Influencers of Sponsorship Marketing - a Roth Revenue Podcast

This episode’s featured guest is Paul Joliat – Assistant VP, Sponsorship & Philanthropy at Sun Life. Sun Life is one of the most active brands in Canada from an advertising, sponsorship and cause marketing perspective.

Paul is a veteran of the sponsorship marketing wars, having negotiated deals from both sides of the table, many of them award-winners.

November was Diabetes Awareness Month, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a brand that has done more to advance Diabetes awareness in Canada than Sun Life.

A big focus of our chat is some amazing insights from his 9+ years at Sun Life. Including…

- How Paul helped develop Sun Life’s sponsorship strategy and the challenges of doing so for an insurance brand

- How Paul’s role expanded to include Philanthropy and how he took inspiration from the Purolator Tackle Hunger program when shaping Sun Life’s philanthropic strategy

- Insights into how and why Sun Life selected Diabetes as the core of their corporate social responsibility mandate

- The evolution of Sun Life’s sponsorship portfolio which includes notable properties such as the Toronto Raptors, Montreal Canadiens and the Grey Cup… and how each is used to amplify Sun Life’s CSR platform

- Great example of how Paul sold the Raptor Jersey patch through internally to people with a finance or actuarial background

- Insights into the Sun Life Grey Cup Fan March and the Sun Life Dunk for Diabetes program

- We discuss the intersection between philanthropy and sponsorship and how it has grown across the industry.

- And terrific personal and professional development advice from an executive who has worked on the agency, property and brand side.

Tanya leads sponsorship strategy for Rogers. She offers insights into Rogers Hometown Hockey property. How Rogers has expanded into music (Live Nation) and mass transit (Pearson Airport). And how the new Rogers brand platform - Make More Possible – gets integrated into their partnerships.

Jim is VP & Head of MediaCom Sport & Entertainment – the sponsorship division of MediaCom. He is one of the most respected sponsorship marketing execs in Canada and helped create the award-winning Kraft Hockeyville initiative. In this episode, he shares insights into that program as well as trends and advice.

This episode’s featured guest is Don Mayo – Global Managing Partner of IMI International – a globally recognized marketing consultancy specializing in pre, during and post-evaluation of marketing initiatives, including sponsorship, brand marketing and media.

For those who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Don, this podcast will give you a small taste of his wit and intelligence. One of the true characters in our industry… Don feels big data is overrated, admits to an inherent cynicism and says he is wrong… a lot.

We cover a lot of territory in a relatively brief chat….including:

- How brands and properties are still not taking ROI as seriously as they should

- The challenges of media bias

- Examples of how Canada more than holds its own when it comes to engaging sponsorship activations.

- And great advice for sponsorship marketers.

Bart is Managing Director at Torque Strategies. His journey is unique, including a stint in baseball operations with the Toronto Blue Jays. In this episode, Bart shares insights into a campaign Torque developed for Canada Media Fund, highlighting the amazing content produced in Canada. We also discuss a very ambitious activation Torque worked on for HBC that helped re-establish the iconic retailer as an "Adventure" company. All that and some neat stories about his time as Assistant GM of the Jays.

Sam is SVP & Managing Director, Canada at Endeavor Properties. He is a true partnership architect who believes that your reputation is your currency. In this episode, Sam shares examples of some of the sponsorship programs he helped shape in challenging sectors like gaming and pharma. We also discuss trends and the evolution of Endeavor from its roots as IMG.

Gord is president & founder of Charlton Insights - a leading research agency that specializes in sports & entertainment sponsorships, working with properties and sponsors alike. We discuss how Gord and his team help properties attract and retain sponsors, and how brands maximize their activations.

Matt is president & COO of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and oversees sales, marketing, corporate partnerships and community and municipal relations. We discuss the special connection team owner, Bob Young, has with the team and the community, and we go deep into the genesis and planning of Tim Hortons Field. Matt also shares his views on sponsorship trends and offers outstanding personal and professional development advice.

Bonnie is president of A&C. She is a leading authority on sponsorship strategy and negotiation, and former Chair of the SMCC. Bonnie shares insights into TD's partnership at Union Station and the TO Live/Meridian partnership - both architected by Bonnie and her team at A&C.

This episode features Josh Epstein, Managing Director, Sponsorship at BMO. Josh is one of the most respected sponsorship executives in the country. He speaks with a passion and conviction that is rare.

We discuss...

- How 5 seconds of courage helped kick start Josh’s career.

- The amazing network Josh has cultivated over his career.

- Insights into the RBC Olympians program, an initiative that helped Olympians make the transition after their competitive days were done.

- Insight into RBC’s sponsorship of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay and how it brought the Olympic spirit to nearly 1000 RBC branches in communities across the country.

- BMO’s sponsorship strategy, centred around what’s known as the BMO Effect. He also gives a tease about what's to come with BMO’s support of the MLS and soccer in Canada as we head towards the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

- Sponsorship industry trends and personal and professional development advice.