Centene apparently found another place to put all those savings from “operational efficiency”: Ambetter Health is now sponsoring Mizzou athletics. All sports, because apparently one team wasn’t enough.
It’s football season, though, so for now we get to watch the Ambetter logo ride around on jerseys every Saturday. The pairing is almost too good. Mizzou has spent years getting mileage out of 2-star and 3-star recruits, and Ambetter has spent years collecting 2-star and 3-star reviews. That’s the kind of synergy somebody in leadership probably put on a slide and called strategic alignment, brand activation, stakeholder engagement, or some other expensive phrase for “we bought a sponsorship.”
Meanwhile, employees are watching VSP dates, layoffs, reorganizations, and wondering who gets whacked next. Apparently the marketing budget remains resilient and well-positioned for long-term growth.
I’ve already said reporters ought to be reporting on what is actually happening at Centene, but nobody seems terribly interested in connecting the layoffs, VSPs, vendors, spending, stock performance, and forecasts that keep heading the wrong direction. So I guess somebody has to.
At least the C-suite should get some nice box seats. They can sit up there late in the season and watch Mizzou get rolled by the big boys, just like the stock and the forecast.
I’m sure there’s a slide somewhere showing positive momentum.
https://www.si.com/college/missouri/football/mizzou-athletics-announces-jersey-patch-sponsorship-with-ambetter-health