• by Barbie Romero , December 3, 2024

Learn how Wendy's Franchisee Manna Hospitality Group / Bridgeman manages risk when promoting a redemption item based on a sports team winning their games. Also, Gina Sisk's advice to marketers: Don't live in a silo.

1. In the last few DOOH summits, you spoke about integrating DOOH to drive redemption for Wendy’s Frostys and other treats after certain sporting teams won games. How did you manage the risk of those sporting teams' game outcomes? Was there a plan B if those teams lost games?   

We were lucky enough to partner with VERY flexible OOH vendors in both Milwaukee and St. Louis where we only went up on DOOH IF the Bucks (MKE) or IF the Blues (St. Louis) won their games. If they don’t win, we aren’t up on the boards. The “buy” just shifts to the next game day. Our trigger programs in both Milwaukee and St. Louis centered around the teams (Milwaukee Bucks and St. Louis Blues ) winning – If they win, then fans can WIN as well and go into any area Wendy’s for a Free Frosty (no purchase necessary) for 24 hours after the win. It’s a great way to celebrate all the big wins for each team and the programs have become very popular in both cities.

2. What is your favorite sports team? 

Ahhhh….this is tricky. Am I allowed to say the New England Patriots WHEN Tom Brady was the QB??  If I can pick a team of the past…that is it. If it has to be current, I’d say ANY Boston team (Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins) AND of course the Milwaukee Bucks and the St. Louis Blues (see Q#1).

3. Any advice for others that want to affiliate themselves with sports teams? How do you know which teams to partner with?  

Sports Partnerships can be very fun and rewarding as a tie-in for brands but it’s a very delicate dance, in my experience, picking the right partners and the right programs. We are lucky in that we own the majority of Wendy’s in Wisconsin (all markets) and the majority in St. Louis as well. We have the ability to track our redemptions of the FREE Frosty based on the programs described above down to the store level for each win. We can then pivot from different media, different social timing, etc. to drive those redemptions up over the season long program. To have this immediate line of sight to the traffic driving promotion results is extremely helpful in determining the success of the partnership and the program. I truly believe there is a halo effect to partnering with sports teams as well, if done correctly, which can’t really be measured, so to have this trigger component to help quantify that has been very helpful for us. The other critical piece is to find teams that are willing to learn and grow with you and your intended program. We have been very fortunate in that regard.

4. How do you recharge?

When we relocated back to New England after living in the Midwest for 20 years, we decided to buy a farm. No experience necessary! We have chickens and golden retrievers who love to roam the property as well as a number of gardens that need tending. So, between enjoying all of that and keeping up with our three grown children and their lives, there is plenty to distract when needed and the setting is perfect to reset/recharge. We also built a pickleball court which is a ton of fun and great for parties – again, no experience necessary!

5. As a marketer, what is the one thing you continuously do and recommend others do too?  

I really try to stay ahead of any new media or big ideas that come on to the scene. This landscape has grown so much in the last 20 years even, and to stay energized and ready for the next big idea is critical to understanding where consumers are spending their precious time and how they are consuming information. I’m consistently encouraging our team to always be curious. Ask questions and don’t live in a silo – get out and discover all angles of a story/topic before you make up your mind. Be in control of the media you consume so you have the power to make informed decisions. It’s a pull vs push strategy. Pull a broad array of media/messages/information that you want vs just accepting what is pushed to you. 

If you’re interested in submitting content for future editions, please reach out to our Managing Editor, Barbie Romero at Barbie@MediaPost.com.