

Welcome and Introductions (11:00-11:10AM ET)
Gena Casciano, Director - ANA

I. Roundtable Discussion (11:10-11:30am ET)

Hosted by Committee Co-Chairs:
Dee Hall, Executive General Manager - Advantage Marketing Partners
Cliff Rigano, Head of Culture, Lifestyle & Event Marketing - Jägermeister

II. Managing Sponsorships During a Pandemic: How Wells Fargo Pivoted in Partnership with MLS and TED (11:30am-12:10pm ET)
Like all companies, Wells Fargo was forced to come up with innovative ways to adjust its approach to sponsorships during the pandemic. Using two of its major platforms as examples, Wells Fargo will share how they approached engaging consumers and employees before, during and after the peak of the Covid-19 crisis. This look into the evolving activation of deals with Major League Soccer and TED from 2019 – 2021 will provide key insights into how brands got creative during this extreme situation, and how the learnings from that experience can impact strategies moving forward.

Speakers:
Andy Berlind, VP, Sponsorship Marketing - Wells Fargo
Sara Toussaint, VP, Sponsorship Marketing - Wells Fargo

III. Doritos Cool Ranch – Lessons Learned at the Ranch (12:10-12:50pm ET)
In early 2020, Doritos re-launched its 2nd largest flavor, Cool Ranch driven by shifting consumer preferences for bolder, more intense flavors.  To ensure consumers were aware of this change they decided to launch a 360-degree campaign on the world’s largest stage leveraging the cultural power of the biggest song of 2019.  And the results speak for themselves as the campaign and the revamped product were breakthrough hits including two Gold REGGIE award wins (one for Creativity & Innovation and one for Experiential Marketing) in 2021.  The team will share the whys behind this success as well as the key takeaways they learned along the way. 

Speaker:
Leslie Vesper, Vice President, Marketing Innovation - Frito Lay

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


**Schedule subject to change

Speaker Bios

Andy Berlind, VP, Sponsorship Marketing - Wells Fargo

Andy Berlind is VP, Sponsorship Marketing at Wells Fargo, currently managing a portfolio of professional sports and naming rights deals, as well as a partnership with TED. The centerpiece of the TED partnership was the TED@WellsFargo event in early 2020, which broke several records for TED partner events. In over 13 years with Wells Fargo, Andy has worked on a number of platforms, including the strategy for and launch of the bank’s deal with Major League Soccer, its first national sports sponsorship. He has worked on a wide range of global and national partnerships in previous roles, including the USOC, FIFA World Cup, New York Yankees and Denver Broncos. Andy has experience in all aspects of the sports business, including agency, team and brand roles. A graduate of Williams College, he lives in San Francisco with his wife, two kids and dog.


Sara Toussaint, VP, Sponsorship Marketing - Wells Fargo

Sara’s expertise in brand marketing, strategic partnerships, and consumer engagement spans a wide range of industries including financial services, venture capital, higher education, law, and sports. She currently oversees Wells Fargo's soccer portfolio including Major League Soccer, the Mexican National Team, as well as ESPN's annual espnW Women + Sports Summit. Her sports business background also includes: Business Development for the Boston Blazers (a startup lacrosse team), Hispanic Partnerships for Major League Soccer, and Labor Relations for Major League Baseball. Sports Business Journal named Sara to the 2018 class of Game Changers. She also sits on the boards of Latinx in Sports and Play Like a Girl! – a nonprofit dedicated to keeping girls in sports while introducing them to STEM fields. Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Sara earned her B.A. in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and an M.B.A. from the NYU Stern School of Business. Sara is a co-owner of the North Carolina Courage of the National Women’s Soccer League. 

Leslie Vesper, Vice President, Marketing Innovation - Frito Lay

Currently Leslie oversees all of Frito Lay’s innovation planning, strategy & reporting across all snacking brands as well as innovation capabilities within the marketing organization.

Prior to that Leslie looked after the Doritos brand where she “Reignited the Icon,” leading two successful Super Bowl campaigns, the record-breaking launch of Flamin’ Hot Nacho and ultimately returned the brand to above plan growth. Before joining the Doritos team, Leslie led the Core Brand innovation team where she worked on developing innovation projects & pipelines across Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos & Dips. She started her career at PepsiCo with roles on the Shopper Marketing team and on the Foodservice Culinary Innovation team.

Before PepsiCo, Leslie worked at Dr Pepper Snapple Group leading the Dr Pepper, Crush & Schweppes brands & started her marketing career at General Mills.

Leslie has a B.S. in Business from Miami University and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.