On July 9, 1877, the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club begins its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon, then an outer-suburb of London. Twenty-one amateurs showed up to compete in the Gentlemen’s Singles tournament, the only event at the first Wimbledon. The winner was to take home a 25-guinea trophy. Whilst we may not think of the tournament as modern, it has been employing innovative digital marketing and impressive social media campaigns. Our luxury marketing agency dives into the ways in which Wimbedlon is reaching new audiences.
Change the tune
Since 2019 Wimbledon has been undergoing a brand refresh, namely to its tone of voice as it tries to reflect the modern progressive game whilst removing any perception that the brand is snobby or privileged. Across the languages used both in match-day programmes, on social media and informational booklets the shift represents a broader attempt to speak to a wider audience and shift the way fans perceive the tournament.
Echoing Ononiwu’s sentiments is AELTC’s head of communications, content and digital, Alexandra Willis, who says the old dialogue used by the tournament was incredibly formal and needed to be more versatile if Wimbledon wanted to be seen as a brand for all.
“Originally the way we wrote was very formal – almost like being school master [talking to] school children. And the way we’d humanised that voice through our social media channels was at odds with the way we were writing our formal publications,” she says.
Embracing the latest technically and digital developments has enabled wimbledon to connect with audiences in new ways to enhance their experience through crafting immersive and rewarding content. How do they do it?
Mobile App
Appealing to visitor both new and old, the Wimbledon app hosts a plethora of features such as ``Plan your Visit” which also creates personalised content for the user and offers tips throughout the day even without an internet connection.
Apple TV
Wimbledon worked with Apple TV for the first time using an app that encompassed both live matches and radio to allow fans greater viewing opportunities.
Social Media
Wimbledon sought to contextualise the relevance of its social media channels during live matches and partnered with IBM’s new Cognitive Command Centre which allowed it to engage and craft conversations and narratives around live events. What’s more, the data has allowed actionable insights enabling them to further engage and craft live content that responds to the needs of the user.
Live Q&A with the stars
Using live steaming platforms such as Facebook, has allowed immediate and personal access to the stars through Q and A sessions. For example, a live stream with Andy Murray generated more than 2 million live participants.
Virtual Reality
Again, in partnership with Facebook, Wimbledon sought to shake up the experience digitally and used a 360 virtual reality feature to create a fully immersive experience.
Daily Podcast
Whilst podcasting isn’t new, Wimbledon’s level of commitment and content to the service has set a new benchmark for how tournaments can craft content. Through a daily podcast that features live interviews, recaps of daily events, competitions and insights the podcast enables fans to be fully involved in the latest developments even when there are no matches. Harry Kerr, Marketing and Brand Lead for the All England Lawn Tennis Club says another thing Wimbledon wants to achieve with its marketing iis not only building audiences that are most valuable to the brand, but then owning that relationship with them.
“We know on a global scale we get 250 to 300 million people watching us but that relationship is very much owned by the media and our broadcasters, so how can we start to bridge that gap and own that relationship ourselves?” he says.
“We want to be able to control the way we speak to our audiences, we want them to know the very best of what Wimbledon has to offer. Having that direct relationship will be the best means to do that.”
As we can see, for however established a brand is there is always the exciting possibility of growth and deelopment. For more information about any of our luxury digital marketing agency, contact our team via hello@theluxurymarketingagency.com or call +44(0) 7835 233607.
