Australian Open associate partner ANZ activated around the 2019 tournament via an integrated, multi-strand campaign spearheaded by working with Nike and aiming to break down barriers by leveraging its athlete ambassador partnership with Paralympian and Grand Slam champion Dylan Alcott.
Ahead of the tournament the bank teamed up to present the Australian six-time Grand Slam tennis champion and four-time Paralympic medalist Alcott with an exclusive, personalised pair of Nike Court Air Zoom Zeros to recognise his successes on and off court.
The Nikes come complete with a bespoke Dylan Alcott logo on the heel, tag and dubrae, as well as a custom colour scheme echoing Melbourne’s summer of tennis.
Reflecting on his time growing up, Alcott says: “If you’d told my parents that their son, who can’t walk, would have his own shoe [pause] As if. That’s just not possible,” commented Alcott at the presentation.
Alcott first wore the new kicks on court in Melbourne for his first round Australian Open game and, at the end of the tournament, Alcott’s shoes will be auctioned with all proceeds going to The Dylan Alcott Foundation to help young Australians with disabilities.
“Given his sneaker obsession (500 pairs and counting), we thought it appropriate to celebrate all the barriers that Dylan’s been able to kick down with a pair of custom sneakers and we were thrilled to create these with Nike,” commented ANZ Australia head of marketing Carolyn Bendall.
While Ashley Reade, general manager for Nike Pacific, added: “Dylan is a six-time Grand Slam champion and has been incredibly influential both on and off the court. When ANZ came to us with the idea to customise a player exclusive shoe for Dylan, we were excited to explore what was possible.”
This was just one strand of ANZ’s wider Australian Open activation programme, developed in harness with agency TBWA\Melbourne, and other initiatives revolving around ANZ’s endorser alliance with Alcott include an online video series exploring tennis, wellbeing and finance,
ANZ Tennis Ambassador @DylanAlcott talks about getting on top of his money and the importance of financial wellbeing. #DylanAlcott #FinancialWellbeing #AusOpen https://t.co/qCbKoJiGG8
— ANZ Australia (@ANZ_AU) January 16, 2019
This Australian Open we’re getting a unique look into the life and career of Dylan Alcott. He’s achieved so much in his short career, and together with ANZ he’s showing us how he gets on top of his game, and in this episode, his physical wellbeing. #Wellbeing #DylanAlcott @ANZ_AU pic.twitter.com/dgr1QGUmOk
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 19, 2019
During this year’s Open, we’re getting a look into the life and career of Dylan Alcott. He’s defending champion here at Melbourne Park. So, together with @ANZ_AU he’s showing us how he gets on top of his game, and in particular, his mental wellbeing. #Wellbeing #DylanAlcott pic.twitter.com/cH0X2Kzvo0
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 21, 2019
plus on-site artwork,
and a post-tournament kicks-themed comic commercial called ‘Visualise It’.
In addition to teaming up with Alcott, ANZ’s tournament work included on-site and on-court signane, plus work linked to its name partnership with ANZ Tennis Hot Shots and at The Australian Open 2019 there is an onsite ANZ Hot Shots Fan Zone (complete with mini-courts) and a competition, plus a kids tennis day
It’s heating up at the @AustralianOpen today with ANZ #TennisHotShots Day! These lucky ANZ Tennis Hot Shots kids have come from all over Victoria to spend a day at the tennis. They even got to hang-out with @DylanAlcottpic.twitter.com/D8D6kQfhnI
— ANZ Australia (@ANZ_AU) January 17, 2019
and free entry for kids.
The bank also activated through a ‘Priority Entry’ enabling customers to save time by skipping the line simply by showing an ANZ bank card, mobile wallet or app,
while another utilities saw ANZ offer free pedal cab rides,
plus a fan hub branded space
that included an ‘Ace The Open’ participatory experience.
Comment:
The idea behind this approach was to put Dylan on a deserving equal pedestal to his able-bodied counterparts by having him join the exclusive group of elite athletes with their very own, eponymous shoes.
Having replaced Novak Djokovic as the face of ANZ’s Australian Open sponsorship, ANZ’s advertising with Dylan has always embraced him as an elite athlete and charismatic personality – who just happens to be in a wheelchair.
By surprising Dylan with his own Nike Player Exclusive sneakers to wear throughout the 2019 Australian Open tournament, this idea was designed to send a powerful message of inclusion to disabled individuals everywhere, amplify ANZ’s inclusion efforts and put the ‘bank’ up in lights alongside one of the world’s most aspirational brands.
The Alcott/Nike activation strand is both a personal and a powerful statement that cuts through the Australian Open marketing clutter.
In fact, this broad and deep activation programme further reinforces ANZ’s support for tennis from the grassroots game to the elite professional events – which includes its 2017 Australian Open VR ‘Break Point’ gaming experience (see case study) and its 2014 ‘Your Game Your Way’ (see case study).
It was back in 2014 that ANZ originally announced its sponsorship of Hot Shots: a tennis program set up by Tennis Australia in 2008 that is designed for children with smaller courts, modified equipment (such as lighter racquets and low compression balls) to make tennis fun and easy to learn for young kids.
Through the year kids can get involved in ANZ Tennis Hot Shots through coaching, match play or community play.
Links:
ANZ Australia
https://www.facebook.com/ANZAustralia/
ANZ Tennis Hot Shots
https://hotshots.tennis.com.au/
Tennis Australia
https://twitter.com/TennisAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/TennisAustralia/
https://www.instagram.com/tennisaustralia
https://www.youtube.com/user/TennisAustralia
Australian Open
https://www.facebook.com/AustralianOpen
https://www.instagram.com/australianopen/
https://twitter.com/australianopen
https://www.youtube.com/user/australianopentv
Nike Australia
TBWA\AU/Melbourne
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