Backstage Pass: Visa marketing chief Chris Curtin in session

Payment solutions giant Visa reinforced its commitment to women’s sport in early March by announcing, in the build up to International Women’s Day, that it will commit the same activation budget to its women’s football sponsorships as it did for the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2018.

The announcement came shortly after the company decided to widen the Visa Everywhere Initiative to include a Women’s Global Edition, which will provide the opportunity for female executives from around the world to put forward their solutions to issues in fintech and social impact challenges. The programme will then culminate in a final event held during the opening stages of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France in June.

• Backstage Pass: Liverpool CEO Peter Moore in Session
• Backstage Pass: Sir Martin Sorrell in Session
• Curtain Call: After Dark at the Leaders Sport Business Summit – day two

Innovative activation was a key focus for Visa at the 2018 FIFA World Cup; something which Chris Curtin, the organisation’s Chief Brand and Innovation Marketing officer, explained to The Sport Business Summit during Leaders Week New York 2018:

In this summit session, Curtin explains:

• How the company structure their advertising spend;
• How the campaign with Zlatan Ibrahimovic aimed to raise awarenesss of contactless technology;
• Advice for rights holders forging new relationships with brands;
• What the future of sports sponsorship looks like.

The conversations on innovation in sports marketing will continue at Leaders Week New York 2019, as the likes of Rakuten and the world’s leading brands join the summit. Here’s the agenda at a glance.