The All England Club’s activation around Wimbledon 2015 is focusing on digital platforms – from a new look website, to new platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram – in order to offer fans ‘the next best thing to being here’.
Whilst the tournament’s broadcast audience is going up in age, Wimbledon’s rich digital offering – from Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, to a new website, mobile apps and even ibeacons and Hackathons – is seen as its gateway to the younger generation.
‘Whether someone’s first experience of Wimbledon is because that friend Whatsapped them a photo or they saw a picture we posted on Snapchat or they happened to get sent a video we put on YouTube or on Facebook, we want them to have an experience that really reflects Wimbledon,’ says Willis.
‘Most importantly, we want them to come back for more, have visions of going to Wimbledon one day, potentially watching it on TV and start to become an advocate of Wimbledon.’
The All England Club’s 2015 pre-tournament activation began on YouTube with a series of online spots counting down to Wimbledon.
These teasers ranged from a complex-based spot (with property partner Rolex),
to a player-led online ‘Wimbledon Awaits’ ads (a tagline used last year and one that continued to be employed by the AELTC across outdoor sites, on press executions, through social media and onsite),
and a series of behind-the-scenes videos exploring the mysteries of Wimbledon’ such as ‘What’s It All About?’,
‘Finishing Touches’,
and ‘Wimbledon From The Air’ (which takes an approach not entirely dissimilar from sponsor Stella Artois Wimbledon work – see case study).
Once the tournament got underway, the heart of the property owner’s aim of bringing the so-called ‘greatest grand slam’ to the world through a suite of immersive digital experiences is its revamped, user-friendly official website at www.wimbledon.com.
Developed by data partner IBM and designed to not just to offer live scores, but to get viewers behind-the-scenes.
It turns the tech giant’s avalanche of real-time data into useful and creative content, infographics, data visualisation and all with an added emphasis of context and historical comparison’s tan can be turned into useful, even tactical insights (see ‘IBM At Wimbledon 2015’ case study).
Last chance! Win a tennis ball signed by Fred Perry AND @andy_murray – enter at http://t.co/PSn3jdpSLG #Wimbledon
https://t.co/vyq7FO8gYP
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2015
The site refresh offers a new approach to video content (building on its 2014 work with Graybo) with new video formats and even the use of drones and 360 degree cameras, as well as live data, which all feed into the organiser’s social command centre.
This video focus builds on 2014’s work with Grabyo, Wimbledon has not only worked on creating a lot more real time video content but included a very unique video centred on the complex.
‘We’ve worked with IBM to put in an alerting system that when specific things happen we get alerted to it and then we push it out on social media – for example Roger Federer hits his 1000th ace ever at Wimbledon or Murray completes his 120th win at Wimbledon,’ explains Wimbledon’s head of digital and content Alexandra Willis
The overhauled official website also links to its expanding phalanx of mobile apps and social media channels.
Data shows that 70% of Wimbledon.com’s visitors come via desktops, but a growing number are accessing the site via mobile.
In fact, whilst mobile now accounts for 30% of the site’s visits, it is responsible for 60% of engagement by time.
Wimbledon, perhaps surprisingly for a property so steeped in tradition (and some conservatism) has been quick to keep up with the rapid rise of social media.
While previous years have seen Wimbledon use social media to keep fans up to date with news and match scores, the 2015 strategy is to create an experience for fans that is the next best thing to being here.
This year social platforms are not simply used to maximise reach and amplify audience numbers, but to increase levels of engagement and interaction for committed tennis fans.
WATCH We're ready for action on Centre Court again as @DjokerNole and @cilic_marin head out #Wimbledon http://t.co/ZGJ0O1jSmA
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2015
In 2015 the property owner is producing exclusive content for Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter.
On Twitter, the club’s ‘Hash Flag Wimbledon’ campaign will display an icon (starting with a strawberry) alongside the #Wimbledon hashtag and the icon will change as the tournament progresses.
This year also sees an Instagram campaign called #TakeYourSeat which is building a ‘digital mosaic’ of fan photos taken from the famous Wimbledon Hill.
‘Take Your Seat’ brings photos uploaded to Google +, Facebook and Twitter that are tagged with the #takeyourseat and creates a digital mosaic that lives on www.Wimbledon.com.
This builds on last year’s ‘Hill vs World’ initiative and is part of an ongoing effort to see ‘The Hill’ made into more of a part of the event’s digital experience.
July also sees Wimbledon become one of the first property owners to run Snapchat’s new geofilter ads as it bolsters its social presence and enriches its content offering for tennis lovers not able to make it to the hallowed courts of SW19 in person.
Head of digital and content Alexandra Willis told Marketing Week that the AELTC will be one of the first brands to use Snapchat’s ‘Geofilter’ feature, which allows users to add a location-specific filter to photos or videos.
‘We’ll be launching a Snapchat story during Wimbledon inviting people to share snaps of their day,’ Willis added.
The overall digital programme objective is to meet two main challenges: to meet the ever growing sense of expectation from users/fans in a way that is innovative and yet maintains quality, and also to showcase all the different parts of Wimbledon to a global audience.
While the event’s one billion plus TV audience use the big screen to watch games, in 2015 Wimbledon is using alternative media platforms and social channels to show the hill, the crowds, the queues and the like.
And this commitment to quality innovation isn’t just limited to digital platforms away from SW19.
The All England Club is employing new technologies on-site too – such as its 2015 iBeacons trial.
iBeacons are Bluetooth devices that are triggered when fans with the Wimbledon app in their smartphones move into the vicinity of the beacon which are dotted around the complex.
This year the AELTC is trialling iBeacons from a gtravel utility perspective – placing them at local tube stations to help fans get to the right gates to get into the event.
Other sports, such as the MLB in the USA have a comprehensive set of iBeacons doted around all of its ballparks which can be used by property owners to send personalised greeting messages, or ticket upgrade opportunities and by sponsors and commercial partners and suppliers to communicate location-relevant offers and tips based on previous customer records and patterns.
‘The next logical progression will be to put beacons on the gates, welcoming people and telling them how to get to their seats,’ predicts Willis.
Another tech innovation even saw Wimbledon host a pre-tournament hackathon to look for additional ideas for using mobile devices on-site to further boost the fan experience (with a specific focus on the issues such as ‘queuing’).
Comment
Unlike so many other property owner event websites, Wimbledon’s IBM-designed site isn’t overtly commercialised and thus focuses its objectives on enhancing the Wimbledon consumer experience.
Wimbledon.com doesn’t try to sell tickets, flog merchandising or promote commercial partners (aside from a small, subtle IBM logo) – so it is all about creating a genuine immersive Wimbledon experience.
It is rich and yet clean – something few immersive sites genuinely manage.
Even its iBeacon and hackathon projects are focused on improving the customer experience and making improve fans’ Wimbledon experience rather than pushing product and selling to them.
“It’s about the customer experience and making their day easier, not pushing stuff to them,” Willis said.
The AELTC does not display ads against its videos and thus measures success by video views and global growth rather than by commercial partner revenue.
‘Our commercial objective sits in a broader strategy – to grow reach and exposure and take the brand to different places around the world,’ explains Willis.
‘If we do that, the commercial return will come.’
By fully utilising a myriad of digital platforms and social channels Wimbledon is not simply attracting more fans, but ensuring viewers and users are more engaged with the tournament.
This also fits in with the AELTC’s challenge of maintaining its market leading status in the sport which largely derives from its unique characteristics that provide clear points of differentiation from other tennis tournaments (and even from the other Grand Slams).
From its heritage, tradition, longevity, ceremony, dress codes, to the coherent and consistent on-site colour-coding, the grass, the stories and, yes, even the strawberries, it is essential that Wimbledon maintains these genuine points of difference.
Whilst this may mean asking its commercial partners to work harder than some other properties, it is this that means their associations are credible and genuinely beneficial.
There may be strict limits on on-site marketing and brand presence for Wimbledon sponsors, but this is part of what makes it the world’s leading tennis event.
Links
Wimbledon Website:
http://www.wimbledon.com/
Wimbledon YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Wimbledon
Wimbledon Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Wi…
Wimbledon Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Wimbledon
Wimbledon Snapchat:
Add ‘Wimbledon’
Wimbledon Instagram:
https://instagram.com/wimbledon/?hl=en
Wimbledon Google+:
https://plus.google.com/+Wi…
