Fronting its rights as the official betting partner of the Australian Open 2016, bookie William Hill’s campaign is fronted by a TV spot that directly takes on its competitors and aims to differentiate itself as the best betting company.
Rolling out on 17 January the day before the start of the tournament, the 30-second commercial – ‘Green With Envy – Australian Open’ stars Axle Whitehead and mocks a major competitor by comparing the two worlds of tennis and betting through the brands’ signature corporate colours.
Whitehead says: ‘Remember when the Australian Open used to be all green? It’s a bit like betting – when green was the only player. It’s a bit old school.’
The Australian Open spot, developed by creative agency Fenton Stephens and director Dogboy, is further supported by a 15-second ‘Chase The Ace’ retail and online video, featuring Whitehead shooting tennis balls towards the screen and focusing on an AU$1 per ace bet offer.
These are further supported by an evolving set of bet specific and offer executions – from ‘Chase The Ace’ to ‘4+ Leg Multi’ – running largely online across own-brand and seeded platforms and an event, bet-led live-blog.
The campaign will run throughout the lead-up to, and during, the Australian Open to promote William Hill’s official sponsorship of the event.
It is airing as a lead content piece of William Hill’s sponsorship rights package with Tennis Australia that sees the bookie work with the official broadcast partner in Channel 7 through an exclusive advertising package across both television and digital.
A further aspect of the partnership will see ads for William Hill displayed in three onsite areas during the Grand Slam tournament
Working for William Hill clients (marketing director Warren Hebard, head of campaigns Emma Naylor and acquisition manager James Burroughs), was a Fenton Stephens team that included creative director Alex Fenton, director of planning Simon Antonis, head of account management Amy Stephens, group account director Josh Collins, creatives Alex Fenton, Jess Wheeler, Aaron Tyler and agency producer Lisa Ramsay.
Thee production company was The Pound, the spots were directed by Dogboy, produced by Natalie Taylor and the DOP was Wayne Aistrope.
Post production was handled by Chris Betteridge and Jamie Payne, Method Studios Melbourne
editor Andrew Stalph and sound was run by Rodney Lowe of Production Alley
Comment
This tactic demonstrates that new market entrant William Hill isn’t going to enter the market quietly and is up for making plenty of noise and generating a little controversy.
It continues with the colour code, rival mocking approach first debuted when William Hill entered the Australian market back in 2015.
But one can’t help but wonder whether this comic, light-hearted approach of this campaign, when combined with the mocking of its competitors is the most appropriate tactical approach for the tennis tournament sponsor considering the current media storm surrounding tennis fixing, in-play betting and illegal gambling?
Is it really the most sensible tactic?
After all, doesn’t it court controversy by indirectly linking the brand to the sport’s current match fixing controversy?
A different tonal approach might have attracted less negative attention.
Especially for a newcomer to the market: the British bookie only launched in Australia at the beginning of the year.
Nevertheless, the leading Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herlad even reported an 80% rise in betting turnover on the first day of the 2016 tournament and a 300% increase in the live, in-play betting compared to the previous tournament.
‘With more markets available via our In-Play technology than ever before, we’re making it faster and easier for our customers to bet In-Play throughout the Australian Open and this campaign is the perfect vehicle to launch our message,’ says William Hill head of campaigns Emma Naylor.
It was back in October 2015 that the Australian Open and William Hill announced their first partnership with William Hill (in a Grand Slam first) becoming the official betting partner of the Australian Open – Australia’s largest annual sporting event.
The agreement includes sponsorship of the Emirates Australian Open Series, comprising of the Hopman Cup in Perth, the Brisbane International, Apia International Sydney, Hobart International and the World Tennis Challenge in Adelaide, all official lead-in events to the first Grand Slam of the year.
William Hill also extended its sponsorship rights with Tennis Australia to work with the official Australian broadcast partner in Channel 7, via an exclusive advertising package across both television and digital.
On announcing the partnership in late Autumn last year, William Hill Australia CEO Tom Waterhouse said he was excited William Hill has become the first ever bookmaker to partner with a Grand Slam tennis tournament.
‘We are extremely proud and excited to be the first official betting partner of a Grand Slam. William Hill and the Australian Open is the perfect match. Both brands are among the most respected, innovative and technologically advanced in the world in our fields and we are looking forward to a long and successful partnership. We will continue to extend our vast product range to include the ability to live stream matches and bet In-Play, with the focus to remain on bringing the most unique, engaging and relevant experiences to all tennis fans’.
The Australian Open 2016, presented by Kia Motors in association with ANZ, Jacob’s Creek and Rolex, takes place at Melbourne Park from 18 to 31 January 2016
Links
William Hill Australia Website:
https://www.williamhill.com.au
William Hill YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/SportingbetTV
Fenton Stephens YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/fentonstephens
Tennis Australia:
Australian Open Website
Australian Open TV YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/australianopentv
Australia Open Twitter
https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen
@AustralianOpen
#AusOpen
