2 Minutes With … Lara Krug, CMO of the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs

Lara has over 15 years of experience across sports marketing, consumer goods, alcoholic beverages and beauty. She is currently CMO and EVP for the Kansas City Chiefs, which won their second straight Super Bowl title last night. Lara’s previous stints include Anheuser-Busch InBev, L’Oreal, Avon and PHD.

We spent two minutes with Lara to learn more about her background, her creative inspirations and recent work she’s admired.

Lara, tell us …

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

I grew up in Weston, Conn., and lived there until college. I now live in Kansas City after moving here three years ago from NYC.

Your earliest sports memory.

Outside of playing soccer and softball growing up, going to a Yankees game at the old stadium with my dad. He worked and commuted to the city every day, so going back into the city on weekends wasn’t something we would do much. But he would always make the effort for a Yankees game. There’s nothing better than a summer game and a hot dog with your dad!

Your favorite sports team(s).

Biased for sure—the Kansas City Chiefs.

Your favorite athlete(s).

Biased for sure again with our players on the Chiefs for what they do on and off the field. But I also love Alex Morgan and Serena Williams. They were the best of the best while also being amazing mothers. 

Your favorite sports show or podcast.

I have rewatched Friday Night Lights (the show) about three times. It’s one of my favorites. I also love 30 for 30, the best type of storytelling for avid and casual fans to learn about a player, team or athlete.

Your favorite sports movie and/or video game.

Does Mario Kart count as a sports video game? As a mom of little kids, we play it often. It teaches good sportsmanship for sure.

A recent project you’re proud of.

The work that our team did to bring a Chiefs game to Germany—the first NFL game in Frankfurt—and activate around it with our “ChampionShip.” It set the bar on how to drive the internationalization of the brand and grow our fanbase. It was truly a team effort and required a lot of belief and creativity to pull off.

Someone else’s project that you admired recently.

I love the work by State Farm. The ability to take a “transactional” product message and make it emotional, funny and memorable is amazing. Love the approach and creativity.

What sports can do that nothing else can.

There is no experience or product that I have worked on outside of sports that can bring people from all walks of life together with such intense love, loyalty and passion. The Chiefs’ fanbase is a gift. They show up physically and digitally to rally our brand on both the good and hard days. 

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in the sports world.

I have and will always want to be in the world of media and creativity.