257: Betting on Partnerships to Amplify Your Brand with Churchill Downs's Kristin Warfield

04/28/21 • 35 min

1 Listener

Kristin Warfield is the VP of Partnerships at Churchill Downs Incorporated, home of the Kentucky Derby since 1875. During her twelve years at the historic racetrack, she has championed significant growth in the track's partnership development and activation efforts. It includes new and expanded relations with Longines, the official timekeeper of the Kentucky Derby and title sponsor of the Kentucky Oaks; Woodford Reserve, the presenting sponsor of the Kentucky Derby; and MassMutual, among many other alliances.

In this episode, Alan and Kristin begin with her trajectory to becoming the VP of Partnerships and why the Kentucky Derby is such a unique experience. Even though people come to the Derby for varied reasons, Kristin believes that “There's a party for everyone,” and makes it her focus to partner with companies to give them the experience they seek.

Alan and Kristin discuss the shifts Kristin had to make to work with partners and what makes a good partner in the first place.

For anyone interested in horse racing, history, fashion, or the relationship between marketing and partnerships to amplify your brand, this episode is for you.

In this episode, you'll learn:

What makes the Kentucky Derby such a unique experience
How a digital shift can amplify customer engagement
What makes a good partnership
Using partnerships to connect with your customers

Key Highlights:

[01:41] Kristin's backup career as Bingo the Clown
[02:55] How Kristin “fell into sports”
[05:05] Why the Kentucky Derby is a unique sport
[08:34] How COVID impacted the Derby
[11:13] Partner shifts to digital and virtual activations
[15:07] Cross-collaborations with partners
[16:50] The new Jackson Family Wines partnership
[18:36] The perfect blend of wine and racing
[22:01] What makes for a good partnership
[27:44] Kristin's advice to marketers identifying or negotiating partnership deals
[29:11] An experience that defines Kristin, made her who she is today
[30:40] Kristin's advice for her younger self
[31:05] Kristin's recent impactful purchase
[32:25] The brands, companies, and causes Kristin follows
[33:50] What Kristin says is today's biggest threat and opportunity for marketers

Resources Mentioned:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alan and Kristin discuss the shifts Kristin had to make to work with partners and what makes a good partner in the first place.

For anyone interested in horse racing, history, fashion, or the relationship between marketing and partnerships to amplify your brand, this episode is for you.

In this episode, you'll learn:

What makes the Kentucky Derby such a unique experience
How a digital shift can amplify customer engagement
What makes a good partnership
Using partnerships to connect with your customers

Key Highlights:

[01:41] Kristin's backup career as Bingo the Clown
[02:55] How Kristin “fell into sports”
[05:05] Why the Kentucky Derby is a unique sport
[08:34] How COVID impacted the Derby
[11:13] Partner shifts to digital and virtual activations
[15:07] Cross-collaborations with partners
[16:50] The new Jackson Family Wines partnership
[18:36] The perfect blend of wine and racing
[22:01] What makes for a good partnership
[27:44] Kristin's advice to marketers identifying or negotiating partnership deals
[29:11] An experience that defines Kristin, made her who she is today
[30:40] Kristin's advice for her younger self
[31:05] Kristin's recent impactful purchase
[32:25] The brands, companies, and causes Kristin follows
[33:50] What Kristin says is today's biggest threat and opportunity for marketers

Resources Mentioned:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

256: Human Behavior Should Inform Your Brand Positioning with Panera's Eduardo Luz

On this 256th episode of Marketing Today, Alan Hart and Eduardo Luz, Chief Brand and Concept Officer at Panera, discuss the pivots Panera executed during the pandemic, including how they positioned their mobile app and the innovations they implemented in their menu offerings.

Eduardo sees the future of marketing as really honing in and connecting with your consumer. As Panera changed its menu and shifted to what Eduardo calls “warmer offerings,” they started to see the incremental success that has propelled their business forward.

The conversation covers consumer behavior, and Panera's new company value: respect for the planet. To hear how Eduardo thinks about the future of consumer behavior and its impact on marketing, listen to Marketing Today.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Changes in direct-to-consumer interaction
How your company positioning impacts success
Why listening to your consumers is essential
How Panera shifted during the pandemic
How Panera leaned on its “promise” to expand its offerings

Key Highlights:

[01:52] Where Eduardo grew up
[02:50] How Eduardo ended up in marketing
[04:42] Shifts in the consumer industry
[06:25] Eduardo joins Panera at the peak of the pandemic
[07:46] The role Eduardo was expected to fill
[11:02] Panera's positioning before the pandemic
[12:48] How these shifts impacted Panera
[14:30] Panera's updated menu
[18:30] Why Panera expanded to pizza
[22:10] Panera's new value: respect for the planet
[25:13] The future of Panera
[27:34] An experience that defines Eduardo, made him who he is today
[29:18] Eduardo's advice for his younger self
[30:08] Eduardo's recent impactful purchase
[30:52] The brands, companies, and causes Eduardo follows
[32:12] What Eduardo says is today's biggest threat and opportunity for marketers

Resources Mentioned:

Panera – website, Twitter
Eduardo Luz – LinkedIn
Panera CEO - Niren Chaudhary
Claes Petersson – head chef, Chief Food Innovation Officer
Value Duets
Flatbread Pizza
World Resources Institute – Cool Food Badge
Chef Jose Andres & Panera – fighting food insecurity

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

258: The Future of Advertising in Video Games with Adverty's Niklas Bakos

Niklas Bakos is the Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Adverty, a company that helps put advertisements in video games. In this episode, Alan and Niklas discuss what in-game advertising looks like and how e-sports has exploded in popularity.

The conversation starts with why Niklas founded Adverty. Having spent most of his career in the gaming industry, he saw a huge opportunity for marketers to easily reach their target audiences and do it “at scale.”

They discuss the e-sports revolution, why in-game advertising is more insightful than real-life street advertising, and how a marketer should be thinking about it.

In this episode, you'll learn:

How mobile gaming is the leading platform for advertising
How in-game advertisements are more insightful than real-life advertisements
Why e-sports is the next gaming revolution

Key Highlights:

[01:12] Niklas's “big fat cat”
[01:51] Why Niklas founded Adverty
[03:26] What is Adverty
[04:27] What in-game advertising looks like
[09:06] The brain impression algorithm
[14:37] The future of ad placement and pricing
[15:48] How to think about e-sports and its future
[19:00] Why mobile gaming has such a far reach
[21:12] Who is doing in-game marketing well
[22:43] The future of e-sports and in-game marketing
[24:18] An experience that defines Niklas, made him who he is today
[25:52] Niklas's advice for his younger self
[26:30] Niklas's recent impactful purchase
[27:28] The brands, companies, and causes Niklas follows
[29:28] What Niklas says is today's biggest threat and opportunity for marketers

Resources Mentioned: