#267: 10 years at Toyota on the brand side of sport sponsorships with Chelsea Guy

·1 hr 1 min·5 clips

Chelsea Guy was told she wouldn't get a marketing job without a degree, but landed at Toyota and found a path into sports sponsorships.

The episode features an interview with Chelsea Guy, who worked at Toyota Australia for over 10 years, most recently as a senior digital marketing specialist. She recently joined the Melbourne International Comedy Festival as a partnerships manager. Chelsea recounts how she started in Adelaide as a PA at Toyota's regional office after being told by recruiters she wouldn't get a marketing job without a university degree. She transitioned into a marketing role through an internal promotion, working on sponsorships with the Adelaide Crows. Chelsea later moved back to Melbourne and secured a two-year secondment to Tokyo, where she worked on Toyota's global marketing campaign for the 2020 Olympics, navigating challenges posed by the pandemic. She describes her role in digital marketing, managing a global website in seven languages and creating content with sponsored athletes. After returning to Melbourne, Chelsea worked on Toyota's AFL partnership, focusing on customer engagement through ticketing and promotions. She discusses the $74 million AFL sponsorship deal and how she tested different marketing strategies. Chelsea explains her decision to move to the comedy festival, seeing it as a stepping stone to future sports opportunities, and details her new responsibilities in building partnerships with venues and bars. The episode includes quickfire questions about her career, advice for entering partnerships, and her plans to attend the Paris Olympics. The hosts, Reuben Williams and Ryan Walker, provide context on their sports industry community and share member success stories.

As heard by us

A practical career story about turning office support into marketing and sport sponsorship work.

Career mobility is the useful thread in Chelsea Guy's account of more than 10 years at Toyota Australia. A PA and office-support job becomes the practical entry point for marketing, brand activity, and sport sponsorship work, with her progress shaped by volunteering, events,…

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Want a practical route into sport marketing through the front door of Toyota?

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