25/08/2016

USTA’s Integrated ‘You In?’ US Open Campaign Spans TV, Mega Selfies & Times Square Takeover

US Open property owner the United States Tennis Association’s (USTA) multi-platform campaign promoting the 2016 tournament asks fans the question ‘You In?’

 

No one, of course, wants to be ‘out’ and that’s one key insight around which agency McGarry Bowen Chicago developed the promotional initiative that aims to drive awareness, excitement and ticket sales.

 

The multi-phase, integrated campaign opened with a TV component built around a series of fast-paced , high-energy commercials offering glimpses of today’s tennis superstars and high octane on-court action.

 

These spots also offer up a touch of visual, text-led humour linking the idea of specific shots being ‘in’ or ‘out’ to certain consumers being ‘in’ and ‘out’.

 

The first, 30-second ‘You In?’ commercial aired on 4 August,

 


 

and this was followed by a series of shorter spots such as ‘Are You In?’,

 

 

‘Is Your Family In?’,

 

 

‘Are Your Friends In?’

 

 

‘Are You In For Autographs?’

 

 

and ‘Are You In For Selfies?’.

 

 

The campaign was amplified socially with specific content pieces created for various channels – including ball boy led assets on Twitter,

 

 

and New York City skyline, street scenes and icons pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other strands supporting the ‘You In?’ work included digital, social

 

 

and print, plus taxi tops and out-of-home work.

 

One innovative engagement strand that blended outdoor, billboard, digital and social was the USTA’s digital takeover of Times Square in Manhattan on Thursday 25 August that revolved around fan mega-selfies

 

Responses to the question ‘You In?’ were posted on six giant digital billboards at the famous ‘NYC Crossroads of the World’ saw photos of star players, celeebrities and fan selfies, plus other US Open experiences were rotated on the billboards from 11:30 to 13:30.

 

The ‘Selfie Takeover’ promotion enabled fans to take selfies on-site that were then displayed on the billboards featuring the graphical look and feel of the ‘You In’ campaign.

 

 

Furthermore, several US Open brand ambassadors were in New York to help fans snap their selfies.

 

 

The mega-photos complicated back-end mechanics saw McGarryBowen work with the client and Horizon Media, as well as a eight-person street team dressed in US Open gear to engage visitors and snap photos of members of the public on their iPads.

 

Another creative director, sat in a connected conference room, downloaded those photos and sent them to the companies that pushed the displays to billboards for a 10-second Times Square broadcast.

 

The cost of the campaign is not officially reported, but billboards in the square typically start at $25,000 per billboard per day and can rise to as high as $2.5m for a four-week takeover.

 

But the USTA’s Kankam said that the cost to  nonprofits like her organisation is hard to quantify, but that companies like watchmaker Citizen allowed the USTA to take over its digital billboards free.

 

Success is being measured by social media impressions: like tracking use of a special Snapchat geofilter created for the occasion and the volume of hashtags such as the core #USOpen moniker.

 

One key reason why the USTA has ramped up its marketing around the 2016 edition of the tournament is to publicise several major facility upgrades at its annual showpiece event: these are led by a new retractable roof on the main Arthur Ashe Stadium, and also include a new grandstand, new shopping and dining options at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows (Queens, New York City).

 

Indeed, the ground updates featured front and centre in the USTA’s 100-day countdown commercial, launched on 21 May, that ran with the copy line ‘A world of talent, excitement and entertainment – all under one roof!’.

 


 

The upgrades are also promoted by specific pieces of social content,

 

 

that these mostly ran with the #likeneverbefore hashtag.

 

 

 

 

Further USTA tournament activation and engagement strands from the property owner spans the mobile app and the tournament latest emoji, through a #15Love social player Q&A strand,

 

 

 

the player #socialshack,

 

 

 

and Bradley Theodore’s mural painting project,

 

 

as well as the AA Kids Day event,

 

 

ringing the NYSE opening bell and opening night Phil Collins concert,

 

 

as well as the pre-tournament CSR gala,

 

 

plus content relating to the players and their personalities and activities,

 

 

and, of course, clips of the big points as they happen.

 

 

Comment

 

‘While tennis is the main attraction, we wanted people to understand there was so much more to be ‘in’ about this year – both on and off the court – especially with all the new improvements at the Open,’ explains McGarryBowen Chicago group creative director Lee Remias.

 

Indeed, thanks to renovations, the tennis centre will be able to host an additional 100,000 fans by 2018.

 

This means that the USTA can and must attract additional fans to the event – which means looking for new segments and demographics.

 

Nicole Kankam, the managing director of marketing for the tennis association, said the digital takeover was an attempt to attract a new type of tennis fan: someone who is younger, who is more digitally savvy and, crucially, who might buy a ticket and help fill the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

 

‘We’ve really got to engage a more socially active, a younger, more diverse demographic [to draw a hipper crowd and sell those tickets] and socially engaging fans is a way to do that,’ said Kankam.

 

Links

 

US Open YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/USOPEN

 

US Open Web:

http://www.usopen.org/

 

US Open Twitter

https://twitter.com/usopen

 

US Open Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/usopentennis

 

US Open Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/usopen/

 

US Tennis Association Web:

https://www.usta.com/

 

McGarry Bowen Chicago:

http://www.mcgarrybowen.com/en/Offices/Chicago

 



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