More tennis, Clickon Media founder and creative director Benjamin Potter (below) chooses five of the most influential Wimbledon inspired campaigns.
“On Wimbledon’s 140th anniversary, it’s great to see such a wide variety of different advertising campaigns across the 90 years that Wimbledon has been broadcast. Nowadays more brands are thinking increasingly creatively with their advertising and sponsored content, and devising engaging content for a younger audience. A great example of this was Evian’s campaign that used Rizzle Kicks and Maria Sharapova (below), it’s inspiring to see sponsored content with an outside-the-box mentality.
1. Robinson’s ‘Imagine’ ad 2009
You think Wimbledon, you think Robinson’s. The drinks brand has become synonymous with the tournament, with one of the most memorable campaigns being Robinson’s 2009 TV advert. The theme was “imagine” and it centred on Wimbledon gaining a British champion once more. Then this happened in 2013 and 2016 with Andy Murray winning. The ad was recycled and changed to celebrate the achievement after 77 years.
2. Sony ‘Tennis balls’ ad 2011
Sony revisited one of it’s most iconic ads in 2011, but tailored it to Wimbledon. By tweaking their famous ‘balls’ advert, to make it tennis balls on the streets of Wimbledon they managed to stay in-keeping with their brand message and focus on the competition. It also became one of the most visually impressive ads of recent years.
3. Stella Artois ‘Rufus’ 2014
In 2014 Stella Artois decided to take a different approach with their profile of Rufus, the official bird scarer (hawk) of Wimbledon. By profiling the bird and the troubles with pigeons before Rufus came on the scene, they showed a completely different side of the tournament. The high end feeling of the advert echoed Stella Artois’ brand messaging and also presented a tongue-in-cheek take on the competition.
4. Evian, feat. Rizzle Kicks and Maria Sharapova 2016
Just last year Evian created a music video featuring Rizzle Kicks and former world number one tennis player Maria Sharapova and put it at the centre of their marketing campaign. By using a group like Rizzle Kicks and a famous if controversial player like Sharapova, Evian were able to attract the younger audience of Wimbledon and tennis in general.
5. Jaguar feat. Andy Murray 2016
Jaguar pitted their cars against Andy Murray in a makeshift tennis tournament on a track, and tested Murray’s serving speed against the acceleration of their cars. This enabled Jaguar to showcase their latest models in a light-hearted way. The end of the commercial also revealed that the ‘mystery driver’ was tennis legend John McEnroe.
