WME Basketball's Head of Creative & Strategic Marketing, Ashley Joseph, on Why Athletes Are the New Creative Directors and How Data Is Redefining Their Market Value

WME Basketball’s Head of Creative & Strategic Marketing, Ashley Joseph, on athletes as creative directors and the balance of data and relationships in partnerships.

Ashley Joseph works alongside agents at WME Basketball and brands to build deeper, data-driven partnerships for their athletes. In this conversation, she guides Shortlist’s Mekhi Simpson through how athletes are evolving into creative directors and why data is becoming the new language of market value.

Q: WME Basketball is relatively new as its own vertical. How has having a dedicated basketball focus changed the way you approach brand partnerships versus when it was under the broader WME Sports umbrella?

Ashley: It’s allowed me to go even deeper, working closely with brands and our clients on activations and ideas that help set them apart. Before the spinoff, we were a small team covering many different sports. When you have just a few people trying to cover eight sports and hundreds of clients, it’s tough to really go deep.

But now, I’m working much more closely with our agents and brands, providing better analytics on the value our clients deliver. I’m also able to take a more active role in activating partnerships for brands, which has been the most exciting part of this spinoff for me.

Q: So you're able to create more creative and dynamic partnerships?

Ashley: I can maximize partnerships. If I can demonstrate the value a player is driving not only on social media but across all channels and quantify it in dollars, I can maximize our players’ partnerships by better demonstrating their market value.

Q: You joined WME Sports in 2019 after being with Endeavor. Especially with the rise of NIL, how has what brands actually want from a basketball client's social channels changed?

Ashley: Brands want a lot more social content now. When I started working with athletes in 2011, social media was just emerging, and brands were still thinking very traditionally. Now, I see more brands taking a social-first approach when partnering with athletes. What’s most interesting is how brands have started to view athletes as creators. Instead of handing them a script or a strict brief for a video, brands are saying, “You know your audience best, you know what’s trending, so let’s brainstorm together.” Not all brands are there yet, but we’ve definitely seen a shift toward treating athletes as creators and creative directors.

Q: Do you think the shift among athletes toward becoming creators has enabled them to maximize partnerships while also protecting their authenticity with their audience? How do you navigate that tension in the deal structure?

Ashley: Absolutely. When you think about what it takes to actually produce a piece of content, so many athletes have photographers they work with who know them really well and have strong creative chemistry. It’s similar to the artist-producer relationships from back in the day. That’s what’s really changed: you now see these amazing dynamics between a production team, a photographer, and an athlete, all working together to create really compelling content.

Brands want to be a part of that. What might start as an athlete working with a photographer to capture their training, workouts, and highlight moments can grow into a full production team that partners with brands to create campaign content. Now, athletes aren’t just charging a fee for using their name, image, and likeness; they’re also able to incorporate a production budget into these partnerships. This allows them to leverage the creative work they’ve done with their go-to photographer, someone who knows them best and understands how to capture what’s relevant, creating additional revenue streams.

This approach makes content feel less forced, creating a win-win for both sides. The athlete ends up with something they genuinely want to share on their feed and aligns with how they want to present themselves to the world. At the same time, brands get to be part of content that is more authentic and resonates better with audiences. Athletes don’t want their platforms to feel like billboards; they want to keep things as genuine as possible. That’s why I believe brands should involve athletes more in the creative process; it simply leads to better results.

Q: What’s the most common mistake brands make when they come to WME, looking to partner with one of your clients?

Ashley: It’s better for brands to take a collaborative approach, wanting to create something together with the athlete instead of just treating it like, ‘I have this role to fill, let’s just insert an athlete here.’ It’s always more effective to ask, ‘How can we tell a story that feels authentic?’ I think the most common mistake is when brands use a one-size-fits-all approach. The challenge is that brands often work with tight deadlines and quick turnarounds, so there isn’t always enough time to dig deeper.

When you keep specific personalities and athletes in mind during the creative process and involve them as you build, you get a much better result.

Q: As AI tools get better at predicting which athlete-brand pairings will actually perform, do you see that changing who gets to the table? Or do relationships and instinct still win the day?

Ashley: I think things will shift. Right now, relationships and instincts are the main drivers. I see a big opportunity for AI tools to expand the range of brands being featured. While established names like Chase, Bank of America, Nike, and Foot Locker are always present, many interesting startup brands and early-stage tech and AI companies are emerging.

As AI becomes more advanced, it will uncover opportunities beyond your blue-chip brands.

Q: After a partnership ends, what does the debrief actually look like, and is data playing a bigger role in deciding whether to renew, upsell, or move on?

Ashley: I wouldn't say it's the end-all, be-all, but it definitely helps. Having data allows us to go back to a brand and say, ‘We loved working with you, and we want to keep building this partnership. Here’s the data to show why it should grow.’ We can point to how our clients are overperforming in their content relationships.

We can compare our clients’ work to other posts the brand is sharing, or to other players who aren’t part of our agency. If a player is performing at four or five times the brand’s baseline, we can make a strong case for them. Data definitely helps show market value. But as valuable as data is, nothing replaces the relationship a player has with the brand. Most of the time, that relationship is the biggest factor in whether a partnership gets renewed or expanded.

Q: I can imagine that, to the outside world, the partnership may look perfect, but the athlete might not enjoy working with the brand. What are other ways that data can impact partnerships?

Ashley: Absolutely, especially if the athlete feels the process wasn’t collaborative or didn’t get a say in what the shoot or production day was really like. To your question, the data is incredibly helpful. For example, if an athlete is working with a partner in the gaming space and social analytics show that their fans are especially interested in gaming content or that those posts are overperforming, that insight is valuable.

That kind of data can shift the athlete’s perspective on the value of a partnership, because they know it truly resonates with their audience and there’s strong demand. Data helps us dig deeper into who the audience is and what they care about, so we can communicate more effectively and keep them engaged.

It’s really about finding those areas of alignment. Sometimes I’ll sit down with an athlete and break down their audience’s top interest categories, such as travel, gaming, or fashion. That data helps us identify where there’s alignment and brainstorm which brands could fit into to help tell that story.

Q: So you’re able to bring them data showing they can expand their content to other interests based on their audience’s interests?

Ashley: The other day, I gave a presentation to an athlete and shared that over 50% of their audience is interested in finance and financial literacy content, and many are especially eager to start their own business.

Think about what that opens up for potential partnerships and new types of content; it’s a whole world of possibilities. That’s where having more analytics and access to research really makes a difference.