Future Tennis Ace tournament
Swiss watchmaker Longines is acting as the official timekeeper of the French Open held at Roland-Garros stadium in Paris.
As a supplement to its sponsorship, Longines is asking fans to guess the time of each day’s longest match. Also, alongside the professional Grand Slam event, Longines is sponsoring a Future Tennis Ace tournament which hosts matches for aspiring tennis players, which collectively will draw the attention of a wide range of tennis fans.
“It’s a good way to generate publicity about the Longines brand,” said Al Ries, founder and chairman of Ries & Ries, a Roswell, GA-based marketing strategy consultancy.”Furthermore, the idea of a tournament for young girls will interest parents, the people who are most likely to buy Longines watches.
“It sends a message that every parent can relate to. ‘We’re interested in young people and we want to help young girls with talent find success in the world of tennis,’” he said.
Mr. Ries is not affiliated with Longines, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.
Longines was unable to comment by press deadline.
Serving many markets
The annual Future Tennis Ace tournament hosts 16 girls under the age of 13 from 16 different countries. These aspiring tennis players come together to play, learn and compete at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
Future Tennis Ace Tournament
The 16 young girls arrived in Paris on Monday, May 26, to begin practicing at the Longines Academy held at the Tennis Club de la Châtaigneraie. The girls trained throughout the week with tennis specialists Sandrine Testud and Rémi Barbarin.
Marion Bartoli, former French tennis player and 2013 of Wimbledon Championships winner, came to the training to play with each girl and offer advice and tips. She also participated in an exhibition match at the tournament.
Also, Michael Chang, former French Open champion, helped kick-off the tournament.
Training and lucky draw at Longines Future Tennis Ace
The main purpose of the Academy and the Future Ace tournament is to nurture young tennis players, but the winner will also receive a prize of a Longines watch and tennis equipment until her 16th birthday.
Each girl qualified for the tournament in her own country. For example, the United States representative won the Longines Cup hosted by the City of Delray Beach, FL.
The tournament is on the Champ de Mars, directly in front of the Eiffel Tower and the boundaries of each clay court are lined with the Longines logo.
On Longines’ Web site, each girl is featured with a short summary about their young tennis careers and their personal tennis aspirations.
In conjunction with the Future Tennis Ace tournament, fans of the French Open are encouraged to predict the duration of the professional matches through a sponsored Facebook post. With a desktop or mobile device fans can play in-app or on the Longines Web site.
Longines sponsored Facebook post
Fans are asked to estimate the longest match of the following day. After a prediction, fans can share their guess on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Participation is open for each day of the tournament.
Both events have been heavily covered on Longines’ social media accounts. On Facebook, a sponsored post over the weekend encouraged Facebook users to guess the time of the longest match.
Longines Twitter account
On Twitter both events have been promoted with images and videos encouraging, as of press time, the more than 13,800 followers to participate in the contest and engage in the youth tournament.
Global recognition
Sponsoring a global event, like the French Open, allows brands to reach a broader market and therefore gain name recognition with new patrons.
For example, Swiss watchmaker Omega delved into its role as the Winter Olympics XXII’s official timekeeper with a multichannel effort that illustrated the mechanics behind its timing devices and celebrated the spirit of the games.
Omega served as the timekeeper of all events during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in addition to creating a 2,014-piece collection of watches to mark the occasion. The international buzz created by the Olympics introduced Omega to new audiences outside its primary markets and promoted its stance as an innovative watchmaker with global appeal (see story).
Also, companies who offer a contest that changes over the course of an event gives consumers a reason to revisit the event Web site.
For instance, Parisian couturier Jean Paul Gaultier took an unconventional approach to the gift guide by asking its fans to check out an interactive video daily to win prizes.
Jean Paul Gaultier’s “Hot Spot” contest featured a fragrance ad video with buttons that pop up momentarily, which users can click on to win different items daily. By creating an interactive contest that changes over time, Jean Paul Gaultier can ensure that brand fans revisit its Web site and watch the ad multiple times (see story).
“If the contest generates a lot of publicity, it will also generate a lot of entries,” Mr. Ries said.
“But the publicity usually depends on the prizes,” he said. “The more valuable the prizes, the more likely the contest will generate publicity.
“In Longines case, however, the top prize of a Longines watch probably won’t sound exciting to most people.”
Final Take Nancy Buckley, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York