Laura Correnti launched Deep Blue late in 2023 into a women’s sports market comparatively duct taped together, with a need to build infrastructure for brand and media marketers to buy in. Over its first three years, the agency has worked to harness data and signals in the market to spur investment in the ecosystem.
How she’s innovating:Built on Correnti’s more than 20 years as an ad exec, its advisory practice has expanded beyond brands and media. It has a joint venture with Always Alpha, a partnership with Mondo Metrics to index social media data and launched Deep Blue Ventures, which made its first investment in the LOVB San Francisco Signal this year.
“The conversations I have with leagues, teams and athletes today look remarkably different than they did three years ago,” Correnti said.
The opportunity in women’s sports:Moving out of its advertising, media and marketing vertical to scale horizontally through developing IP; producing storytelling and content; and making further investments through Deep Blue Ventures.
“If there’s a deal to be had in women’s sports, Deep Blue wants to be at the table,” Correnti said.
Lessons learned:The product in women’s sports has always been there, but it needs infrastructure built around it.
“This wasn’t necessarily ‘If you build it, will they come’? It’s like everyone’s been here,” she said. “The systems in which we’ve been playing have not allowed it to reach its potential.”
