Invisalign’s 4 Steps to Women's Sports Partnerships
45% of girls drop out of sports before age 14 not because of skill issues, but due to body confidence challenges. Equally alarming, 52% of fifth and sixth-grade girls lack confidence in their ability to achieve their dreams.
For Invisalign, these statistics represent both a responsibility and an opportunity. While many companies approach women's sports partnerships focusing solely on logo placement or traditional advertising, Invisalign recognized that connecting authentically with women—whether buying for themselves, their children, or influencing household decisions—required a more meaningful approach that would drive consideration beyond simple brand awareness.
"Gone are the days when brands could expect consumers to come to them directly," Kamal Bhandal, SVP of Global Brand and Consumer Marketing at Invisalign explains. "We've got to go to them, talk to them on their terms about things that are important to them, and figure out how we earn the right to be part of their lives."
With Invisalign's core value proposition centered on building confidence through smile transformation, the brand recognized a natural alignment with addressing the confidence crisis affecting young women in sports. Their clear aligners offer both functional benefits (equal effectiveness to braces) and emotional benefits (increased confidence without visible orthodontics)—making them uniquely positioned to support athletes on their confidence journey.
The challenge was clear: how can a brand like Invisalign transform transactional relationships into powerful connections that drive both business results and social change in women's sports?
Follow Her Lead
Rather than jumping head-first into sponsorship opportunities, Invisalign began by looking to their customers. They discovered that athletes were already choosing Invisalign—appreciating both its functional benefits (effectiveness equal to braces) and emotional benefits (confidence from an improved smile).
This insight led to a powerful thesis: follow their customer to where she naturally engages, focusing on confidence as the bridge between brand and audience.
"If she is using our product, we want to tell her stories," Bhandal adds. "Whether she's the athlete, working [on] the business side of women's sports, the sideline reporter, the photographer—we want to showcase who she is on and off the field."
Invisalign recognized that women's sports wasn't a separate marketing channel but a natural environment where their target audience was already leaning in. By meeting customers where they were engaged and passionate, they could create authentic connections while helping address the confidence crisis affecting young girls.
Invisalign’s 4-Step Framework to Building Authentic Partnerships
Invisalign's approach to building meaningful women's sports partnerships follows a consistent, replicable methodology in four simple steps:
1. Discover talent through community immersion
Rather than reviewing sponsorship proposals from a distance, Invisalign's team actively participates in sports communities—whether that's at major events like the Super Bowl and South by Southwest or during local skill-building workshops and community activations — to identify authentic partnership opportunities.
"We have to participate in community and really listen to what people are saying, what they're passionate about, and where their values lie," Bhandal says.
This immersion led to Invisalign's partnership with Diana Flores, captain of Mexico's flag football team. After hearing Flores speak at a Super Bowl event about being the only girl playing flag football in her community at age 8, Bhandal immediately recognized alignment with Invisalign's mission.
2. Identify purpose alignment between athlete and brand
Invisalign’s authentic storytelling validates that potential partners either already use their product or have genuine interest in improving their smile.
"We want them to tell their story authentically in their own words, not in our words," the 12-year global marketing veteran notes. "This allows us to showcase who they are on and off the field."
Before formalizing partnerships, Invisalign's team researches:
Who is this person beyond their athletic achievements?
What areas are they passionate about?
What's their full story?
Do they have genuine interest in working with Invisalign?
3. Co-create activations that reflect athlete's passion
Instead of imposing brand-centric activations, Invisalign collaborates with athletes to create experiences aligned with their personal passions.
With Diana Flores, they discovered her passion for helping kids learn flag football and refine their skills. This insight led to the creation of the Invisalign Confidence Clinic at Super Bowl LIX, where Flores worked directly with local children to build their flag football skills and confidence—creating a meaningful activation that served the community while authentically connecting to both the athlete's passion and the brand's mission.
"It's not us telling the brand story," Bhandal adds. "It's the person—it's her telling the brand story."
4. Create meaningful community experiences
Invisalign structures every partnership around three core vehicles:
Social storytelling that shares the athlete's authentic journey
Media opportunities that elevate and celebrate the individual
In-real-life community events that connect athletes with fans
They also build flexibility into agreements for unexpected opportunities, maintaining focus on partnership rather than transaction.
Again, the Invisalign Confidence Clinic with Flores perfectly exemplifies this approach. As the Official Smile Partner of the Super Bowl, Invisalign leveraged their partnership with the NFL and Flores as Flag Football Global Ambassador to create interactive flag football clinics for young athletes. This emphasized building confidence both on and off the field. The event complimented Flores' expertise and passion for youth development while reinforcing Invisalign's brand connection to confidence.
"That skill-building workshop would have been totally different if we were there as a brand by ourselves," she adds. "But having Diana there, who's a pro athlete, the Queen of Flag Football, helping kids build confidence on the field—that's an experience they'll always remember."
Diana's passion for inspiring the next generation shines through in her message to participants: "To all those young players out there: Keep going, never give up. Just keep playing it. Confidence has helped me to embrace every challenge [positively]. Always with a smile on my face. No matter if I am afraid to do something new. If I'm not good at something, I know that I can always learn. I know when I put in the hours to do anything I want, I can have success."
Tracking the Value of Genuine Storytelling
Invisalign's playbook for women's sports isn't just generating goodwill. It's delivering substantial commercial returns.
By prioritizing authentic athlete stories over traditional advertising, these partnerships have unlocked engagement metrics that consistently outperform industry benchmarks. The strategy has transformed passive audiences into active brand advocates, creating a powerful multiplier effect that extends far beyond initial investment. While most brands struggle to measure women's sports ROI, Invisalign has cracked the code by focusing on the metrics that truly matter — authentic storytelling, community engagement. and shared purpose:
Higher engagement metrics: Content featuring authentic athlete stories consistently outperforms traditional advertising, particularly with Invisalign's award-winning documentary "Swimming with Butterflies." The powerful film follows Paralympic swimmer Lizzi Smith's journey through her confidence challenges, showing how her smile transformation paralleled her competitive comeback. It resonated deeply with teen consumers and young adults, driving significantly higher engagement than traditional campaign content.
Community-driven growth: Invisalign's audience actively suggests potential partnerships, creating a feedback loop that informs future collaborations. As Bhandal notes, "Our community will tell us right away. When they repeatedly ask when Invisalign will work with a particular athlete, we realize they're telling us exactly where to go next."
Cross-generational impact: Their storytelling connects with women of all ages who identify with confidence journeys, while also reaching teen consumers making orthodontic decisions.
Long-term partnerships: By focusing on relationship over transaction, Invisalign has built
sustainable partnerships that allow audiences to follow athletes' smile transformations over time—mirroring the product experience itself. This creates a powerful parallel between the athlete's journey and what customers experience, as both see gradual, confidence-building changes. By documenting this evolution authentically, these partnerships create deeper emotional connections with consumers that drive consideration and loyalty far beyond what traditional advertising could achieve.
Most importantly, these partnerships help address the confidence crisis affecting young girls by showcasing diverse role models throughout the world of women's sports.
"What we're learning from our community," Bhandal concludes, "is they want to engage with the stories of real people who are just like them. For any brand whose buyer is a woman—whether she's buying for herself, her child, or influencing someone in the household—you have to connect with her on her terms."
Authentic storytelling. Community engagement. Shared Purpose. By focusing on these three pillars, Invisalign has created a model for women's sports partnerships that deliver both business results and social impact.
Overall, this is much bigger than just transforming marketing strategies. This is about taking part in reshaping the future of women's sports by empowering the next generation of confident athletes, fans, and leaders who will carry this momentum forward.
