While British bookies are leveraging Wimbledon fever by offering to refund losing tournament winner stakes if Andy Murray wins the men’s singles tournament, the British number one’s own main sponsor adidas is running a real-time Twitter campaign based on Murray’s liver performances called #HitTheWinner.
Murray, who is taking to the SW19 courts in a classic adidas all-white tailored fit shirt, short and jacket combination, stars in a social media gaming campaign that rewards fans according to his tennis performances.
The gaming initiative is supported by a YouTube film.
The campaign, running on Twitter at @adidasUK, is based on a visual tennis court grid (with nine equal squares) and challenges fans to use the #hitthewinner hashtag to select the grid reference point that Murray will hit the set winning point from,
Each correct guess for every set in every Murray match is rewarded with a spot prize – from tickets to Murray matches and signed adidas kit and limited edition footwear.
The live social gaming initiative, created by Iris, starts two hours before each match is due to begin and finishes as soon as the first set starts. The next competition opens when the first set starts and finishes when the first set ends. This pattern continues until the match is over.
The aim is to provide a platform for home fans to really get behind Murray and play their own Wimbledon game at the same time.
Comment
By combining a gaming campaign with real-time Twitter work, this initiative blends two of the industry’s hottest contemporary activation trends.
It seems a sensible and fun way to entice more fans to take part in live online conversation.
It aims to put adidas at the heart of that conversation as fans actively tweet away while their favourite athletes compete without disruption or it feeling overly forced.
This 2013 Wimbledon-led work follows last year’s Andy Murray Facebook campaign and the fun Murray/Tsonga/Verdasco ‘Keepy-Uppy Challenge’.
The adidas initiative is just one of several campaigns Murray is currently fronting for his sponsors during Wimbledon – including a TVC for premium watch brand partner Rado
Links
Hit The Winner YouTube Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Jy-JHFALrxY
Adidas Twitter UK
https://mobile.twitter.com/adidasUK
Adidas Tennis Website
Andy Murray Adidas website
http://www.andymurray.com/partners/adidas/
