JPMorgan Chase, the US Open Tennis Championships main sponsor, is activating around its highly visible old school branding on the new roof over the tournament’s main Arthur Ashe stadium (the world’s largest tennis stadium).
The brand logo and name ‘Chase’ now appear in two places on the north and south sections of the retractable roof and will be visible when it is open and closed.
The logo will be visible to on-site tournament goers and locals passing by, as well as from planes flying to/from NYC’s LaGuardia Airport, subway trains and traffic on the nearby highways.
The roof is the centrepiece of a transformed Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens, New York – which also includes a new Grandstand Stadium, plus more room to move around and expanded food courts – the roof is part of a four-year, $500m renovation project slated for completion in 2018.
The roof over the main stadium, which can be opened or closed in under seven minutes, has become an increasing necessity as weather delays have wreaked havoc on the tournament draws and TV coverage in recent years.
2 August saw The US Open property owner, the US Tennis Association, run a formal unveiling of the new roof for the media prior to the final Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year.
JPMorgan, which has been a US Open sponsor for 35 years, followed this launch by amplifying its roof logo sponsorship across its own channels and platforms through early August.
Time to leave that ☂ at home. We're keeping tennis players and fans dry at this year's @USOpen, via @Forbes: https://t.co/4e7RISDTaN
— Chase (@Chase) August 1, 2016
@Chase @usopen Nothing to do with the Olympics, but I absolutely adore your little pig commercial- thinking about pignapping… :o)
— vicki smith (@saronne1) August 30, 2016
Furthermore, in parallel with this year’s edition of the tournament (which begins 29 August), Chase has also launched a new advertising campaign promoting its Chase Mobile App that is fronted by tennis super star and Chase ambassador Serena Williams.
A fitting choice of athlete endorser as Chase is the presenting sponsor of the women’s final.
This campaign, themed around the idea of moving forward every single day, kicked off with a 29 August TV commercial that sees the women’s tennis legend on ‘a journey of mastery’.
The spot showcases the Chase Mobile app and sees Serena use it to deposit checks and transfer funds with ease, keeping her focus on continuous improvement.
Chase added Serena Williams to its endorser stable last year as part of the bank’s ongoing ‘Mastery’ campaign and leveraged her story in pursuit of the modern-era record for Grand Slam singles titles.
Williams is currently tied with Steffi Graf at 22 Slam championships (she also has 16 doubles crowns).
The ‘Mastery’ concept continues as Chase aims to engage and interact with fans socially as it asks tennis lovers to ‘show us how you’re enjoying the US Open by tagging us using #MasterTheOpen’
Chase is also enabling fan on-site to ‘Master the Open’ via free live-streaming mobile chargers on the grounds, useful Chase ATMs and it offers an onsite lounge for Chase customers who purchased tickets to select sessions of the US Open to enhance their US Open experience.
We're at opening day of the @usopen! How will you #MasterTheOpen? https://t.co/af3qshSfrn pic.twitter.com/bzftzslUZE
— Chase (@Chase) August 29, 2016
While, for those at-home a further aspect of the Chase 2016 US Open activation sees it partner with tournament broadcaster ESPN for a live-streaming channel that allows fans to view multiple camera angles of matches.
Plus, for those who can’t make it to the US Open Chase’s tennis web platform enables customers to customize their own postcard with favourite tennis quote or fun fact and then share it with your friends!
While other USTA related activation include its #ReturnTheServe kids fun day partnership.
Countdown to the #USOpen! Check out highlights from this year's #ReturnTheServe Fun Day: https://t.co/YrdyMiZvYx pic.twitter.com/BB04sjxiNZ
— USTA (@usta) August 5, 2016
and web based fan utilities.
Comment
Giant logo-led sponsorship activation isn’t particularly sexy in the contemporary sponsorship activation landscape, but this deal sees Chase become the only brand to have its name on the roof of a major sports venue in the New York City area.
While the sponsor brand wouldn’t comment on financial terms of the deal, JPMorgan Chase head of Sports and Entertainment Frank Nakano did say that ‘the roof is the feature element of the transformation and is something we felt strongly about putting our brand behind because of our long-standing partnership with the US Open’.
‘We weren’t necessarily looking to just put a logo on the roof, but it provided real functionality and a real benefit to fans and players,’ adds Nakano.
The US Open claims to be the largest annually attended sporting event in the world with more than 700,000 fans making the trip to Flushing Meadow – although several other sports events (*particularly the millions who watch the Tour De France each year) will argue.
Another major Chase sports stadium sponsorship deal in recent months was its 20-year agreement to brand the Golden State Warriors’ new arena Chase Center: which it claims is the biggest ever arena naming rights deal for an indoor multi-purpose entertainment.
JPMorgan Chase is also the marquee sponsor of Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.
‘We love being part of events that people are passionate about,’ says Nakano.
Links
Chase Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Chase
@Chase
Chase Web:
Chase Mobile:
Chase YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mynewhome…
US Open YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/USOPEN
US Open Web:
US Open Twitter
US Open Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/usopentennis
US Open Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/usopen/
US Tennis Association Web:
