Longines 3D TV Spot & Endorsers Lead French Open 'Future Tennis Aces'

In addition to launching a special edition Roland Garros Chronograph, May sees Longines (the Official Timekeeper of the French Open 2015) launched its multi-faceted activation campaign with a new TV commercial.

The spot, which generated almost half a million YouTube views in its first two weeks, aims to highlight Longines’ commitment to supporting young athletes and features kids gathering from all across the globe to walk through a dreamlike Paris to Roland-Garros.

The ad, which blends dreamlike CGI, 3D and virtual reality, creates an Amelie-style feel and serves as the core asset of the campaign and is supported by a ‘Making Of’ online spot which offers a behind-the-scenes peak at the commercial shoot.

The commercial is also receiving owned platform social media promotion too.

Watch the new Longines TV ad for @rolandgarros with @AndreAgassi and Stefanie Graf! #FrenchOpen #RG15 https://t.co/bsTt0bmZQk

— Longines Watch Co. (@Longines) May 7, 2015

Its creative sees the children escorted by brand ambassadors and tennis idols Stefanie Graf and Andre Agassi to the Eiffel Tower where they find a fresh tennis court which serves as setting for the ‘Longines Future Tennis Aces’ – the final stage of ‘Rendez-vous à Roland-Garros’ programme.

All forms of the spot drive viewers online to the central Longines French Open microsite at http://www.longines.fr/rolandgarros/#!/ where further digital content-led pieces revolving around tennis ambassadors Graf and Agassi are hosted.

Longines Ambassador #StefanieGraf talked to @espnW: http://t.co/Wt3Oh7gKuc pic.twitter.com/ZHwY0rXuLN

— Longines Watch Co. (@Longines) May 18, 2015

But the core of the campaign is the brand’s participatory, international ‘Future Tennis Aces’ programme – which it runs in harness with the Fédération Française de Tennis (TFF).

This 16 young player (under 18s) tournament climaxes on 24 May at the foot of the Eiffel Tower where Longines has built a clay tennis court.

Following initial qualifying matches as far afield as China, India and Brazil, the final phase of this activation took place to coincide with the Roland Garros tournament.

The winning male and female players not only win an annual training scholarship, but they are then also given a wild card to play in the main draw of the Internationaux de France juniors – a competition that runs from 31 May to 6 June.

This is the sixth consecutive year that Longines has supported the Future Tennis Aces programme

In 2015, French Davis Cup captain Arnaud Clement played the role of patron, coach and mentor to the players.

The programme is also being pushed via Longines digital platforms – including Twitter.

The Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament unites 16 young tennis players in front of the Eiffel Tower! #RG15 https://t.co/QJaANY7H19

— Longines Watch Co. (@Longines) May 12, 2015

Comment

2015 sees the premium watch brand build on its previous Roland Garros activation – such as its 2013 Future Tennis Aces ad.

Indeed, this Future Tennis Aces dovetails neatly with parallel Longines programme – through its Swatch sub-brand – called Ski Longines Future Champions and the brand’s equestrian Longines Future Racing Stars initiative.

Longines has been the Official Partner and Timekeeper of Roland-Garros since 2007 Roland-Garros.

This year sees it release a limited edition French Open watch – the Conquest 1/100thRoland Garros – is waterproof, keeps time to one hundredth of a second and was created as a tribute to the clay court Grand Slam.

‘Roland Garros Paris’ is engraved on the back of each piece and the orange coloured detailing reflects the clay surface.

Longines is also activating in the Roland Garros Lab Space: a branded entertainment area with the entrance located on the Allée Suzanne-Lenglen dedicated to new experiences and technology.

The objective of the space is to take tennis fans into a journey of sponsor activations relating to Roland Garros 2015.

Longines has created a branded ‘Smash Corner’ – where fans can track both the speed and the trajectory of the ball.

Other sponsor Lab Space activity includes BNP Paribas showcasing the ball kids throughout the fortnight via an experience that allows visitors to see what it’s like to be a young ballkid with a participatory obstacle course.

Lavazza, a new official Roland-Garros supplier, is inviting spectators to come to their stand and try to serve up an ace(spresso) using their mobile phone – which turns into a virtual racquet once it is connected to Wi-Fi.

ENGIE is taking fans on a fun and interactive journey of discovery into renewable sources of energy: including enabling them to charge up their mobile phones just by walking across sensors.
France Télévisions is showcasing its latest technical innovations that will be part of everyday life in the near future, plus a virtual immersion into different areas of the stadium.

Babolat has a branded space for stringing the racquets of the tournament’s top players, while the French Tennis Federation also has several activities such as ‘Jump Tennis’ and ‘Tennis Led’ 2.0 experience.

Also in the RG Live zone is a space for visitors to watch the live matches, a Social Loft where fans can have their photos taken with their favourite players at the photocall area

The full list of French Open partners includes BNP Paribas, FedEx, Emirates, GDF Suez, Longines, Orange, Peugeot, IBM France and Perrier.

Links

Longines YouTube:

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

Longines Website:

http://www.longines.com/#!/

Longines Tennis Future Aces:

http://www.longines.fr/rolandgarros/#!/future-tennis-aces/actualites/decouvrez-la-video-des-longines-future-tennis-aces

Longines Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Longines

Longines Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Longines