Boardroom breaks down how the March Madness Corporate Champions utilize the annual tournaments as a major marketing opportunity.
March Madness is an annual sporting spectacle bringing together tens of millions of fans, students, alums, athletes, and consumers looking to celebrate college basketball for a chance to celebrate and participate in a collective magical moment. Brands pay the NCAA millions to advertise to these folks, looking to drive awareness and maximize visibility for their companies and products while fans cheer on their favorite schools, players, and Cinderella stories.
AT&T, Capital One, and Coca-Cola are three such companies that partner with the NCAA as Corporate Champions, which receive category exclusivity and serious advertising perks across all 90 collegiate championships, with the annual men’s and women’s basketball tournaments serving as the crown jewel, tentpole events. Multiple executives from the Corporate Champions told Boardroom that March Madness signified their annual marketing Super Bowl, during which they pulled out all the stops to ensure fan engagement and promotional prowess.
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At the Men’s Final Four over the weekend in San Antonio, signage and branding for the Corporate Champions were everywhere, from each of the three companies sponsoring free concerts each day from Friday to Sunday, to a sponsored fan fest that took over the convention center, to even Capital One blimps patrolling the skies.
“March Madness and Final Four support our strategy to champion men’s and women’s NCAA sports at every level,” Sabina Ahmed, AT&T’s Assistant Vice President, Sponsorships & Experiential, told Boardroom. “It equally lets us connect the student-athletes and fans to greater possibility. The college fanbases are uniquely passionate, and they grow every year.”
(Photos courtesy of AT&T)
While Pitbull, Doechii, and Ravyn Lenae rocked the stage in San Antonio’s Hemisfair Park in front of tens of thousands for AT&T, GloRilla performed in Tampa on Saturday at the Women’s Final Four as part of its Super Saturday concert. Legendary players like Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and A’ja Wilson made fan-fest player appearances, where fans were able to design their dream basketball court using AI technology while shooting hoops to win prizes. At the same time throughout March, national ad campaigns featured current college superstars Cooper Flagg, Kiki Rice, and Lauren Betts.
“It’s super fun being here, seeing all the fans, and staying connected in many ways,” Wilson told Boardroom from Tampa. “The beautiful thing about AT&T is that they bring a lot of fan bases together and connect you to the Madness. That’s what we all love about this time of the year, and AT&T does a great job of doing that.”
While AT&T aims to connect fans closer to the action and has been an NCAA sponsor for 20 years, Capital One was trying to drive new customers while creating unique cardholder benefits and access. Sweepstakes offered unique bucket list events, and fans had the chance to redeem rewards for tickets to all rounds of each tournament. Capital One was the title sponsor of the fan fest, steps away from the Hemisfair that the company took over Sunday for a show starring Chris Stapleton, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Benson Boone. There, a special lounge for cardholders offered free food and drink and a separate space to take in the concert.
“Being a Corporate Champion affords us the opportunity to really have our brand break through and to really be in a position where we can help the NCAA and the overall tournament create and enhance experiences for fans, student athletes, and the teams,” Byron Daub, Capital One’s Vice President, Sponsorships & Experiential Marketing, told Boardroom. “It provides us a platform and an opportunity to have that breakthrough brand moment to make our brand contextually relevant to our cardholders who are engaging with the tournament.”
In its 15th year as an NCAA partner, Capital One now features its signature annual commercial campaigns starring Charles Barkley, Spike Lee, and Samuel L. Jackson, with recent appearances from Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It’s also a key sponsor of the men’s and women’s College World Series, while its Capital One Cup offers $500,000 in scholarship donations to the top overall school across every NCAA sport for both men and women.
For March Madness, Daub said a team of 50 across its advertising, social, media, and sponsorship teams begin planning for its campaigns and activations five to six months in advance with weekly and sometimes daily check-ins to build out an elaborate program spanning from Selection Sunday to championship Monday.
(Photos courtesy of Capital One)
From its Powerade campaign starring Flau’jae Johnson to a Coke ad series spotlighting school fight songs and fans’ hard work to support their teams, Coca-Cola’s digital and in-person March Madness marketing strategy is anchored in the strength of its diverse portfolio and innovative partnerships.
“We think and partner differently,” Eric Kacker, Coca-Cola North America’s Vice President of Sports & Entertainment, told Boardroom, “which is evident in how we show up at events like NCAA March Madness. This approach allows us to connect deeply with consumers at their passion points, and we are excited about the endless possibilities these alliances hold for us in terms of refreshing fans for years to come.”
With over 100 games across five broadcast networks for the men’s and women’s tourneys, Ahmed said it was the ideal platform for AT&T to promote its Guarantee campaign for connectivity across wireless and fiber networks.
“The tournament is a unique mix of superfans and casual viewers,” she added.
The ability to reach tens of millions of that unique audience in key demographics across multiple weeks makes March Madness an ideal advertising platform for the Corporate Champions looking to make the most of their annual marketing Super Bowl.
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