Ace or Error? A look into the brands at Wimbledon 2016!

Stella Artois took the route of associating itself with the legacy and history of Wimbledon – ‘We were once unknowns’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G_bL7LN_8o This claim was rendered into experiential marketing in the form a theatrical experience known as the Time Portal which took you back to the very first Wimbledon match. It was through a contest run on social media. The brand thus, focused on the concept of the Grand Slam as a whole and the story that makes it what it is today. Here is to reaching a generation of ambitious millennials who love the story of the underdogs and how greatness was achieved.

Häagen-Dazs’ #LoseYourSelf was all about the immersive experience and the emotions around the tournament. It did not focus on the game or the players, instead made their consumers – the Wimbledon audience, the hero of their campaign. Their Instagram account was flooded with reaction GIFs. A photography project was instituted for Wimbledon, creating excellent visual experiences on social media. Capitalising on the tradition of strawberries and cream , they gave innovative tips on how to use the ice cream even if you were experiencing Wimbledon at home. An interesting observation here is that they did not include YouTube in their digital media mix; instead Facebook, Instagram and Twitter videos were the norm for the whole campaign. Here is a generation of audience with short attention spans being reached by even shorter pieces of content.

That’s what is called a brand inception, harnessing the power of the brand Wimbledon. Robinsons ran its campaign with the brand Diversity – the British street dance troupe who won the 3rd series of Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. The collaboration resulted in an edgy campaign with the Diversity members learning to be ball boys and drawing straight lines at the court thus, creating a fun outlook at the workings of the spectacle that is Wimbledon. It was indeed a different #TasteOfWimbledon Here is reaching a generation of audience who love their favourite celebrities going to newer places and sharing different experiences.

The biggest content campaign came out of the brand Evian. The integration was seamless since it was all about tennis, except the bottle on the table and the set subtly created the Evian colour scheme. The daily content series, which runs across the two week Championship, invited a wide audience – from the avid tennis fan to the seasonal viewer – to witness the highlights from The Championships through the eyes of Evian. Bringing together a host of celebrities, bloggers and die-hard tennis fans, the show provides opinions, comments and comedy on the day’s highlights. Targeting all genres of the Wimbledon audience, the program focused on the previous day’s play, so fans could catch up on all the latest news before the new day of sport commences. We loved this and followed it through and quite enjoyed the #Wimblewatch. Here is reaching to a generation of audience that loves taking in different perspectives and analysis and talk show formats. We thoroughly enjoyed the sport as well as the campaigns. Looking forward to seeing what happens next year.