Episode 26: Future-proofing brands in sports and entertainment with Jen Zudonyi
Jen Zudonyi is the Senior Director of Brand & Consumer Marketing in the Sports Division of Warner Brothers Discovery. She leads marketing across Turner Sports and Bleacher Report specific to the company's NHL property and partnership. Throughout her career, Jen has made it her mission to build and execute marketing strategies that reach new audiences, online and off, for marquee sports and entertainment properties. She is passionate about sports as a vehicle for driving conversation around social progress and an advocate for mental health and wellness in the workplace.
In this episode, Jen and I talk NHL playoffs and what she and her team do to differentiate the NHL on TNT and B/R Open Ice products from other hockey outlets. We discuss the importance of future proofing brands by offering content that showcases the magic of the product - in this case, hockey - and playing that magic up to wider audiences. We also discuss the difference between marketing a cause and driving a cause-related initiative to impact. Jen’s advice for women in business? Don’t be complicit. If you see an opportunity to take a stand for a cause, big or small, take it…
“When you think about future-proofing a brand, you have to keep compounding audience. And one of the ways that we think about that is just different platforms... social, digital, linear, experiential, merchandising. What are all the different pieces of the puzzle in terms of fan engagement that we can activate? But then what are the magic, secret sauce ingredients of hockey? And then what what types of things can we create based on those ingredients? And so we try to do that and think about things from a real 360 perspective in everything we do. ”