Through January 2022 US fashion brand Ralph Lauren promoted its Polo Ralph Lauren brand and Australian Open 2022 collection through an integrated marketing campaign spanning video, athlete ambassador events, and exhibition matches, tennis clinics, on-site activity, pop-ups and social media content.
For the 2022 tournament, the company launched a commemorative co-branded Ralph Lauren Australian Open Collection of polo shirts, jackets and accessories, plus six towel designs which will be available on-site at the Ralph Lauren Australian Open pop-up stores, at Polo Ralph Lauren retail stores and on their e-commerce globally.
The campaign was led by a spot launched on 4 January championing its status as the Official Outfitter of the Australian Open and, for the first time, the tournament’s official towel supplier which saw the brand dress dressing around 4,000 on-court and on-site staff.
The supporting on-site, OOH, tennis court model shoot and social creative all seek to both champion the brand and drive viewers to a tournament specific webpage where fans can discover more ‘Australian Open Moments’ and purchase products from the 2022 AO range at https://rlauren.co/AustralianOpen.
An additional strand of the 2022 activation saw the brand team up with a pair of athlete ambassadors – Adelaide United FC footballer Josh Cavallo and Aussie tennis star Sam Groth – for an ‘exhibition match’ at which the two sports stars wore the new RLX Clarus polo shirt.
Groth and Cavallo wore the new RLX Clarus Polo Shirt during the exhibition game and tennis clinic to ‘demonstrate its superior performance qualities during the height of the Australian summer heat’.
“I’ve been a longtime fan of Ralph Lauren – they’re a classic brand with incredible style and are always pushing boundaries to make really innovative, new products,” says professional Australian football player Josh Cavallo. “As a professional athlete who trains every day, it’s incredible to be able to wear a 100% cotton shirt that is stylish, has superior performance qualities and keeps me comfortable even on the hottest of days – all made with a sustainable spirit.”
But, one of the more controversial and commented upon products in the brand’s 2022 AO range as its Ralph Lauren Water Bottle with the Grand Slam’s logo which retailed at a pricy $99.
The price point became the subject of a viral Reddit thread which began when a Reddit user shared a photo of the water bottles and wrote “Discount water bottles at the Australian Open” alongside a photo of the high price tag.
This led to the comment section to go wild in response as users discussed value for money and the issue of self-styled luxury brands positioning plastic merchandise as luxury souvenirs.
While no one has gone to vent on Twitter yet about the water bottles, here at B&T we reckon it’ll only be a matter of days.
Comment
Ralph Lauren has been designing the official uniforms for all on-court tournament staff and ball-persons for two tennis Grand Slams – the US Open and Wimbledon – since 2005.
Sports team sponsorships have become an important pillar in the brand’s marketing mix and previous notable activations have ranged from Polo Ralph Lauren’s 2019 ‘Clickable TikTok #Winningrl’ campaign to its 2016 Rio Olympics ‘Team USA Product Personalisation’ progamme.
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