All England Club Launches Campaign To Push Wimbledon Brand Globally

With the Wimbledon Championships two weeks away, the All England Lawn Tennis Club is launching a global campaign "in a bid to grow its audience and build the future of the Wimbledon brand," according to Danny Rogers of PR WEEK. The content-led campaign called "In Pursuit of Greatness" launches Friday "via digital and social media." Next week it hits U.K. cinemas with 60-second films showing nationwide. There will be outdoor executions at tube and railways stations local to the event next weekend, and the BBC is "expected to use the content as excitement builds" for the tournament on July 3. All PR is is being handled by AELTC's team, led by Head of Communications, Digital & Content Alexandra Willis. In Pursuit of Greatness, created by McCann Erickson London, was "given a soft launch" during the '16 event after InterPublic Group won a pitch to promote the championships -- but will this year be extended to the U.S., Europe and Asia "in a drive to build the Wimbledon brand beyond its traditional audience." Media is by Universal McCann with outdoor support by Space. Privately, AELTC execs will admit that "there is presently no problem selling tickets to Wimbledon and sponsorship is growing," but in order to "future-proof" the success of Wimbledon it needs to grow audiences in fast-growing economies such as Asia, where Wimbledon can be perceived as "just another grand slam." AELTC Head of Commercial & Marketing James Ralley said, "We recognize that for The Championships to progress its leadership position, we need to invest in the global understanding of Wimbledon" (PR WEEK, 6/15).