AT&T: AD Team
Turning a phone carrier into a brand Gen Z actually cares about.
Campaign Strategy
Media Planning
Role
Tactics Team Intern
Timeline
5 Months
team
Agency 540, 30-member student agency
platform
AAF National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC)
The Challenge
AT&T asked student agencies across the country to answer one question: how do you make Gen Z crave a phone carrier?
Our research showed the problem clearly. Gen Z doesn't think about their carrier until it stops working. To them, AT&T was just bars on a screen. While 61% saw the brand as dependable, only 7% found it trendy, 5% saw it as innovative, and just 4% found it engaging.
The Big Idea
Connecting Changes Everything. We repositioned AT&T from a utility into a lifestyle brand: the force that connects Gen Z to the moments, people, and possibilities that matter most. The campaign line brought it home: "Let us connect you to the moments that mAT&Ter."
The campaign runs in three phases across 2026:
Encounter Moments (Jan–Apr): Rekindle brand excitement.
Fuel Purpose (May–Aug): Increase brand relevancy.
Pursue Possibility (Sept–Dec): Build brand favorability.
FINAL(EDITED)_Plansbook_Portfolios.pdf by Magen James
My Role: Bringing the Strategy to Life
On the tactics team, I helped turn the strategy into real activations, planning where and how AT&T would show up in Purpose Pursuers' everyday lives. We built a full-year, omnichannel plan with a $75 million budget, projected to deliver more than 7 billion impressions (3.8 billion paid and 3.2 billion earned).
Highlights included:
Super Bowl activations: Games, live performances, and influencer partnerships that made AT&T something to experience, not just see.
"A World Without Connection": A Hulu ad showing what's lost when connection disappears.
Waze partnership: Sponsored map locations and real-time 5G alerts that tie connection to direction.
Brand partnerships: Duolingo, Spotify, Six Flags, Southwest, and Marvel Rivals placements that meet Gen Z where they already spend their time.
Purpose-driven programs: The AT&T Real Connection Scholarship and Connected Champions program for future athletes.
Out-of-home: Digital billboards and public transit ads linking to the "Moments that mAT&Ter" microsite and the "Find the Signal" mini-game.
FINAL AT&T Look Book.pdf by Magen James
Testing the Strategy
Our research involved 6,918 touchpoints, including 1,509 survey respondents, 253 one-on-one interviews, and galvanic skin response testing that measured participants' emotional reactions to ads. Then we tested our creative against AT&T's current ads:
70.8% preferred our short-form content.
64.3% preferred our commercial.
One participant said: "I've always viewed AT&T as a little more for the older generation, but after seeing these ads, I am inclined to reconsider that idea."
The Audience: Purpose Pursuers
We defined our audience as 17- to 27-year-olds at major life moments: starting college, entering the workforce, and building independence. Across every stage, they shared one trait. They're in pursuit of purpose, and they want brands that support their passions, creativity, and impact.
To prove how much connection matters to them, we asked participants to go 24 hours without it. Their reactions moved from anxious to frustrated to lonely, and finally to relief when the connection came back.
What I Learned
This project taught me how a single insight becomes a full campaign. Every tactic we planned, from a Super Bowl activation to a Waze sponsorship, had to answer the same question: does this help Purpose Pursuers see AT&T as part of their lives? Working in a 30-person agency also showed me how strategy, research, creative, and tactics teams depend on each other to tell one story.