The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has launched a new strategic brand positioning and campaign for the upcoming Wimbledon Championships, under the platform “In Pursuit of Greatness,” which is the first major campaign for the Championships. Developed by McCann London as part of the integrated IPG team, the campaign is designed to celebrate the Wimbledon brand through communicating The Championships’ constant quest for improvement. The platform will be brought to life through a range of content in advance of and during The Championships 2016, and will be distributed by the AELTC and its broadcast and Official Supplier partners.
In Pursuit of Greatness – The List
In Pursuit of Greatness – Groundsman
In Pursuit of Greatness – Ballboy
As part of the first wave of activity, McCann London has developed a series of online films (above) demonstrating the exacting standards that go into creating the world’s premier annual sporting event. The films are told through the voices of some of the individuals whose roles help to make Wimbledon so unique; a ball boy, the head groundsman, a technology expert and the CEO. Additional content will be generated throughout the two weeks of The Championships, all of which will run across Wimbledon’s social channels, and deployed via programmatic targeting to US and UK audiences. Content partnerships with key influencers were developed and delivered by UM, part of the IPG Wimbledon Team, and deployed via programmatic targeting to US and UK audiences.
“Everything we do at The Championships is in the service of our greater aim; to constantly raise our standards”
The push also includes an initiative created for the US market inviting American viewers to turn Wimbledon Finals weekend into an unmissable social event. The US campaign, also by McCann London, is titled “Wimbledon Weekend” and features a series of tongue-in-cheek animations (below) showing a US audience how they can celebrate finals weekend in a typically English fashion. This online campaign is designed to make the Wimbledon Finals weekend (9-10 July) a key element of the social calendar in the USA. The films aim to both educate people about the event and encourage them to host their own “Wimbledon Weekends.” Picking up on quintessentially English anomalies, such as over-apologising and how to serve your strawberries and cream, the films provide an informative guide for newcomers to the event. Integral to this launch and campaign, all media strategy, planning and buying was devised and delivered by UM.
Wimbledon Weekend – Weekend
Wimbledon Weekend – Strawberry
Rob Doubal, Chief Creative Officer of McCann London, said: “Wimbledon is truly unique. It’s genuinely been an honour developing a brand platform for The Championships. In Pursuit of Greatness and everything that it entails, was easy to arrive at because it's the truth. I've been astounded by the reality of the Club and hope that the world will be too.” James Ralley, Head of Commercial and Marketing at the AELTC, Wimbledon, added: “Everything we do at The Championships is in the service of our greater aim; to constantly raise our standards. In Pursuit of Greatness embodies the behaviour and values of everyone involved with Wimbledon, from our people to the players and many more.”
