Broadcasting live from Cannes Lions 2025, CMA CEO Alison Simpson discusses Bob Park's (Chief Brand Officer for GE, Cafe, Monogram and Haier Appliances in Canada) bold decision to increase sponsorship of Canada Soccer amid multiple scandals. The condition? Complete equality for the women's soccer program. This purpose-driven stance delivered social change (equal pay for women's soccer) and business results (75% website traffic increase), taking GE's "good things for life" mantra further as "good things for everyone."

00:00:00:01 - 00:00:10:18 Presenter Welcome to CMA Connect, Canada's marketing podcast with your host CMA CEO, Alison Simpson.

00:00:10:20 - 00:00:13:19 Video We are announcing that we are building a women's professional soccer league in Canada. GE Appliances to supporting women's soccer, it's phenomenal. It changes women's and girls' lives.

00:00:31:15 - 00:01:01:10 Bob Um, It still chokes me up. That thing, where we were faced with a real dilemma at GE. A number of the corporate partners of Canada Soccer, our governing, national soccer organization, had pulled out of sponsorship because of these, scandals and issues that were affecting the organization. But, and I had about a week to think about it.

00:01:01:12 - 00:01:25:02 Bob And obviously, from a corporate standpoint, it would make the most sense to just simply, pull our funding. We always have clauses in our contract, that say, if this happens, you can pull out. But I thought about it and I thought, about, back to our purpose. And our purpose is really, as GE Appliances, we want to support the community.

00:01:25:02 - 00:01:49:13 Bob We, our motto is "good things for life", and that means good things for everyone. How can we support Canada Soccer, which, soccer in Canada, the beautiful game in Canada and then pull out of backing financially the number one organization in the country. No matter how small it is, no matter what it is that you're doing, bring the change that you want to see in the world.

00:01:49:15 - 00:01:56:10 Bob And after that, great things happen. Thank you very much. You.

00:01:56:12 - 00:02:26:23 Alison In today's episode, we're diving into a story that is literally minutes ago, fresh on the stage from the prestigious Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. We're exploring how innovative brand partnerships are reshaping the landscape for brands and sport marketing in Canada, and also really driving social change and important differences in our community and in equity in this case. So I'm thrilled to be joined by Bob Park, Chief Brand Officer for GE, Cafe, Monogram and Haier Appliances in Canada.

00:02:27:01 - 00:02:49:00 Alison Bob is in Cannes, where he presented as part of the Changemakers series, which has been a very inspiring session where marketers around the world that are renowned for driving important societal change and building brands and businesses have been invited to speak. And Bob, you did a phenomenal job. So thank you for representing Canada so well.

Bob Thank you.

Alison And now we're going to dive into some questions.

00:02:49:00 - 00:03:10:13 Alison And he's going to share, what he shared in Cannes and answer some of our questions around it. So Bob, it's an absolute a pleasure to have you with me today. Why don't you start, by talking a bit about GE Appliances Canada entered into a multi-year partnership with Canada Soccer in 2022. Now you were surprised by a big, unexpected press issue.

00:03:10:13 - 00:03:35:14 Alison And anytime you enter into a sponsorship, there's always potential that things will go awry. Yet when things went awry, you stayed through it and absolutely continue to have a partnership and evolved your approach. So it's a very inspiring story. The audience at Cannes were riveted, so I'd love you to share with our CMA Connect audience a bit about the sponsorship, what happened and why you continue to support Canada Soccer.

00:03:35:15 - 00:04:02:11 Bob I think the first thing I have to do is, go back to, our thinking process or our thought process around, sponsoring soccer in the beginning. And really what it came down to is soccer is the most participated sport in the country. And the reason for that is the barriers to entry for sports like hockey, as an example, are, are it's very expensive to send, if you have any children in hockey.

00:04:02:13 - 00:04:29:03 Bob It's an extreme, expense. Soccer is the one sport that, despite whatever your family's economic condition is, almost any family can afford to participate in. And a large percentage of of the kids and families participating in soccer are GE consumers either now or down the road. So that made a lot of sense. The other thing that we really liked about soccer is it's a very diverse sport.

00:04:29:03 - 00:04:50:11 Bob Worldwide, it is also the most participated sport in the world, and it's phenomenal how accepted it is. No matter what country you go, we're in France now, and, and it's called football here. And I was just talking to a couple of people getting off the stage of how much they loved the game. So Canada, believe it or not, the fastest growing sport is soccer.

00:04:50:11 - 00:05:11:01 Bob More people are playing soccer than ever before. Our major league teams are getting much more attention, and our national team. So it was a kind of a no-brainer knowing that World Cup is coming next year in 2026. You know, we had decided in 2019, how do we, how do we leverage that? How do we how do we approach our consumer?

00:05:11:01 - 00:05:45:09 Bob And it was to get involved with major league teams in Canada, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and finally, really the crown jewel was Canada Soccer because we wanted to support our national teams, both, men and women. And of course, all the all the, grassroots programs across the country. Unfortunately, what had happened was, a number of different scandals, of which, a lot of the sponsors for Canada Soccer, in fact, had pulled out and and found it to be, untenable to maintain a relationship.

00:05:45:09 - 00:06:15:20 Bob And that was, you know, due to a few different, things that had happened. But probably the most prominent was, the women's soccer team going on strike, because of really unfair agreements or conditions as compared to the men's team. So an example of that was, they were having the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia, and many of the women's players had to pay for their own plane tickets to go to the World Cup.

00:06:15:22 - 00:06:25:09 Bob That's entirely unheard of for virtually any country, much less Canada, where obviously the men's team were fully funded.

00:06:25:11 - 00:06:27:03 Alison And which team was performing significantly better?

00:06:27:05 - 00:06:50:12 Bob Yeah, the the women's team was challenging. They'd won a gold medal. Definitely one of the top teams in the world. So it really didn't make a lot of sense. And, the women rightfully, protested it. They kept playing their games but they donned purple shirts and really made it public. So as a brand that damaged our brand significantly.

00:06:50:18 - 00:07:14:14 Bob And any brand associated with Canada Soccer, because if you don't stand for that, it's going to do damage and you get social media inquiries and all, all types of questions around, why are you sponsoring this? Why is GE a part of, this terrible thing that is happening over at Canada Soccer? So I had about a week and I really thought about it.

00:07:14:14 - 00:07:51:06 Bob And I had the opportunity because it is a clause in most, sponsorship contracts to actually withdraw. And big names had already withdrawn their support of Canada Soccer, which is, predominantly financial and significant amounts of support. We are one of the largest sponsors of Canada Soccer. So it was really a crossroads. And the one thing that really ran through my mind was that, if I withdraw support, I'm actually truly withdrawing support from both the men's, women's and grassroots programs.

00:07:51:08 - 00:08:15:20 Bob And essentially what that does is, although I'm doing it in, I guess, protest of how they were treating the women's team, I'm, I'm completely dropping the funding as well. So that actually wasn't a winning situation for anybody. I thought and I thought about it. And finally we came up with the idea to write an open letter.

00:08:15:21 - 00:08:39:06 Bob So we wrote an open letter, and we distributed that across all, media, online, etc. and it got picked up by a number of different publications - sports, Globe and Mail, TSN, etc. and what the letter had said was the letter was, was from me. And what it said was, I'm actually going to, give more money to Canada Soccer, which was kind of odd.

00:08:39:06 - 00:09:04:02 Bob I was going in the reverse direction. However, it came with a caveat, and the caveat was that that money was to go to specific programs that we agreed to and outlined, for example, trainers for the women's team, flights being paid for, etc., etc. It was all earmarked for the women's soccer program. That got me some calls.

00:09:04:02 - 00:09:29:12 Bob It actually got me some calls from the CEO and Headquarters and they were wondering, what I was doing and, I explained it to them that, that this is what our brand stands for, and this is the only way to maintain our commitment and our purpose, but still show that GE does not accept inequity.

00:09:29:14 - 00:09:50:17 Bob Our brand is not meant that way. And this is not acceptable to us, but we don't want to pull support of our hugely successful men's and women's programs. So a little bit of touchy, touchiness there, bit touch and go. But then finally, it actually paid off. Fast forward, months later, the women received an equal program.

00:09:50:17 - 00:10:24:09 Bob They received equal pay. They are now on equal terms with, with the men's team. And and you could see now, it spiraled into Women's League, just, Women's Northern Super League just started in Canada. The game is changing just like it is for basketball and, and hockey and women's sports. So, you know, the Changemaker Series is really creating a spark and doing small things that can add up to eventually becoming something big.

00:10:24:10 - 00:10:48:01 Alison And you describe it as a small thing. But from where I'm sitting, it is anything but a small thing on a bunch of levels. So first, you're betting your personal brand and reputation and to some degree, your job on this. It's a very bold move. And when you were on stage at Cannes, you talked about the crucial role being bold plays and you embody that and this decision and then this approach.

00:10:48:03 - 00:11:05:14 Alison I'm also curious to hear how you sold that through, like getting getting a call from the CEO of the global organization absolutely gets your attention. And I'm curious to hear how you sold it through, and at any point, did you question whether you should be pursuing this or not?

00:11:05:15 - 00:11:32:22 Bob Okay. So I'll answer the sold it through. Well, the the truth of the matter is, the good thing about my organization is that I'm granted a lot of autonomy. So I didn't really have to sell it through. I just explained what I was doing and why, and there wasn't any objection. I don't think that the gravity of what it was was really understood at the time, because nobody knew what would... nobody have,

00:11:32:22 - 00:11:54:21 Bob no media outlet might have picked it up like, but I, I really talked about it as a move, really advertising that, GE doesn't stand for that. But we don't want to withdraw our support of Canada. So I thought it was a win-win when I sold it through. And I still think it's a win-win for everyone now, today.

00:11:54:21 - 00:12:21:16 Bob And and now that it's easy to say it now because the numbers and everything proved it. But back at that time, I did believe in it. And really the reason why, so answering the second question, that I believe in it, is that it goes back to what does your brand stand for? What does GE mean to people? Our mantra is, good things for life and taking that a step further, it's good things for everyone.

00:12:21:18 - 00:12:54:20 Bob Everyone, every family in Canada needs home appliances. So we, we sell our products to everyone up and down the gamut. Every culture that comes to Canada, new immigrants, newcomers, whether you're transgender, homosexual, it really is irrelevant to us. Everyone needs them. So we have to be that brand. We have to equally represent everyone in that spectrum.

00:12:54:22 - 00:13:10:21 Bob Because they're all GE consumers. So to me, running with a purpose like that and what we what the brand means it, it kind of was a no-brainer. So, maybe it was a little foolhardy, but we did it.

00:13:10:23 - 00:13:27:16 Alison You've embodied being bold and brave in your move, you've made a significant difference for soccer in Canada, women in particular. So I'd love to hear on a personal note, how did it feel when you found out that your efforts led to the women getting equal rights, including equal pay?

00:13:27:18 - 00:14:01:04 Bob That is huge to me. I think, I, I, I played a lot of sports when I was younger. And, you know, any kid that's ever picked up a hockey stick or a football or a soccer ball, etc., you always have those dreams of game seven over time and being something in sports and, in my own small way, I think personally speaking, I was able to contribute and any success that, the women's team has, I feel a very small part of it.

00:14:01:04 - 00:14:40:05 Bob So it's really it it's it's the passion that that that drives you. It really personally upset me, especially the reason why I bring up that that flight thing that they had to pay for their own flights and they don't they don't have, they didn't have athletic trainers. It really broke my heart in the sense that, we were expecting these players to go out, and for the highest honour, to represent our country and the only other way to represent our country in that in such a manner is is going to war.

00:14:40:05 - 00:15:02:23 Bob And for that we give so much credit for. But these, these players sacrifice so much. And whether men or women, to represent us, and to not give them the basics, really what it is, to to give them the best opportunity that we possibly can for them to compete is just so, it was such an atrocity to me.

00:15:03:03 - 00:15:22:12 Bob And then to have it, without equity, was even, was even worse to me. So to be a small part of changing that dynamic was, was a huge impact on us. So seeing them successful and playing and the growth of the women's, women's, Northern Super League is amazing to me. I love it.

00:15:22:14 - 00:15:39:17 Alison Well, it's incredible to me as a Canadian, when I first heard I, I knew that they weren't getting equal pay, but I had no appreciation that many of them had to work part time jobs to pay for themselves and the fact that they didn't have trainers, didn't have to, had to pay their own flights, and yet were still performing at the level they were,

00:15:39:17 - 00:15:48:21 Alison and you think you can't help but think if we support them the way we should be, let's see what they can do. So thank you for being, you call it a small part of that, but I give you more credit than that.

00:15:48:22 - 00:15:50:08 Bob Thank you, thank you.

00:15:50:10 - 00:15:59:08 Alison Now, as marketers, everything we do is about the brand purpose. It's also about building the business. So I'd love you to share some of the business results too.

00:15:59:10 - 00:16:35:09 Bob So I think the way that you measure anything obviously, and in our world is definitely sales-based. And really what what marketing essentially, what we're trying to do as marketers is really put ourselves in that in a consideration set. There's so many different digital, KPI and different words that you can use for it. But at the end of the day, whether it's a chocolate bar, a t-shirt, whatever it is, in our case a washing machine or, or a stove, are we in that consideration set when that person comes to that time to purchase?

00:16:35:09 - 00:16:59:15 Bob And are we able to present why buy GE, in our case? And a lot of cases we're finding, let's say, for example, newcomers coming to Canada, they don't have General Electric here in France. So they're completely unaware of the brand. But they are aware of soccer, and they're fans of soccer. One of the first things they do when they come here is get acclimatized to what's going on with football in Canada.

00:16:59:17 - 00:17:23:09 Bob So all the background of why we got into this, we did so much research, and we knew that there was an entire market that we could start convincing to become at least someone that would consider a GE appliance and look at it, if not become a purchaser of a GE appliance. That's ultimately in any marketing organization,

00:17:23:09 - 00:17:52:05 Bob that is what we're trying to accomplish. So, oddly enough, doing purpose-built work like like we did with, with Quinn, the first non-binary, national ambassador of a corporate ambassador, to what we did to support the women's national team, it all paid off, year over year. And heading into 26, exponentially.

00:17:52:07 - 00:18:37:12 Bob We expect about probably about 75% increase in a research study that we do annually. And it's specifically targeted to, would you, would you consider buying a GE appliance? Would you recommend a GE appliance? Very simple questions. And that number, that statistic, with 12 million soccer fans in Canada, is increasing roughly about 10 to 20% every year, year over year. By 2026, which is the World Cup next year, that 12 million fans is going to become around 20 or 22 million fans, we predict, of soccer because of what a World Cup does when it comes to a nation. We're going to be primed and we're going to be a part of it, and it's simply doing things that are true to our brand identity.

00:18:40:09 - 00:18:46:22 Alison Well, that 10 to 20% annual increase in those sorts of studies is a significant increase.

00:18:46:23 - 00:19:15:03 Bob It really, it really is. More than actually what we had budgeted for or what we had forecasted. I was thinking more in the single digits, but it's really, really cool how this stuff really resonated. This, for example, the sport, the women's team, it shot up our website visits by 75% the next month, like literally, after that open letter went out.

00:19:15:03 - 00:19:39:12 Bob So people now are becoming much more interested and finding out about GE, it's it's where it wasn't in their consideration set before and have that emotional attachment with a soccer fan or a Canadian or a woman that just wants to see women's equity is really something you can't buy. You have to be bold. You have to, you have to do things that are true to your purpose.

00:19:39:14 - 00:20:06:03 Alison But I also love when it would be reasonable for our audience to say, okay, so why would an appliance company partner with soccer and part of your rationale you just shared is brilliant. Like if soccer is more global than GE is, we are a country of immigrants and newcomers to a large degree, and you saw an opportunity to leverage that to grow the awareness and the affinity for GE. That makes so much sense and great insight.

00:20:06:07 - 00:20:11:16 Bob Yeah, I mean, it was, it was, it seemed so logical at the time. Yeah. And it worked out.

00:20:11:17 - 00:20:21:10 Alison So our audience are, I'm sure, going to be very curious to hear what your plans are, to the degree that you can share them, with soccer leading into 2026.

00:20:21:12 - 00:20:56:01 Bob So 2026 is so exciting. The reason why, what makes it so exciting is if you think of any sporting event in Canada, whether it's you, your grandparents. In the last 100 years or more, in fact, the existence of Canada, an international sporting event, or in fact, any event of this magnitude, it's never happened. Olympics are definitely, large, but actually the most viewed sporting event in the world is the World Cup.

00:20:56:01 - 00:21:22:15 Bob It doesn't even come close. It's because it combines so many nations as I said. It's the most widely participated sport in the world. It is exponentially growing in Canada. It's going to be like nothing we've ever seen. It's in two cities, both Vancouver and Toronto, and I think it's going to, and we're all predicting, it's going to bring Canadians together in a very, very meaningful, and special way.

00:21:22:15 - 00:21:51:09 Bob So to be a part of it, to, be supporting our Canadian athletes as they compete for a World Cup and actually have a very, they just broke the top 30, national rankings. So we have a competitive team. It's going to be extremely exciting. I can't broach exactly what the plans are. The one thing I can share is that we are going to be really focused on

00:21:51:11 - 00:22:16:16 Bob exactly what we did with the women's team, or working with Quinn, and all of the things we've done to this point. It's all been about accessibility. The sport is accessible regardless of financial circumstance. It's the most participated sport in Canada. Our doors are open to people like Quinn, non-binary athletes. Our doors are open to women, men, any gender, any culture.

00:22:16:18 - 00:22:35:04 Bob That's what GE is all about. So we're, we're just going to take that a step further, and we're going to have, in partnership with Canada Soccer, we'll just say, a big, big activation that's going to embody that, into 2026, that, it's going to really capture that spirit.

00:22:35:06 - 00:22:57:05 Alison Well, I'm excited to see more. And we'll have you back on the podcast when you can share a few more details.

Bob Perfect.

Alison So I'd like to close with two questions. This has been such an inspiring example of understanding your purpose and having the guts to stick to it through really adverse times, both for the organization and the brand, but also for you personally, from a career perspective.

00:22:57:10 - 00:23:04:07 Alison So what advice and what key learning coming out of this experience, would you share with our audience?

00:23:04:09 - 00:23:30:18 Bob I think, you know, if I was talking to any marketers or even individuals, as, oh, there we go, it's time to go. (Laughs) As I said, earlier, on stage, it's really about being bold, knowing what your purpose is, and then being bold. So your purpose is really, whether it's personal, whether it's corporate, knowing who you are and what you stand for.

00:23:30:20 - 00:23:52:18 Bob So for me personally, I knew that that wasn't okay with me personally, what happened with the women's team, but I had to expand that to corporate. And what what would GE do? What is GE? What does GE mean? What is our purpose? And really, once you got down to that, after that there's no point in being timid about it.

00:23:52:20 - 00:24:25:19 Bob It's really about now let's push this agenda. And if you are genuine, the consumer will realize that. And that's exactly what happened here. We were, we've made bold steps and it paid off in terms of creating a good environment and igniting something at Canada Soccer that drove change. But at the same time, it did a good for our brand because I think consumers realized that, wow, I really like what GE is all about.

00:24:25:19 - 00:24:41:16 Bob And I really like that GE did something about it. So I think if you have those factors into place, whether it's again personal or corporate, you're going to make change, no matter how small or how big in the world. And it's going to be, positive.

00:24:41:18 - 00:24:44:23 Alison And incredibly rewarding for the business and I suspect, for you personally.

00:24:45:01 - 00:24:46:07 Bob Absolutely.

00:24:46:09 - 00:24:59:06 Alison So I end every podcast, because we always have very senior, successful people on the podcast, I end every podcast by asking you for what's a piece of advice you would give to marketers who aspire to follow in your footsteps?

00:24:59:08 - 00:25:02:11 Bob First of all, don't follow in my footsteps.

00:25:02:13 - 00:25:04:07 Alison And why?

00:25:04:09 - 00:25:26:03 Bob I mean, I think that would go back to my piece of advice. You're going to make a lot of mistakes. I think if you listen and tune in to any, success advice or entrepreneurial advice, it's okay to make mistakes. I think it goes back to that same psychology of being bold. Really.

00:25:26:06 - 00:25:54:03 Bob Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Ask a lot of questions. Learn. Marketing is such a dynamic field. If you look at marketing from the early 2000s, even to today, the roles themselves have changed. A brand manager, someone in PR, you name it, digitization. And now with AI being the next great frontier, it's changing roles dramatically.

00:25:54:05 - 00:26:27:10 Bob So you have to be courageous. You have to be bold. You have to ask a lot of questions, and you have to you're going to make mistakes, and you have to be willing to change. Nothing great ever happened in the comfort zone. So prepare to be uncomfortable, and it's actually the people that thrive in that zone that are going to be successful, especially in marketing, because quite frankly, in terms of corporate strategy, business strategy, whether you're agency or brand side, you're leading the way, so be bold.

00:26:27:10 - 00:26:32:08 Alison Great advice. And some of my best lessons have been from the mistakes I've made.

00:26:32:12 - 00:26:33:04 Bob Absolutely.

00:26:33:07 - 00:26:46:03 Alison There's something about failing that creates memory glue, and you definitely change behaviours and become much more agile in your approach and do what you need to do to avoid and to learn from it. So phenomenal advice.

00:26:46:05 - 00:26:46:17 Bob Thank you.

00:26:46:19 - 00:26:56:12 Alison Well Bob, it's been an incredible conversation. Thank you very much for coming literally off the stage at Cannes and spending time with us. And congratulations on a really great presentation. The crows were riveted.

00:26:56:14 - 00:27:02:10 Bob Thank you very much.

00:27:02:12 - 00:27:15:01 Presenter Thanks for joining us. Be sure to visit the CMA.ca and sign up for your free MyCMA account. It's a great way to stay connected and benefit from the latest marketing thought leadership, news and industry trends.