Cricket Australia has appointed PepsiCo's former head of sports marketing, Kim McConnie, as head of the Big Bash League.
She replaces Anthony Everard, who was promoted to executive general manager of leagues and events.
McConnie joins Cricket Australia after 14 years with PepsiCo, where she most recently led Pepsi’s sports marketing strategy for professional leagues, teams and athlete relationships while based at the company’s global headquarters in New York.
Speaking on the appointment, Cricket Australia's CEO James Sutherland was excited to have McConnie join the Big Bash team to continue to grow the success of both the BBL and WBBL.
“This is just the second person we have had in this role, following Anthony’s appointment at the very start of the BBL," he said. “Kim’s experience crosses between sport and entertainment and her strong belief that success is based on putting fans first, aligns well with Australian Cricket’s Vision to be Australia’s favourite sport.
"We know the experience she brings from PepsiCo will translate nicely, as they are a well-established company leading in youth and entertainment marketing. It’s an exciting time for the sport, and we’re looking forward to what Kim will bring to grow both the men’s and women’s leagues even further."
New head of the Big Bash League Kim McConnie is excited to join Cricket Australia during a high growth period
McConnie said she was looking forward to the challenge in the new role, especially given the BBL and WBBL are in an exciting growth period.
"I believe we have a huge opportunity to continue to attract new fans and participants to both leagues," she said. “I couldn’t be more excited to take on the role. Women’s sport is in such a great shape in Australia and the men’s league is the fifth biggest sporting league in the world.
"Growing the Big Bash, and making cricket the best sport for fans, is one of the game’s strategic priorities in addition to making cricket the leading sport for women and girls. We have the power to do all of this in the Big Bash, and to continue to innovate sport entertainment in Australia and be a market leader.
Kim started her career in The Smith's Snackfoods Company in 1995 as a route sales representative, spending nearly 3 years operating a cash van in Queensland. She then spent time as a sales analyst in Tingalpa before relocating to Chatswood as an assistant brand manager. She left in 2001 but rejoined in 2004 as a senior leader in the marketing team in PepsiCo South East Asia and became marketing director PepsiCo Thailand in 2007. Kim returned to Australia to become marketing director for Pepsico Beverages in December 2009, and three years later moved to New York to head its sports marketing division.
McConnie's leadership at PepsiCo brought to life highly successful initiatives such as the Pepsi Super Bowl platform, charged with bringing Pepsi's signature style of consumer engagement to the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
She also led work to expand PepsiCo's consumer reach by securing a deal with the NBA, which was brought to life through several new fan and community activities, highlighted by a significant commitment to expanding the NBA's 3-on-3 basketball program and driving the advancement of women’s professional sport, having spent time mentoring WNBA players and involving them in grassroots programs.
Closer to home, McConnie is already familiar with Cricket Australia, having previously negotiated and launched the Cricket Australia partnership with Gatorade. In addition, she has managed sponsorship portfolios with the AFL and NRL and is well versed in the Australian sports landscape.
Creating meaningful brands should be a holistic and considered process. However, all too frequently it’s one that is disparate and reactive, where one objective is prioritized at the expense of all others. So, what are the key pieces to the ‘good’ brand puzzle?
Companies encounter a variety of challenges when it comes to marketing overseas. Marketing departments often don’t know much about the business and cultural context of the international audiences they are trying to reach. Sometimes they are also unsure about what kind of marketing they should be doing.
Using data is a hot topic right now. Leaders are realising data can no longer just be the responsibility of dedicated analysts or staff with ‘data’ in their title or role description.
Nice blog!Blog is really informative , valuable.keep updating us with such amazing blogs.influencer agency in Melbourne
Rajat Kumar
Why flipping Status Quo Bias is the key to B2B marketing success
good this information are very helpful for millions of peoples customer loyalty Consultant is an important part of every business.
Tom Devid
Report: 4 ways to generate customer loyalty
Great post, thanks for sharing such a informative content.
CodeWare Limited
APAC software company brings on first VP of growth
This article highlights Gartner’s latest digital experience platforms report and how they are influencing content operations ecosystems. ...
vikram Roy
Gartner 2022 Digital Experience Platforms reveals leading vendor players
What about this one FormDesigner.pro? I think it's a great platform providing a lot of options, you can collect different data and work w...
Salvador Lopez
Gartner highlights four content marketing platform players as leaders