Staying Connected is Par For The Course (During a Year When Nothing Else Was)

Working at AT&T, you understand our network is crucial to keep things running smoothly for so many small businesses, schools and other vital institutions. You also understand that most people don’t spend much time thinking about their network - until it’s a problem. Needless to say during this wildly unpredictable year of remote learning, remote working and remote startup-launching, connectivity has been top of mind for many of us. And nobody can afford to have network problems. They cause a certain unique kind of - frustration putting it kindly.

That insight helped AT&T Business craft a unique collection of messages as part of the company’s perennial sponsorship of The Masters.

Earlier this year, the annual traditional-rich professional golf major championship was shifted from the Spring to November earlier, making it more anticipated than ever. And as always, CBS and ESPN are presenting the tournament with limited commercial interruptions, giving our brand ample room to shine.

A Big Beautiful Ad Canvas - and Some Very Timely Messages

In this weekend’s Master’s tournament, you’ll see multiple AT&T Business ads where our team tried to capture the pain and stress of the uncertain network reliability so many of us are going through, mixing in a bit of humor and empathy. The common thread you’ll notice throughout these ads is - whatever kind of work you do, AT&T’s network helps our partners take care of business –even in a year when the list of once-unimaginable challenges keeps growing.

The first spot, “We’ll Handle It,” features a healthy dose of sarcasm. My favorite line: “Glitchy video conferences with regional offices? That's my thing.”

Given that it feels like I've spent the past six months on one long WebEx call, it really spoke to me. Thankfully, I know first-hand just how powerful our technology is - and that the people at AT&T are uber dedicated to ensuring our network doesn’t falter. It’s that dedication that we really tried to bring to light with this ad – along with a few laughs.

This past year hasn’t been just about keeping employees connected when everyone started working remotely. So many companies large and small have had to undergo dramatic changes to their businesses - more than once. It was that ‘it feels like we pivot to a new normal every few months” sentiment that we tried to capture with “What’s Next?’

Through a series of ever-changing scenes from different seasons of this crazy 2020, the ad shows how a strong network allows for a business to adapt to whatever is thrown its way at any given moment.

If you ask parents - they’ve probably had more than enough thrown at them this year. So many families were thrust into remote learning last spring as much of the country locked down. And as the new school year commenced this fall, many children were still learning remotely in some fashion, either part time or full time. While most students and teachers were better prepared this time around, this is still a school year like no other. The challenges of remote learning aren’t easy for anyone - and they remain particularly difficult for lower income families.

We’ve tried to bring to life many of the new range of home-schooling realities home in “Distance Learning” - featuring one mom and dad trying to balance their own video conference calls with their kids’ needs, to another family simply grappling with a shortage of devices and connectivity.

For many kids, the reliability of their networks can determine whether they can keep up with their classmates, or fall way behind. That’s why AT&T just announced a $10M commitment to battling this homework gap.

An Urgent Need For Speed

Of course, while every business needs a reliable network, for some professions, their ability to stay in contact can literally be the difference between life and death. That’s the point we are looking to drive home with “FirstNet,” which highlights the network AT&T has built that is exclusively for first responders.

This is a group of folks we all appreciate now more than ever - and we’re so proud to be entrusted with helping them keep us safe.

On that note, while I’m proud to have played a role in getting this work produced, my time leading the AT&T Business marketing team has come to an end. A few weeks ago, I transitioned to head the AT&T Business Portfolio Integration and Partner Solutions team. I’m excited about going back to my sales roots - - but, I’ll never forget the memories made with the trailblazing Business Marketing team over the past 3.5 years – thank you for all that you have taught me.  I am thrilled to leave the AT&T Business marketing team in the capable hands of my good friend, Alicia Dietsch – a true marketing pro. I look forward to watching the team continue to reach new heights under her leadership.   

Enjoy the golf between these great spots.