Leveraging its sponsorship rights, AT&T brings a strong team of current and former NBA and WNBA stars (who all played at university) alongside a line-up of current collegiate stars for a NCAA 2024 March Madness campaign called ‘Connect To The Madness’ to demonstrate that it offers personalized plans to fit anyone and everyone’s needs.
Teaming up with creative agency BBDO, the telco/communications giant (which has been an official NCAA corporate champion since 2001) rolled out a multichannel activation programme spearheaded by a series of spots running throughout the men’s tournament on broadcaster’s CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV and during the women’s tournament on ESPN, as well as across digital and social media.
AT&T enlisted an ambassador line-up that includes Draymond Green (Michigan State and Golden State Warriors), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Kentucky and Oklahoma City Thunder), Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga and Oklahoma City Thunder), Jalen Brunson (Villanova and New York Knicks), Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse and six NBA teams), Kendrick Perkins (a former Celtic, Thunder, Cavaliers and Pelicans player turned ESPN analyst), TJ Ford (Texas and Milwaukee Bucks) and WNBA stars Candace Parker and Sabrina Ionescu (Connecticut, Oregon Ducks and New York Liberty), plus college standout JuJu Watkins ( USC Trojans) for its comic creative.
The stars have their own spots, rolling out from 19 march across Tv and digital platforms, which are linked by the taglines: ‘Get your choice of plans guaranteed’ and ‘“With AT&T, you can Connect to the Madness your way.’
For example, ‘Draymond Green’s Choice’ acts a humorous life therapy session, while in ‘What A Pro Wants’ Thunder stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren show off their singing skills in a parody of Christina Aguilera’s ‘What A Girl Wants’, JuJu Watkins ‘Jalen’s Jacket’ features a tech-connected jacket that sees him go viral. In ‘Boxy Boys’ Anthony gets some proactive advice from AT&T.
Other AT&T March Madness activations strands in 2024 include roles as presenting partner of the ‘The Men’s March Madness Music Festival’ and of ‘The AT&T Block Party’, while the company is also the presenting partner of both the Men’s and Women’s Final Four Apps.
It is also running a Final Four ticket contest based around a sweeps web hub.
It's not too late to Connect to the Madness and experience the Final Four like never before! 🏀 Visit https://t.co/MGnGBX3Mmq to enter for a chance to win the ultimate VIP weekend for you and a guest at the Men's or Women's Final Four! pic.twitter.com/e3DlkVzOFy
— AT&T (@ATT) March 14, 2024
‘The brand’s goal wasn’t just to be funny, but funny in a way that is true to the featured players’ personalities. Fans want to see the ‘real people’ behind these stars in relatable situations, so we really leaned into the backstories of these athletes and their connection to college basketball.’
AT&T Vice-President of Marketing Marc Burns
March Madness is a major US advertising moment – combining a huge, nationwide audience with many games played in a short period meaning ads are played over and over again in a shoryt-ish run so viewers see them constantly and repeatedly. One of the most common approaches to navigate this is through humor – as shown by AT&T, Capital One and Nissan.
This college hoops activation not only ran in parallel with another AT&T sponsored major US sports event, the AT&T pebble Beach Pro Am, but also follows on from marketing around AT&T’s official NBA sponsorship which recently revolved around its All-Star Weekend rights – spearheaded by a title sponsorship of the #ATTSlamDunk and related work.
It also follows on from some of the brand’s other notable March Madness activations such as 2021’s ‘Get Ready’, 2019’s ‘Just OK Is Not OK’, 2017’s ‘Not To Miss A Things’ and 2013’s Kids Say The Funniest Things style ‘It’s Not Complicated’.