Ep 32 COVID-19 Marketing Opportunities in Crises & Chaos with LPGA CMO - Roberta Bowman

THE LADIES PROFESSIONAL GOLF ASSOCIATION was one of the first sports to cancel live events in February due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Roberta shares her insights into crisis management, marketers’ best reactions, and relationships with sponsors and athletes during a time when professional sports has shut down.

Retired from Duke Energy, as the Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Roberta is a natural and authoritative communications expert; she led Duke Energies’ integrated response on environmental matters both nationally and internationally.

She brings nearly 35 years of business leadership & excellence to the LPGA where she leads the communications team and guides the TV, new media, and creative service for this iconic sports brand.

Her warm storytelling and business acumen combine to deliver a powerful networking session you will not want to miss. Roberta says, “because this is a time with no playbook, this is a unique crisis among crises, it’s a time for agility, creativity, strategy, and execution excellence.” Quarantined in our respective homes, we both laughed about putting on pants with a zipper for this interview!

Roberta Bowman LPGA Chief Brand & Communications Officer

Lessons you will learn from this podcast:

• Why this is an incredible moment in the field of marketing and communications for those that love problem-solving, and how to find an opportunity where others see chaos. 
• Sports builds its brands around accessibility and engagement with athletes, so how do you engage fans in a time of social distancing?
• How Steph Curry is using his platform as an athlete to build a bridge to information and understanding while providing an incredible service to his fans.  
• “A crisis as a terrible thing to waste – how you use a crisis to add velocity to change.”
• What to do when the vortex of a crisis is all-consuming and how to deal with the challenge to keep pace with the ever-changing situation.
• How Dove stayed perfectly on-brand by capturing the beauty and weakness of females on the front lines.
• Examples of resilience and creativity in the nonprofit sector.
• Why a crisis is a wonderful time to build your relationships with customers and create a sense of commitment and support for your brand.
• How the motivating power of storytelling generates awareness, interest, and new fans.
• How rebalancing our priorities in a crisis may help more sponsors rebalance their investment in female sports role models.
• Why being grateful for low-fat kettle potato chips and past mentors can boost your career