It’s been an exciting period for the RBS team here at Synergy, with a roadshow tour that has brought Judy Murray’s Set4Sport initiative to life for parents and children all over the UK. Created by Judy Murray and supported by RBS, Set4Sport is a programme inspired by Judy’s years of experience as a tennis coach and parent, which showcases easy and accessible ways for parents to play with their children and develop the skills required for playing sport. The activities featured are based on the games Judy played with her sons Andy and Jamie when they were growing up, and can easily be recreated at home using everyday items.

At its core, Set4Sport is all about helping parents to find active ways to play with their children, and it has been really inspirational to be part of a programme that will make a tangible difference to how children develop sporting skills. Judy’s own games such as “Jumping the River” and “Double Trouble” not only give parents a fantastic example of an activity they can replicate in their own homes or back garden, but also spark off their imagination to help them create games of their very own.

In June, Synergy managed the programme media launch with Andy, Jamie and Judy Murray, raising awareness of the free Set4Sport book and website. The next stage of the roll-out saw a series of roadshow events showcasing many of the suggested games and ideas. So off we headed, on a journey that took us to communities throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

To date, we have hit six venues, starting with a rainy South Shields in August, and most recently visiting Glasgow’s Riverside Museum on a chilly day in late October. The events have proven a big success, with Judy Murray present at each location, and hundreds of families descending en masse to get their fill of the Set4Sport action.

Synergy embarked on an awareness-driving PR campaign, with the aim to boost attendance at the different roadshow events up and down the country. Ahead of each event, Judy was on hand to speak to local newspapers and radio, building up buzz and excitement prior to the roadshow coming to town. As well as in-depth Set4Sport campaign features with national media, Synergy also proactively targeted press event listings and local “days out” guides, helping to generate strong numbers at each location.

For each location, Synergy identified an area of high footfall specifically positioned to attract young families to a free event, with Judy and her team of coaches setting up a number of different game stations. Prime venues were secured including Brighton Beach, Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), and the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, all free facilities packed with families during the summer and half-term holidays. After registering their details, parents and children worked their way around up to eight different game rotations, all designed to develop skills in agility, balance and co-ordination, as well as being great fun!

On February 11th the show returns to Scotland, as the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh plays host to an event during the half term holiday. For more information on Set4sport, stay tuned to www.Set4Sport.com and Facebook.

By Donald Parish on December 6th, 2011

Tags: Andy Murray, Default, grass roots sport, Sponsorship, Synergy, Tennis

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Think of any brand associated with an athlete, and in most cases the brand will have approached the athlete as a result of the athlete’s brand/consumer fit and will be paying them a hefty sponsorship fee in return for a number of rights.

In “What We Love” this month though, we explore a brand who took a much more innovative and engaging approach to sponsorship by inviting a number of athletes to compete for a sponsorship contract, with their consumers ultimately choosing the winning athlete.

So who is the brand and what did they do?

In March this year, Sony Ericsson – a long time supporter of women’s tennis – launched a new format entertainment show, “Xperia Hotshots,” which followed the lives of six globetrotting, aspiring stars of the WTA, all of whom were competing for a sponsorship contract from Sony Ericsson.

The competition centred around the online buzz each tennis star could generate for themselves, with the player receiving the most number of votes on the official Sony Ericsson Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/xperiahotshots) receiving €100,000 of support from the brand.

In order to help with the challenge, Sony Ericsson gave the players exclusive access to major music, film and fashion events as they toured the globe playing tennis. The players were also able to use their own stardom and contacts to aid them in generating the most interesting content, as long as it was shared via social network sites using the Xperia handsets that were given to the stars.

As an extra incentive for fans to get involved and follow the series, all of those who “Liked” the ‘Hotshots’ Facebook page were also entered into a prize draw to win tickets to the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami

Over the course of the campaign, which ended on 5 September and was won by Wimbledon Semi-Finalist Sabine Lisicki, the competition generated huge awareness for Sony Ericsson including 820,000 friends on Facebook; 3 Million video views on YouTube; 100,000 mobile app downloads; 1,200 pieces of media coverage; 70 videos produced; and 530 hours of footage shot.

Why we love it

We love this campaign here at Synergy for several reasons. Firstly, by prescribing that the players must use their Sony Ericsson Xperia Android touch smartphones to communicate with their fans through Social media, Sony Ericsson were able to showcase the product’s unique features in real life situations, thereby providing consumers with a much better understanding of its unique selling points, benefits and potential usage occasions.

Secondly, by focusing on the use of the phone for entertainment purposes and social media (as opposed to purely a communication device) the perception of Sony Ericsson as THE communication entertainment brand was greatly enhance.

Thirdly, by engaging fans in the athlete selection process, Sony Ericsson were able to generate a much deeper bond between their potential consumers and the ultimate Ambassador than if the athlete were contracted behind closed doors, and fans who engaged in the voting process are now more likely to follow that athlete going forwards than if the athlete had been selected on the basis of whom the marketers thought would offer the best brand/consumer fit.

Finally, by profiling six players, Sony Ericsson very cleverly linked themselves to all of these world-class athletes when they only contracted one; six great brand endorsements for the price one . . . not bad going!

By Liz Brown on October 13th, 2011

Tags: Blogging, Brand marketing, Celebrity, Communications, Default, Facebook, Media, Mobile, Online communities, Sponsorship, Sport, Synergy Loves, Synopsis, Tennis, Viral Marketing, YouTube

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It’s Wimbledon fortnight! Time for the nation to dust off their tennis rackets, get behind Andy Murray and enjoy frolicking in SW19 drinking Pimms and eating strawberries.

Always one to fully embrace the sporting event of the moment the Betfair team at Synergy has had a week to remember – well, particularly the boys!

To celebrate the launch of Betfair’s Wimbledon Doubles game we got identical twins Bryony and Katherine Frost to strike a pose recreating the iconic 1976 Tennis Girl poster, but this time with a unique twist. The blonde duo bared their derrieres to mark the launch of Wimbledon Doubles – a smashing online game served-up by Betfair (see what we did there!)

We dodged a few downpours to get the shots and with a bit of ankle and racket repositioning, not to mention a few carefully placed hands, we cracked the shot. Check out the game for a bit of Friday afternoon fun!

By Caroline Ayling on June 24th, 2011

Tags: Andy Murray, Betfair, PR, Public relations, Sport, Tennis

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Team Synergy has been rather busy this week – and for the last few weeks actually – helping Judy Murray get a brand new family activity programme off the ground ahead of Wimbledon.

Set4Sport, supported by Andy and Jamie Murray’s long-term sponsor, RBS, is a programme inspired by Judy’s years of experience as a tennis coach and parent, which showcases easy and accessible ways for parents to play with their children that develop the skills required for playing sport. And it was our job to announce this new venture to the UK press.

So while the rest of the nation watched Andy’s fantastic victory at Queen’s on Monday, the RBS team at Synergy were busy bees, effectively re-planning our media launch in less than 24 hours – as the rain delays from Sunday meant best laid plans for a Monday launch in Regents Park ground to a sudden hault. Instead, we prepared to move Team Murray, the media, the event and all associated logistics (not least including 16 willing parents and children to take part) to a 10am start on Tuesday.

No longer able to set up in central London due to the boys’ hectic playing schedules this week, the action moved to Singlegate Primary School in Colliers Wood, near Wimbledon, who willingly offered up their lovely school grounds (and parents and children) to host the event.

Judy, led by a trusty team of four coaches, had designed the perfect sample event, showcasing four of the Set4Sport activities, and providing all the attending parents and kids with some great inspiration for fun and effective playtime games. (To find out exactly how you play Jumping the River, Beat the Goalie, Double Trouble and Dodgems, check out the website, where you can download them all.)

The nation’s media were obviously leaping at the chance to speak to a Queen’s Champ and Set4Sport offered them something fresh to focus on ahead of Wimbledon, though both boys naturally found themselves fending off questions around winning the British Grand Slam (or in Jamie’s case, winning again). Singlegate Primary had never seen so many cameras with crews from BBC, ITV, Sky and PA all clustered around their playground, with features running from Tuesday evening through yesterday’s news agenda.

Even the tennis writers – most of whom had spent the last 8 days following Andy’s progress at Queen’s – all rocked up on the day for a chat with him and Judy, and gave Set4Sport a great show in the press yesterday morning, with feature pieces in the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Independent, Metro and City AM to name a few.

And while the coverage started landing, Synergy and Judy’s work was not yet done. Yesterday morning started at dawn with a slot on the ITV Daybreak sofa, and onwards to the BBC for eleven interviews with radio stations around the UK, making sure all the regions know about the programme in preparation for the Set4Sport Live roadshows hitting cities this summer.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Murrays had found time on Tuesday to sit down and chat with some of the leading national feature writers, with highlights published today including a front page cover shot in The Times’ T2 supplement, a double page spread in the Daily Mirror, and an upcoming column in The Sun newspaper.

Set4Sport marks an exciting new venture for the Murray family, but also for RBS as it is the perfect representation of their new approach to sponsorship. All of our work with them is focused on investing in and supporting their customers’ local communities and Set4Sport fits that new ethos perfectly. Check out www.Set4Sport.com and have a look yourself.

By Lucie Bartlett on June 16th, 2011

Tags: Andy Murray, Celebrity, Communications, Event management service, Experiential marketing, grass roots sport, Public relations, Sponsorship, Sport, Synergy, Tennis

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What happened?

adidas launched what its calling its ‘largest ever brand marketing campaign’ and the first to feature adidas Sport Performance, adidas Originals and adidas Sport Style sub-brands together.

By using a number of their most popular personalities from across sports and culture adidas has created an impressive campaign which leads off with this ad featuring David Beckham, Lionel Messi, Katy Perry, basketball player Derrick Rose, gymnast Louis Smith, the All Blacks, musician B.o.B and top skateboarders including Silas Baxter-Neal.   The spot aims to promote the idea that when you love your game, whatever that game may be, you put your all into it.

On top of this they have delivered an integrated campaign using ground breaking 3D projection mapping at the launch and including different TV and online versions of the film.

adidas have used their YouTube channel and Facebook page to seed engaging digital content including some individual films of their ambassadors including Messi and the musician B.o.B.  The video was seeded on Messi’s new Facebook page which launched on 7th April and achieved a remarkable 7 million likes in 7 hours.  On their campaign website www.adidas.com/areyouin fans of football, skating and music can win prizes and in the US win the chance to feature in their next version of the ad to air during the MTV Movie Awards.

Why we like it?

Rather than a sport specific campaign that we often see from brands such as adidas they have utilised so many of their assets in this campaign and across a wide spectrum of sports and culture from football to skateboarding to Russell Brand‘s missus.  The campaign therefore appeals to a huge audience across many different markets.  By using the impressive 3D projection at launch and using their various digital channels adidas are showing they are at the forefront of technology, are maximising their assets and are taking their (obviously pricey) ATL campaign many steps further.

What the brand says:

From the campaign press release:

The brand’s largest marketing campaign in history showcases adidas’ distinctive presence across different cultures and lifestyles fusing the world of sports, music and fashion and is the first time the company features adidas Sport Performance, adidas Originals and adidas Sport Style sub-brands in a single campaign.

“Today’s consumers are not one-dimensional,” said Patrik Nilsson, president of adidas America.  “They live across the cultural spectrum and that’s where adidas has its edge.  The adidas brand extends beyond sports and ‘all adidas’ celebrates this breadth of passion from athletes, musicians, artists and beyond.  The new campaign allows us to create stronger, truer connections with the consumer by encouraging and celebrating a mix of interests and passions central to their lives.”

By Erica Hodges on April 8th, 2011

Tags: Advertising, Branded content, Content, David Beckham, Digital marketing, Football, Music, Rugby, Social Media, Synergy Loves, Synopsis, Tennis, YouTube

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By Jessica Enoch on October 20th, 2010

Tags: Brand marketing, Default, Design, Fashion, Tennis

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Last month, team Synergy headed down to a tennis club in leafy Chiswick, West London for a day planned to give the media a taste of The RBS Murray Experience events to be held in London and Edinburgh at the end of the year.

These unique experiential events, run by Andy’s sponsor RBS, will give some lucky RBS customers and their friends the chance to take part in a unique on-court day with Andy and Jamie Murray – and the rest of their team – where they will be taken first hand through their tough training regime, from fitness drills to the perfect serve.

What better way to promote such a great experience than to let journalists taste it for themselves?

Indeed it turned out that facing Andy was tougher than any of them might have expected. Press from the Daily Telegraph, BBC Online, BBC Scotland TV and radio, Sport Magazine and the Daily Record arrived with their rackets and tennis shoes full of excitement at the prospect of facing Andy, and all finished sweaty, tired, and all too painfully aware of why he is one of the world’s very best tennis players.

Of course, the day would not have been possible without the involvement of the fantastic Team Murray, including Andy’s fitness trainer Matt Little, Mum (and pro tennis coach) Judy and his hitting partner Dani Vallverdu.

Matt set up the session with some warm-up exercises and on-court drills; Judy coached the group through groundstrokes and volleys. Dani acted as hitting partner for the day, enabling Andy to line up alongside our media for each drill, providing a genuine, first-hand glimpse of the Murray training regime.

The highlight of the day (certainly in terms of entertainment value) was the journalists being given the chance to face the Murray serve. I had thought to myself that it would not look great for Andy should any of the journalists be able to return the serve… but as I cowered out of the way of the balls flashing across the court, I realised this was highly unlikely.

Even the Daily Telegraph’s Mark Hodgkinson, having proven himself to be pretty handy with a racket (so much so that Judy had swapped Andy in for Dani during the volleys to give Mark some greater competition) struggled – the best Mark managed was to smash Andy’s serve back into the net.

We were lucky to get one of the best days of the end of summer, so the day finished with press interviews with Andy on the balcony of the club and the inevitable (and not at all cheesy), shots with Team Synergy.

Team Murray meets Team Synergy

By Jessica Enoch on October 13th, 2010

Tags: Andy Murray, BBC, Brand marketing, Communications, Sponsorship, Synergy, Tennis

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Football and cricket fans in the UK would have noticed a certain synchronicity in action over the last couple of days on the subject of technology in sport.

In the final instalment of The Times’ 2010 Football Survey by Football Fan Census published this morning, 74% of the 5,000 plus fans polled supported the immediate introduction of goal-line technology, to put an end to the series of high-profile wrong calls by referees in recent seasons. Despite the fans’ views though, goal-line technology is highly unlikely to be featuring in top football anytime soon as it is strongly opposed by the game’s lawmakers.

What a contrast with cricket, where Hawk-Eye technology has now been an authorised, integral part of the game at top level for many years, enabling the umpires to make the right decisions and entertaining spectators and viewers into the bargain. Except in the current Test Series between England and Bangladesh that is.

Unlike cricket broadcasters elsewhere in the world, Sky is barred from selling on-air sponsorship of Hawk-Eye, and thus cannot recoup the £300,000 it costs to equip the umpires, because Ofcom considers Hawk-Eye to be ‘editorial content’. The ICC – cricket’s world governing body – is refusing to pay for the technology on the grounds that it is inequitable to pay for the costs of Sky but not broadcasters in other countries. This has already led to at least one wrong dismissal in the match. More inevitably will follow.

This isn’t about Sky, and it isn’t about ICC. It’s about Ofcom. Instead of enabling a virtuous circle of added-value technology loved by fans and funded by sponsors, they create a no-win situation where no one – players, umpires, fans, media – is happy. All in the name of ‘editorial content’.

I am conscious that many of you -  for I suspect you know where I’m going - may already perhaps be thinking ‘thin end of the wedge’. Let me assure you, then, that the last thing I want to see is British television becoming the ad-saturated nightmare that we see in so many other countries.  But this is surely an exception and it would be good to see sanity prevail. Come on Ofcom, stop being the problem and start being the solution. Have the courage to create a virtuous circle and let brands sponsor Hawk-Eye on-air in cricket.

And whilst I’m on the subject, can someone – yes DCMS, I’m looking at you – explain to me why Hawk-Eye in cricket on Sky cannot be branded whereas it’s acceptable for Hawk-Eye in the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon to be branded by Rolex?

By Tim Crow on May 28th, 2010

Tags: Broadcast sponsorship, Cricket, DCMS, Sponsorship, Television, Tennis

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There’s been a lot of press over the last few years about the nation’s decreasing sporting ability being matched only by the increasing waist size of its kids. Yesterday, I found myself at a primary school in south London on a visit with British tennis number 1, Andy Murray, as part of an RBS Dream Playgrounds scheme.The tangible excitement caused by Andy’s appearance at the school showed that kids regardless of age, background and interests all loved the chance to just run around with someone they’ve seen on TV.  

Gasps and a spontaneous round of applause greeted his revelation to the school assembly that he started playing tennis at just four years old, but as Andy himself said, getting started is the easy bit – it’s keeping kids interested in staying active beyond twelve that is problematic.

The substantial investment from RBS to improve the school’s playground area will go some way towards improving the chances of these kids to stay active, but while governing bodies battle to corral Britain’s young into their particular sport, the primary challenge for the government is simply to keep kids active – regardless of sporting denomination.

Governing bodies, Sport England and the Department of Health need to work together to build a combined voice with combined facilities that can build on the interest that a three hour visit from a world class athlete can bring.

Incidentally, toughest examination of the day for Andy didn’t come from the gathered press pack but rather from a six-year-old in assembly who looked slightly crestfallen when silence greeted his question, ‘How many Wimbledon’s have you won?’.

By Dominic Curran on June 17th, 2008

Tags: Andy Murray, grass roots sport, Tennis

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