‘This might only occur once in a generation’: AT&T marketing exec says Caitlin Clark is a ‘big deal’ for ladies’s sports

The telecommunications giant is once more sponsoring the boys’s and ladies’s college basketball tournaments. Additionally, investment in the ladies’s tournament might be significantly increased as University of Iowa’s record-breaking superstar Caitlin Clark attracts more spectators. Kellyn Smith Kenny, chief marketing and growth officer at AT&T, recently spoke to The Associated Press concerning the tournaments.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Can you place into context how big of a phenomenon Caitlin Clark is immediately from a marketer’s perspective?

A: She’s an enormous deal. The impact she has had on sports viewership, enthusiasm, social activity round her and social activity around Iowa has managed to amplify the incredible coverage and recognition of the last yr.

Last yr, the ultimate game of ladies’s March Madness was watched by nearly 10 million viewers. What we’re seeing this yr is that the numbers are disappearing (last yr’s trends).

Q: So you should promote your games?

A: The amazing thing is that ladies’s sports is a very smart investment for brands and advertisers. As viewers of ladies’s sports programs, they account for a disproportionate share of their households’ leisure spending. They are far more prone to remember the brands that promote women’s sports and associate those brands with supporting women’s sports.

It looks as if we’re on this moment of woman power and girl power. After what we saw last yr with Beyoncé and Taylor Swift and their tours, and this yr with Caitlin (Clark) and Sabrina (Ionescu, an expert basketball player), there may be an incredible dynamic.

Q: Does Caitlin Clark remind you of one other superstar or does this all feel latest?

A: I believe this will be once in a generation. When I compare her to other athletes and the warmth she has in her sport, I actually have Mikaela Shiffrin in skiing and Serena Williams in tennis. It’s incredible how much drive and the way much real passion she was in a position to develop for the game.

Q: So will next yr be a disappointment for the ladies’s college tournament if she doesn’t participate again?

A: Because she brought a lot attention to the game, there are actually other household names. LSU’s win over Iowa last yr also produced rising stars and household names. I hope that she is sort of a spark that lights a hearth. I believe that is what we’re on the lookout for. There is a lot attention paid to women’s sports.

Q: Is AT&T doing anything different in the ladies’s tournament this yr than in past years?

A: We have an extended track record of investing in women’s sports. The hype around women’s sports is increasing, but now we have at all times been big supporters of ladies’s sports.

From 2023 to 2024, we’re doubling our media investment in the ladies’s tournament.

We are a sponsor of the March Madness competitions and are committed to promoting greater equality inside the playing groups. Every time someone asks, “Did you fill out a bracket for March Madness?” We want the reply to be, “Yes, I filled out two, for both women and men.”

Q: If we are able to focus more broadly on live sports generally, do you think that this continues to be one of the best strategy to engage with potential customers?

A: There’s absolute confidence that live sports can create fans who don’t hop to other shows. They are very committed. They feel very passionate and connected to the content, making it one of the crucial robust mass reach vehicles to succeed in our customers and prospects.

The incredible thing about sport is that it’s a shared passion. When brands advertise and communicate about sports, fans can quickly discover if that brand is a real sports fan and truly understands the fandom, the players, the coaches and the dynamics. In every part AT&T does, we try to fulfill fans where they’re. We think far beyond the business sector and promoting.

Q: Despite the media divide, do you continue to find those fans?

A: Last yr, 30% of games were viewed on a mobile device. We have seen this number increase yearly. This highlights how essential it’s for brands to inform their stories beyond just television. We need to organize for what 30% or more will seem like on a phone or tablet, meaning it is simple to change to other apps or experiences.

(Along with cameras above the basketball rim and attached to drones), we have had pylon cameras in college football: 5G-enabled cameras from AT&T that give fans insight into whether or not they’re inside a hair’s breadth of creating it (to the top zone).

Q: Are the audiences for the boys’s and ladies’s tournaments very different or are they similar?

A: We are beginning to see that there may be some convergence. It’s not this emerging, small, area of interest fan base for ladies’s basketball. The appeal is increasing.