Menu
People and Pop Culture

Plugged In: Alexandra Willis, All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club

Alexandra Willis began at Wimbledon more than four years ago with a charge to jump-start the event’s digital presence. Mission accomplished, and then some. Willis today is head of communications, content and digital, for the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, which owns and operates Wimbledon. The event’s organizers have embraced social media, ranging from Facebook to Snapchat, and new for this year will be on-site efforts featuring the queue of fans eager to watch matches as well as a channel on Giphy, the home for GIFs.


There are these little moments that happen at Wimbledon we can use the GIF format to celebrate. For us, when we think about wanting to go beyond Wimbledon [and] that Wimbledon means more than tennis — and you have got somebody saying, ‘I feel great today. It is Friday,’ and they are using a GIF of Serena Williams celebrating with the trophy here at Wimbledon last year — then that is just [one] way.


Photo by: ALL ENGLAND LAWN TENNIS & CROQUET CLUB

On how Wimbledon has advanced in the social media space: We have tried really to do two things. The first one is to stay very true to who we are, and when you think about social media, authenticity is such an underrated thing, something that is crucial in my opinion. And [second], really thinking about what the purpose of social is for Wimbledon: That it is about bringing people in, it is about reflecting Wimbledon in a way that is the next best thing to being here, but it is doing so in a way that has character, that has a tone of voice, and in a way that embodies a brand that people love and have celebrated — but has always been a bit removed. And so being able to put something with the people to engage with that [that] is a bit more real, rather than this polished traditional reserved Wimbledon, is just something that has resonated with people.

On integrating sponsors into social media: We work with our partners on creating featured content. We have always felt that having content that is more editorially driven rather than more straightforward commercialization would resonate better with our fan base and be more reflective of the Wimbledon experience here on-site.

On this year’s additions: We are trying to sort of expand the on-site social media experience that we have had the last couple of years. [The initiative] is called The Hill Versus The World, which encourages The Hill [a reference to the grassy, hilly area on-site where fans congregate] to interact as a social audience and answer questions about the matches they are watching and contrast their answers to people not at Wimbledon, so The World. We are extending that this year to the queue, so we are using the screens we have along the queue to try and celebrate the queue as an audience in their own right. Given they are standing there for hours on end, we want to try to entertain them.

— Daniel Kaplan

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2016/06/20/People-and-Pop-Culture/Plugged-In.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2016/06/20/People-and-Pop-Culture/Plugged-In.aspx

CLOSE