Marketing Minute — March 2025
March Madness virality. Misinformation vs. the Freedom of Information Act. Bluesky > a billionaire. Women’s sports. The first quarter of 2025 is ending with a bang. Check out the March Marketing Minute.
Unsuspecting Ambassadors
March Madness is in full swing, doing what it does best—creating overnight stars. This year, McNeese State’s student manager, Amir “Aura” Khan, went from obscurity to virality following the school’s upset over Clemson. McNeese took 135 calls in two days concerning Khan’s NIL deals, after hundreds of businesses expressed serious interest in capitalizing on his popularity. Moments like this demonstrate the potential power of employee ambassadors. For brands searching for new ways to connect with audiences, look behind the scenes. The most unique, offbeat and authentic brand champions are often the ones hiding in plain sight.
Bluesky Boost
Looks like we’re headed to dual town squares. Back in January, we spoke about the potential shift away from X as a result of increased politicization and lax user guidelines—a prediction that is coming true. A new study by Fire on the Hill found that while X is still the most popular, used by 76% of journalists, journalists engage more frequently on Bluesky. In fact, 81% of journalists on Bluesky had posted within one month of the research being undertaken, just 42% of those on X had posted. What does this mean for PR? To successfully establish new avenues to engage with reporters, it’s time to seriously think about recommending a Bluesky account to clients.
Reminder: AI is Always Confident, Not Always Correct
Vanity Fair Special Correspondent James Pogue recently provided another reminder about the use of AI. Pogue realized while he was conducting research that the sources the AI platform provided him weren’t adding up. When he asked if it had given him fake book titles, ChatGPT responded that it had, “fabricated the ISBNs—which makes it even worse, since ISBNs should be a verifiable identifier.” This tells us two things: 1) always fact-check AI. 2) Since not everyone will do their due diligence, publishing or leveraging this content creates a word of alternate facts that may be shared across all platforms.
Women’s Sports is Cashing in
You’d have to have been off the grid since Taylor Swift’s last album drop not to see the growth in women’s sports. But Boardroom’s recent data makes it clear. TV advertisers poured $244 million into women’s sports in 2024—a massive 139% increase from the previous year. This is in part due to the growing popularity of women’s sports. NWSL viewership is up almost 300% year over year and the WNBA had a blockbuster year, with a 50% jump in attendance and a 170% spike in ESPN ratings. Whether you’re looking for a new advertising audience or searching for a brand influencer, it’s time to start taking women’s sports more seriously.
Opening the Vault
Golf clap for Wired, which recently announced that it will drop paywalls for articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. To emphasize the above. We. Need. Less. Misinformation.
See you next month.
