College basketball isn’t the only sport that’s in season at the moment—although it may seem that way for those who can’t stop checking their March Madness brackets.
And while MassMutual, like many other brands, wanted to tap into the growing fandom around women’s college hoops, its marketers were also looking to put together a campaign with staying power beyond the tournament as part of a broader push into women’s sports.
That’s why the insurance and financial services company tapped athletes across three sports for “Stay Ready,” a campaign that marks the brand’s first big push into women’s sports since teaming up with Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment last year.
“We have been sort of circling around this, and we’ve been in the women’s sports space for a number of years…so I really felt that it was important for us to get a focus and land a real strategy that would be something that would have more legs to it,” Jennifer Halloran, MassMutual’s CMO and head of marketing, told Marketing Brew.
The campaign, which stars LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson, Angel City FC forward Christen Press, and Australian Open champion Madison Keys, kicked off during the NCAA tournament, Halloran said, and additional elements are planned for the rest of the year.
Ready or not: The 60-second ad leading the campaign follows Johnson, Press, and Keys training through intense conditions, like Keys on the court at night and Press on the pitch in the rain. Johnson, who has the benefit of an indoor training facility, is shown enduring an ice bath. Johnson narrates, explaining that “preparation is everything, on the court and off.”
“There’s a common phrase in the sports world around ‘stay ready so you don’t have to get ready,’” said Laura Correnti, founder and CEO of Deep Blue, which worked with MassMutual on the spot; the saying “is the ultimate metaphor” for financial planning, she added. The spot also depicts athletes alongside trainers to convey the idea that preparation involves a team, which in the financial world translates to advisors, Correnti said.
The campaign is rooted in findings that 40% of women “feel like they don’t have a good handle on their financial plan or the financial tools and resources,” Halloran said, and it’s meant to increase MassMutual’s brand awareness and consideration, especially among women.
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Mutuals: Johnson was a clear choice for the campaign given she’s playing in March Madness, Keys is coming off her first Grand Slam title, and Press recently returned to the pitch as the NWSL season ramps up, making the rollout especially timely for all three athletes. The debut of the campaign also coincided with Women’s History Month, Halloran said.
In addition to the fortuitous timing, the athletes were chosen because they represent women at different life stages, which may mean they have different financial goals. Johnson is just starting her career and financial planning journey, Press is a bit more seasoned, at “what we call the ‘protect’ age, where she’s staying in her lane right now and staying in the financial planning process of where she is,” Halloran said, and Keys is in a position to grow her wealth after years of playing pro tennis.
Plus, they’re all multi-hyphanates, Correnti added; Johnson has her music career, Press runs the lifestyle and media brand Re—Inc, and Keys founded the nonprofit Kindness Wins.
Spread the love: Beyond a “roughly even” media buy across men’s and women’s March Madness, the campaign is running on sports platforms like SportsCenter, the Golf Channel, and the Tennis Channel, as well as on podcasts like No Offseason: The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show and the Skimm’s Well Played sports podcast, according to Correnti. It’ll also be on streaming platforms like Max, Hulu, and Disney+.
While women are front-and-center in the ads, Correnti stressed that the campaign is designed to have wide appeal.
“This isn’t a women's sports campaign, this is a MassMutual financial brand campaign,” Correnti said. “It could have been very easy to run this female athlete–focused spot in women’s sports specifically, but I think we would then be doing a disservice to…what we’re trying to convey.”