As an official sponsor of March Madness in 2024, AT&T needed to break through the noise of one of America’s largest sporting events, March Madness. The brief was simple: connect authentically to die-hard hoops fans through the subculture of basketball and by tapping into the stories, players, and memes with which they are obsessed. By leveraging this intense fan passion, the brand hoped to dramatically increase its earned organic reach into the social media frenzy that surrounds the tournament.

After a deep immersion into niche hoops culture, the mission was clear: to pair the stories die-hard fans were most passionate about with the specific AT&T products that fit them. To speak more authentically to fans, we replaced our longtime “mass” spokesperson, Lily, with players from the NCAA/NBA/WNBA. Whether it was convincing Draymond Green to give his first public mea culpa after a much-publicized suspension, Juju Watkins giving Joel Embiid his next meme hairstyle, or flashing back to the fashion of the 2003 NBA draft, AT&T spoke to hoop heads with the passionate voice of a fellow fan. If we hit the mark, fans would speak back with AT&T, not only joining the conversation around March Madness, but leading it.

The audience is March Madness fans within AT&T’s Ahead-of-the-Curve (AOTC) segment who skew multicultural, younger, and are “super fans” of College BB (141i). During the action-packed weeks of the tournament, these super fans stay perpetually connected to the tournament through their smartphones.

AT&T’s approach to this was to marry unique products and services with “insider basketball” knowledge to bring entertaining, impactful ads to fans that they would share on social throughout the tournament.

The biggest stars in basketball converge in this campaign celebrating March Madness and showcasing AT&T’s newest services.

Recently suspended Draymond Green self-reflects upon his choices when learning about AT&T’s “choice of best plans.”

When Joel Embiid learns about AT&T’s “choice of best plans,” his barber and JuJu Watkins help him find his next hairstyle choice.

Jalen Brunson refuses to miss a single March Madness game by constructing a jacket made of smartphones powered by AT&T 5G.

When Carmelo Anthony gets good advice from AT&T Proactive Recommendations, Kendrick Perkins and TJ Ford take him on a flashback to the fashion advice of the 2003 NBA draft.

Candace Parker learns the true power of AT&T 5G when her smartphone game inspires some next-level play at a kid’s basketball game.

Teammates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren harmonize a ’90s pop song upon discovering that AT&T Personalized Recommendations “knows what a pro wants.”

The campaign garnered 5.5 billion impressions – a 200% percent increase YoY.

Over +1MM social mentions.

Highest engagement [61%] over all other brands during the Final Four games of March Madness.

AT&T’s creative efficiency saw a significant increase, with 23% above all advertisers’ average during the women’s tournament (100 vs. 81). [EDO Results, 2024]

And observed a 45% improvement in performance YoY during the men’s Final Four. [EDO Results, 2024]