Zou arwoude ne Game, Set & Success

1. When the sun sets over the All England Lawn Tennis Club on Sunday evening records will be broken and champions willgolf raise their trophies aloft with pride. As always it will be an emotional rollercoaster for fan of the players, coaches, fam

   ilies and fans. Opening the Wimbledon app for today’s line-up, I am confronted with the slogan ‘In pursuit of greatness’. There are many sports events, brands or organisations that have similar aspirations but few who can match The Championships.

Wimbledon counts 11 Official Suppliers and one Official Timekeeper. Apart from an illustrious list of brands such as Rolex, IBM and Ralph Lauren, it is the longevity of these partnerships that is most striking. Slazenger has been supplying tennis balls since 1902 or 115 years to be precise and Robinsons Squash was born at The Championships in 1935 with the invention of Lemon Barley Water to quench the thirst of all players. In total, there are 12 brands who have partnered with Wimbledon for a total of 311 years or an average of 25 years per partner! And with limited visibility on-site, the value or ROI needs to be generated in other ways.

According to a recent report from SMG Insight, Wimbledon attracts almost twice as many followers in the lucrative 18 to 24 age group compared to Queen’s, another London based grass court tournament, 13% vs. 7%. The spread of Wimbledon followers across 18-34 years (29%), 35-54 years (38%) and 55+ years (32%) demonstrates wide appeal across the total population. Clearly the use of digital media and Wimbledon app providing a mixture of stories, data and streaming video supports deeper engagement in addition to regular TV viewing. Partnering with IBM since 1990 was one of the smartest decisions. In 2016, using IBM’s ubiquitous Watson platform, the digital team were able to analyse 400 tweets per second and 3.2 million pieces of data across 19 tennis courts from serve speeds to aces and forehand winners. Valuable content and context for the media and storytelling by fans.

As is the case in all sponsoring, activation is key. Wandering down Bond Street in London the week before Wimbledon started, there was no doubt which brand was most closely associated with The Championships. The distinctive purple and green Wimbledon logo stands out from the crowd and confirms the association between Ralph Lauren and The Championships. This in addition to all the officials at the tournament who present a walking showcase of the garments sold in Bond Street and the Wimbledon souvenir shop.

Jaguar Land Rover, Official Car to The Championships, supply 170 luxury and high performance vehicles to support tournament operations. Although aimed at drivers with bigger budgets, in 2016 there was a 7% increase in brand consideration amongst the 18 to 34-year-old group during the Wimbledon fortnight compared to the previous six months. Perhaps the support of a Wimbledon Champion also had a positive influence on tennis fans and followers as well…..

Success is never guaranteed as Bernard Tomic found to his cost after admitting he was ‘bored’ during his first-round defeat to Mischa Zverev. Apart from incurring a $15,000 fine from the ITF, racket sponsor Head also dissolved their partnership with Tomic. Unlike two of the game’s most respected players, Venus Williams and Roger Federer, their presence on court simply motivates the next generation to follow their footsteps in pursuit of greatness……