TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA

FAN ENGAGEMENT AND ACTIVATIONS

PROJECT DURATION: 1 MONTH (DEC 2017- JAN 2018)

India's most prestigious Tennis Tournament and SouthAsia's only ATP World Tour event was set to make Pune it’snew home from 2018 after shifting base from Chennai.Since the tournament inception in 1996, manyinternational players including Rafael Nadal, Boris Becker,Patrick Rafter, Carlos Moya, Stanislas Wawrinka along withknown Indian tennis stars had showcased their skills there.Held from 30th December 2017 to 6th January 2018, inPune, the tournament had three professional players fromthe top 20 ATP rankings like Marin Cilic, Kevin Andersonand Roberto Bautista Agut, and Indian stalwarts likeLeander Paes, Rohan Bopanna and Yuki Bhambri.

Being shifted to Pune for the first time after having alegacy being built in Chennai for over two decades, the keychallenge was to build a connect with the Pune audiencein the first season itself, to ensure that they come back ineven bigger numbers next year.

ABOUT

OBJECTIVES

Create a buzz around the Tata Open Maharashtra in the city, in turn creating media opportunities

Increase footfall at the stadium

Plan and execute engagement activities during the tournament

EXECUTION

Build Awareness:

Trophy and Mascot Unveiling Ceremony at the Shaniwarwda

in Pune

Increase Footfall:

Tennis Clinics with star players

Fan Engagement:

On-ground activities with the fans at the

Fan Park

AWARENESS BUILDING: TROPHY AND MASCOT UNVEILING CEREMONYIn order to create a hype around the city right before the tournament commenced, a trophy and mascot unveiling ceremony was planned.

What better place to unveil the Tata Open Maharashtra trophy in Pune than at Shaniwarwada?

The event was graced by the tournament directors and international sensation Benoit Paire and local boy Arjun Kadhe, who interacted with the fans and also gave away autographed tennis balls.

Additionally, in order to add a story angle to the ceremony, athletes from the Special Olympics Bharat were invited to attend the ceremony.

AWARENESS BUILDING: TROPHY AND MASCOT UNVEILING CEREMONYIMPACT:Fan Engagement at the ceremony:• Photo opportunities with Arjun Kadhe, Benoit Paire and the mascot (TOM)• Autographed tennis balls were given to fans as well as to the athletes from Special Olympics Bharat• Additionally, fans also got a chance to interact with the players and the tournament officials at the ceremony, that resulted in added interest for the tournamentMedia: The event was covered in well-known national and regional media like Times of India, Sakal, as well as on electronic and online media.Social Media: The trophy and mascot unveiling ceremony video garnered 30k+ views on Facebook within a couple of days itself.

INCREASE FOOTFALL DURING THE TOURNAMENT: TENNIS CLINICSIn order to ensure that the crowd, especially tennis enthusiasts turn up in huge numbers during the tournament, special Tennis Clinics with star players like Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes were arranged for tennis-playing kids at the stadium.

The perks of this activity was that the audience got an opportunity to interact with Indian tennis stalwarts and also click pictures and get autographed memorabilia.

This activity ensured that kids turned up in large numbers along with their parents, to attend the clinics and also stayed back for the rest of the tournament – resulting in substantial stadium-fill.

FAN ENGAGEMENT: ON-GROUND ACTIVATIONS AT THE FAN PARK

CREATING PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FANS AT THE TOURNAMENT

Click with Cilic

• Life-size cut-out of Marin Cilic was set up at the Fan Park of the Tata Open Maharashtra to give photo opportunities to fans

• Even though Cilic exited the tournament in the semi-finals, fans continued to take pictures with the cut-out till the final day of the tournament

Photo-opportunity with TOM, the mascot

• The Tata Open Maharashtra mascot – TOM was made to move around the Fan Park and around the stadium, in order to give opportunities for fans to take pictures with him

• The mascot turned out to be a special attraction for kids at the tournament, and had a lot of fans take pictures as well as shake hands with him.

Tata Open Maharashtra Installation

• This was set up so that individuals and fan groups could take photographs with the installation of the maiden ATP tournament in Pune, thus enhancing the fan experience at the stadium

FAN ENGAGEMENT: ON-GROUND ACTIVATIONS AT THE FAN PARK

‘PRONOUNCE IT RIGHT’ ACTIVITYA challenge was set up for the fans to pronounce fairly difficult names of three players participating in the tournament likeMikhail Kukushkin, Pierre Hugues Herbert and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.

Interestingly, the video was alsoreposted by Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan(who’s name was featured in theactivity) on his personal Instagramhandle, thus resulting in highernumber of video views from ourtarget audience.

Check it out: https://goo.gl/GjfJvA

Video Courtesy: Sony Sports

FAN ENGAGEMENT: ON-GROUND ACTIVATIONS AT THE FAN PARK

And how could I miss out on Brand Integration with my current clients?

Result = Brand Integration of Folk Fitness at the Tata Open Maharashtra

A barter deal was struck with Folk Fitness for their fitness performance infused with Indian folk dances and music for the fans at the Fan Park, in turn giving them visibility amongst fitness enthusiasts at the tournament.

+ =

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE TOURNAMENT• Having worked on event activations for a tennis tournament while

being part of a digital agency widened my outlook in the field of sports marketing on both fronts

• An opportunity to work closely with the official social media team of the Tata Open Maharashtra, supporting them with content curation and execution

• Digital being my core, I ensured that the on-ground activities planned were translated online to elevate the fan experience in the digital space

• Added perks: An opportunity to host the official fan activity for the social media channels of the Tata Open Maharashtra

THANK YOU!#AdvantagePooja