Stephanie McMahon reveals why WWE promotes community events so much.
In 2015, Stephanie McMahon famously tweeted a quote by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone saying, "philanthropy is the future of marketing, it's the way brands are going to win."
The line drew the ire of wrestling fans, who questioned if WWE's partnerships with Connor's Cure, Make-A-Wish, Susan G. Komen and more are good deeds done by the company or marketing strategies. Speaking to Sports Business Journal, Stephanie discussed why WWE promotes its community efforts so much.
“We never did much to talk about our partnerships because we were doing it for what we believed to be the right reasons, not for any press or media attention,” said Stephanie McMahon. “But then we realized we were actually doing our partners a disservice, especially as WWE continued to grow globally.”
Special Olympics CEO Mary Davis also weighed in, saying, "We have seen that shift over the years, and they were shy, let’s say, about promoting their involvement. It was really an essential part of the development of our partnership that they would make it known to the world, and make it known to their fans, that we work as partners.”
WWE and the Special Olympics partnered in 1995. In 2015, Big Show was appointed as the WWE Goodwill Ambassador for the Special Olympics.
