Key new commercial appointment at Queensland Rugby
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Queensland Rugby has appointed former Diageo and Coca-Cola executive Rhys Watkins to the newly created role of General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Partnerships.
Mr Watkins said he relished the opportunity to directly influence Queensland Rugby marketing and commercial strategies and would enjoy the broad nature of the role encompassing both sales and marketing departments.
"Plus, I'm following every bloke's dream of working in sport," he said.
Mr Watkins said he would bring to the position some of the marketing principles and planning disciplines of his previous customer focused roles. He believed his sponsorship experience with Coca-Cola would also provide a valuable insight on how to better service the needs of sponsors.
He also looked forward to exploring what lessons business might learn from sport.
"I think there's a lot to be learned from the way that sporting teams operate – a great example is the way that feedback is constantly given and received - that could be translated into a business context and used as a tool for developing both individuals and teams," he said.
After 12 years in sales and marketing roles with Coca-Cola and Diageo, Mr Watkins spent the past 12 months as a Shopping Centre Manager with Westfield.
"It (the Westfield role) gave me valuable operational experience but I missed the cut and thrust of sales and marketing," he said.
QRU CEO Ken Freer said the merger and restructuring of the Commercial and Marketing sections under Mr Watkins was designed to further improve service to corporate clients and sponsors.
"It will also ensure stronger coordination between marketing and sponsorship in the delivery of sponsor benefits and in the execution of the many events and activities that we undertake," he said.
"This will ensure that we not only create greater value for our sponsors but that we continue to improve the quality and effectiveness of the events we run and the interactions we have with our members, corporate partners and other key stakeholders," Mr Freer said.
