MASTERing Major Brand NIL Campaigns
MASTERing Major Brand NIL Campaigns
NIL Advice directly from the Pioneer of Multi-Athlete, Multi-School, Nationwide NIL Brand Campaigns - Rob Master (Senior Advisor, McKinsey & Company)
Rob Master, the current senior advisor of marketing and media practice at McKinsey and Company, was involved with NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) from the start. Master, who earned his MBA at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, was nearing the end of his over-20-years at Unilever, which was already a partner of the NCAA.
Master watched closely as NIL legislation made its way through local legislation around the U.S. Unilever, which Master was the then-vice president of integrated marketing and media in North America, was ready to jump into the NIL market as soon as it opened.
“We were preparing ourselves for day one, “Master said, explaining that Unilever had the intention of being “the first kind of major organization ready to take advantage of what we thought was a tremendous opportunity in leveraging student-athletes as brand ambassadors, influencers.”
On July 1, 2021, Unilever’s planning paid off. As the NCAA announced the establishment of NIL rules, the company unveiled its Breaking Limits campaign for Degree Deodorant. #BreakingLimits was Degree’s first NIL campaign and featured a diverse set of limit-breaking college athlete partners.
“We saw this as an opportunity to meaningfully connect with different types of consumers through a different lens than we've historically used,” Master said. “And we just saw student-athletes as such a great vehicle for that.”
Master saw Unilever as a leader and wanted to capitalize on NIL to follow its purpose-driven values and establish an industry standard. Today, the multi-athlete NIL model is commonly used by companies partnering with athletes, as is the goal to find athletes beyond the traditional stars.
“We wanted to set the precedent out of the gate for big organizations and others to look to us as an example to think about more than just the five-star quarterback or the NCAA champion point guard,” Master said. “We really sought to say, this is not just about hawking a product, but this is about aligning the purpose of your brand [with college athletes].”
In doing this, Master and Unilever built a diverse network of student-athletes. He has seen that across the board, brands are looking to find authentic athletes that align with their missions and corporate values.
For both the athlete and the brand, NIL is a business partnership. Master emphasizes that when making these connections, brands are looking for a return on investment. While measuring that return varies between different campaigns and projects, generally, he is looking to see if a NIL deal is forwarding the brand’s goals, strengthening relationships with consumers or bringing in new ones.
Depending on the project, brands will look for athletes that match the goals. For the Degree Project Breaking Limits, Master and his team scoured social media platforms like TikTok and LinkedIn, made personal connections and talked to people in sports marketing to find partners.
Although the process has “become more sophisticated,” the key to a strong NIL partnership comes down to an athlete creating a brand for themselves and having the responsibility of managing it. Most of all, Master encourages athletes to find brands they want to work with.
“Finding brands that you connect with is the best way to do NIL – for all parties. The athlete, the brand, and frankly, the consumer,” Master said.
To learn more about Rob Master’s work with NIL and advice for college athletes entering the market, watch his and Chase Griffin’s podcast interview with The Athlete’s Bureau Powered by NOCAP Sports.
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