Communicator spotlight: Will Gulley of the Seattle Storm
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Will Gulley joined the Seattle Storm in 2024 as the WNBA team's first chief marketing officer.
Why it matters: The WNBA has seen massive growth, with record viewership, TV deals and teams launching across the country.
- Plus, women's sports fans have higher engagement rates than men's sports fans, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers research.
What he's saying: Women's sports have attracted new fans and Gulley's role is to keep them engaged, he told Axios.
- "My job is to get people to love the Seattle Storm, and I use certain tools to be able to do that," he said. "Those tools could be commercial ads, billboards, social media or editorial content. But my end goal is to make sure people love the team and experience so much that they want to buy tickets and merchandise, and want to tell their friends how awesome the games are."
Catch up quick: Gulley played basketball in college, and his first internship was in sports marketing.
- From there, he worked in the telecommunications space before jumping back into sports to lead content and digital strategy for the Big 12 Conference and serve as the associate athletic director at the University of Washington.
State of play: Gulley reports to Storm president and CEO Alisha Valavanis and manages the team responsible for communication, public relations, brand, marketing, design and production, and social media.
Zoom in: The Storm is in the middle of its season, which means Gulley and his team are focused on supporting the players, generating revenue and continuing to uplift the Storm's brand.
- "The reality is the players are the most visible reflections of the Storm," he said. "If the players don't like the stuff that we're doing or [are] not sharing, or [are] saying that we're not helping them promote their brand, then we've missed the mark."
What he's watching: How AI tools can help create efficiencies across digital and graphic design.
Best career advice came from his mentor, UCLA Athletics alum Marc Dellins: Have a growth mindset.
- "That's the mindset that I have when I go into work," Gulley said. "With every step, try to get better and just move forward. That's the best advice that I ever got."
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