WTA & ATP Launch First Joint Marketing Campaign
The ATP and WTA have announced the launch of Tennis United: CrossCourt, a continuation of the digital content series originally released during the 2020 suspended season.
The campaign is a collaboration between the two organisations, which transitioned to an ‘integrated marketing operation’ in January 2021.
The ‘reimagined’ Tennis United project marks the first major co-branded initiative to debut since the integration, and goes behind the scenes of life on Tour through a series of ‘intimate one-on-one conversations’ between ATP and WTA stars.
Spanning eight short-format episodes, players explore a range of largely untouched subjects from within and beyond sport, offering fans a new perspective on the experiences, pressures and privileges that make up life in professional tennis.
From Dominic Thiem and Madison Keys opening up on mental health, to tennis’ newlywed star couple Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina finding love on Tour, the series take a deep dive into the game, which also includes Andrey Rublev and Aryna Sabalenka shedding light on dealing with defeat, and Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jennifer Brady unpacking the discussion around on-court coaching.
The series builds on unprecedented collaboration between the Tours over the past 18 months, where key leadership roles across social media, digital, and branding are now responsible for ‘maximising engagement through joint storytelling and creating efficiencies on key projects’.
Collaboration across commercial and communications over the same period has further leveraged the appeal of both Tours, highlighted by recent joint-brand partnerships with TopCourt and Tennis Clash.
“Few professional sports have the opportunity that tennis does, to tell an authentic story of male and female athletes united,” said Dan Ginger, the newly appointed SVP, Brand and Marketing.
“This has always been our vision for Tennis United. Creating a centralised marketing team across the Tours allows us to further reduce fragmentation within the sport and focus on positioning tennis as a leading global entertainment property.”
New episodes of Tennis United: CrossCourt will debut every Wednesday across YouTube and ATP/WTA digital channels, starting from 25th August.
Ideation and creative direction for the new season was supported by Racquet Magazine, which serves as presenting partner of the series. The show’s new visual identity was developed by London-based agency MATTA, whose recent joint projects include the ATP’s and WTA’s ‘Tennis is Life’ campaign.
