AT&T had no shortage of sports sponsorships it could have used to launch its new consumer guarantee, but the College Football Playoff provided the strongest kickoff its marketers could ask for.
On January 9, during Notre Dame’s victory over Penn State in the CFP semifinals at the Orange Bowl, the company used its sports marketing strategy to launch its AT&T guarantee. The principle is relatively simple: AT&T guarantees the stability of its wireless and fiber optic networks for both consumers and small businesses, and the company will take prompt action if something goes wrong. It promises uninterrupted service with a full-day refund for extended delays, the same price for new and existing customers, a five-minute phone response, and same-day service windows.
However, getting there was anything but simple.
AT&T spent more than a year, almost a billion dollars, and four to five years working with every department across the company, more than 100,000 people in total, to improve customer service to the point where They feel confident enough to support their claims. From there, it took over a year to put together a campaign.
“When every person in the company feels that we are willing to issue a guarantee, then how you present yourself in advertising really matters,” said Kellyn Kenny, AT&T’s chief growth and marketing officer. “It’s a huge point of pride for the company that we’ve gotten to where we are and we need to make sure that the publicity is a manifestation of that pride, and so getting the right scripts, the right talent, all of that is part of it. of the narration.
Omnicom began producing ads in June 2024 through AT&T’s longtime agency partner BBDO and others. AT&T notified several agencies that summer, began filming vignettes soon after, and worked with voiceover artists, including Donald Glover and Sofia Vergara, during the editing process in the fall. He also began sorting through thumbnails of the best performances of former NFL players Tim Tebow, DeMarcus Ware and Marshawn Lynch, as well as college athletes including Michael Lantz and Eddie Czaplicki of the University of Southern California, Alani Makihele of UCLA and Chubba Ma’ from Arizona. ae.
The CFP attracted an average of 24.7 million viewers during its semi-final in 2024, including 25 million for the final. Although the audience for the AT&T Guarantee launch was smaller (17.8 million), it was the largest audience ever for an Orange Bowl and serves as the campaign launch point for several others sporting events sponsored by AT&T.
“We felt like it was one of those magical moments where you can actually launch something in an environment where AT&T’s presence is very strongly felt,” Kenny said. “You see our logo on the headsets, you see the special AT&T camera footage, so viewers are ready to pay attention to what AT&T is saying.”
On time
Although the AT&T Guarantee launched with college football and is heavily promoted on-site at the championship game in Atlanta, where the AT&T activation includes performances by Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Muni Long, 2 Chainz and Camila Cabello, she is built to perform in multiple sports.
Featuring five 30-second spots and several social videos, the campaign will continue through the CFP title game, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf event from late January through February, March Madness tournaments from March through April, then The Master in mid-April.
“The Guarantee is both a guarantee for the consumer and a guarantee for small businesses. When you look at the audiences that over-index on college football and golf, small business decision makers are big consumers of college football and big consumers of golf,” Kenny said. “We launched golf tents in the same period, and you’re able to deliver a consistent message to consumers and businesses through assets that work very hard across very diverse customer segments. »
It is also a bit of sports marketing which is not necessarily limited to the sports public. While college football was a large part of the initial brief, AT&T also wanted to reach the general market audience by integrating the campaign with broadcasts of Jimmy Kimmel Live and Good Morning America on ABC.
The video elements were complemented by print, display and audio advertising, all aimed at reaching audiences around the games as well as those watching them.
“The purpose of the work is to connect with people through the uncertainties we face every day,” said Matt Miller, chief creative officer of Omnicom for AT&T. “Whether it’s in sports, in business or even getting to work, we are used to nothing in our lives being guaranteed. »
Editing the playbook
All the time spent with sports partners has taught AT&T marketers to better read the terrain in front of them.
The company mentions or displays some version of the word “guarantee” at least eight times during its 30-second commercials for its new consumer promise. It covers the screen with bold, all-caps messages about connectivity, deals, and service, knowing that there’s a chance a marquee sporting event is being watched out loud somewhere. This is all because, as Kenny said, the company used much of its multi-year overhaul of its services to talk to thousands of its customers and find out what interests them in an ad.
Along the way, the company learned three lessons: Customers hate being disconnected for a while, Consumers hate the new customer discount once they’ve been with a provider for a while and no longer receive it , and customers who already have complaints. about all of the above, you don’t feel good about being put on hold for 10-30 minutes or more.
“With these three elements, we were so confident that we were hitting the zeitgeist of what customers in our category were really interested in that it also allowed us to present that message in a really concise and impactful way,” said Kenny.
AT&T ultimately hopes the campaign will help it attract new customers more effectively and efficiently. However, it also hopes that addressing existing customers’ concerns will encourage them to add additional products or opt for premium offerings. By creating a more compelling brand and enhancing its reputation, AT&T and its creative partners are leveraging the Guarantee to help it emerge from the ether of the 800 to 5,000 brands its customers encounter every day.
“You have to break through, and in sports there are so many people who are drawn to action,” Kenny said. “There’s a lot of really disappointing advertising, and people are paying top dollar for these very expensive, high-value units, and so we want to make sure that every penny is working as hard as possible for AT&T.”
