The premium German car brand’s US Open AR ‘Serve Like Sloane’ experience sees athlete ambassador and 2017 champion Sloane Stephens guides participating tennis fans through a mini tennis lesson with the help of the Mercedes-Benz User Experience voice assistant (MBUX).
The on-site experience sees Mercedes-Benz unveil its largest tech-powered activation to leverage the tournament and promote its new in-car voice assistant technology (which is similar to Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s Home devices).
To take part, fans sign-up with their information then simply step up onto the branded mini tennis court, pick a racket and ask the court screen: “Hey Mercedes, teach me to play like Sloane.”
Through the lesson, the MBUX technology evaluates how well each player performs in comparison to Stephens. The voice technology doesn’t spare anyone’s feelings and if your service or ground stroke don’t match up the system says: “Practice your serve for two hours every day for the next 7,300 days and eat a balanced diet.”
At the end of the experience each player receives a digital video to share on social media afterwards, plus Mercedes-Benz use the sign-in emails to follow up market.
The activation was modelled on the tennis pro’s own game and to develop the AR experience, Mercedes-Benz recorded Stephens’ 2017 US Open Champion game in front of a green screen to create the illusion of mimicking her real-life motions and style which was then translated into AR features for the fully immersive experience.
The experience at the United States Tennis Association’s Billie Jean King Tennis Centre in Queens (New York) runs from mid August to early September and the mini court is located next to the brand’s new GLS model (which offers the MBUX functionality).
Check out the "Serve Like Sloane" MBUX Augmented Reality experience at the US Open! Stop by the East Gate Mercedes-Benz showroom at Arthur Ashe stadium to "share the court" with me and show me what you've got! #USOpen #MBambassador pic.twitter.com/srzz184Wlu
— Mercedes-Benz USAㅤ (@MercedesBenzUSA) August 27, 2019
Fans attending this year’s US Open can receive a virtual tennis lesson from @SloaneStephens thanks to a new Mercedes-Benz AR activation: https://t.co/pBIAT0YpbV
— SportTechie (@SportTechie) August 23, 2019
@MercedesBenz Creates AR-Enabled Tennis Lessons For Guests At US Open#AR #USOpen https://t.co/hrjlhpwMqS
— Robert Ferrari (@BrandMoxi) August 23, 2019
“We’re in the education phase on MBUX,” says Monique Harrison, head of brand experience marketing at Mercedes-Benz USA.
“We want to make sure we are educating people on what’s in the next Mercedes-Benz they will buy.” Harrison wouldn’t reveal the brand’s investment on the activation or for the U.S. Open.
The experience at the US Open will be tweaked for football (with Stephens replaced by quarterback Matt Ryan) and moved to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on 15 September for the first Atlanta Falcons game of the season.
A phase which fits with the brand’s previous NFL strategy as it first began advertising its MBUX voice assistant last year during the Super Bowl in a spot where a spokesperson shows he can command anything in his world like he would in a Mercedes-Benz with MBUX.
Comment:
Smart of and sophisticated, although we don’t think we need any premium car brand tech to tell us we aren’t as good at tennis as a US Open champion.
This certainly isn’t the first AR/VR experience we’ve seen from sponsors at the tennis majors.
The automaker has been a sponsor of the US Open since 2010 and typically leverages the event to showcase new models and to engage visitors with tennis/tech themed games.
At the 2019 tournament, Mercedes-Benz is also leveraging its ambassador alliance with Roger Federer with a suite in activations including promotional online spots for the new GLS.
.@rogerfederer never takes a backseat, unless he’s in a #GLS #USOPEN pic.twitter.com/fn9rJOhHtq
— Mercedes-Benz USAㅤ (@MercedesBenzUSA) August 29, 2019
Focus and coordination go hand-in-hand with winning. @rogerfederer #USOPEN #GLS pic.twitter.com/H8cogSjkkS
— Mercedes-Benz USAㅤ (@MercedesBenzUSA) August 28, 2019
Links:
Mercedes-Benz
https://www.instagram.com/MercedesBenzUSA/
https://www.facebook.com/mercedesbenzusa
https://twitter.com/mercedesbenzusa
https://twitter.com/MercedesBenz
https://www.youtube.com/user/MercedesBenzTV
US Open
https://www.facebook.com/usopentennis
https://www.instagram.com/usopen/
https://www.youtube.com/user/USOPEN
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