Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers continues to shine in the spotlight. Whether it’s her on-court dominance culminating with her winning the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year Award, or finding herself sitting courtside at NBA games or the sidelines at NFL and college football games in Texas.<\/p>\n
Her latest partnership is a unique one: CarMax. The car service needed a rebrand, and according to Marketing Brew’s interview with CMO Sarah Lane<\/a>, it was a no-brainer to involve star athletes, particularly basketball players like Donovan Mitchell and Bueckers, in the campaign.<\/p>\n “Basketball just continues to be a place that\u2019s important to culture,” Lane said. \u201cIt\u2019s young, it\u2019s modern, it\u2019s where culture starts, and aligning the brand next to that helps us to look and feel more modern and connected to culture.\u201d<\/p>\n Where Bueckers comes in is tied to the ever-growing popularity of the WNBA.<\/p>\n \u201cThe things that cause the virality are really, truly being a part of the basketball culture,\u201d Lane said.<\/p>\n The new campaign, better known as “Wanna Drive?” fits the mold.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as we saw it, it just lit a little spark in us,\u201d Lane said. \u201cIt\u2019s an invitation. It\u2019s playful. It\u2019s got a play on words\u2026and it has a lot of legs and utility to it that I think we\u2019re excited to be able to evolve for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n Lane says adding the likes of Bueckers and Mitchell really adds the hope that CarMax will appeal to a casual audience to \u201ccarry that confidence and clarity that we want the customers to be feeling,\u201d around the slogan itself.<\/p>\n The WNBA won’t be the only league involved<\/p>\n \u201cSimilar to the WNBA and the NBA, I think [the NWSL] is another opportunity to connect with a growing league and growing fanbase,\u201d Lane said. \u201cThe fans appreciate the brands that show up there. They recognize our contributions to the growth of the thing that they love, and they\u2019ve expressed their loyalty back to us.\u201d<\/p>\n It remains to be seen how quickly the campaign will catch on. If it does, it may have a huge opportunity to become a hit amongst casual WNBA fans and fans of the Dallas Wings seeing the team’s biggest star across several television screens and mediums around the country.<\/p>\n With how much of a rebuild the Wings are currently going through, it’s clear that the push for Bueckers’ rise in popularity is evident.<\/p>\n