Ad of the Day: Wimbledon traces history through stunning animation
To mark The Championships 2018, the All England Club (AELTC) is leveraging technical innovation to celebrate its history, telling the story of the world’s oldest tennis tournament through animation that dazzles the eyes.
To honor the 150th anniversary of the All England Club, and 50 years of Open tennis, the #TakeOnHistory campaign features a 60-second animated trailer, showing the evolution of Wimbledon from its beginnings in 1877 up to the present day.
It starts with an illustration of the competition in its early days, with smartly, and overly-dressed men and women, with an animated image of first champion Spencer Gore. It travels through the eras, the animation style morphing with the times, like going from a bucolic horse-drawn lawn roller to mechanized ones, hand-changed scoreboards to lighted ones. It ends with manga anime-style representations of powerful Roger Federer and Serena Williams, showing the ways the All England Club has changed and improved over time.
The campaign was created by McCann London and developed with Nexus Studios and directors Smith & Foulkes. It aims to illustrate Wimbledon’s brand essence of ‘In pursuit of greatness”, now in its third year. According to a release, Wimbledon “champions a philosophy of constant improvement, which it demonstrates through content, its partners and its players.”
Three versions of the trailer with different player combinations have been produced for various broadcast and fan markets, and the trailer will be followed by a series of content films rolled out across social media that focus in greater depth on three key areas of Wimbledon: the gardens, the Ticket Resale Scheme and the famous Queue. To generate excitement for The Championships 2018, the campaign will run for five weeks, ending once The Championships end on 15 July.
James Ralley, head of marketing and commercial at the AELTC, said: “This is a significant year for Wimbledon, not least because we are celebrating the 150-year anniversary of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. This beautifully crafted film depicts the tireless pursuit of greatness Wimbledon represents, not just for our players and fans but as a global event. History is the benchmark that we judge ourselves by – and we are immensely proud to show the richness of our history through amazingly imaginative illustrations and incredible craftsmanship.”
Rob Doubal, co-president and chief creative officer, McCann London, said: “We’re really proud of this campaign, which perfectly captures how much Wimbledon has changed over the years and gone from strength to strength. The guys at Nexus were incredible at capturing the changing styles, not just of design and fashion, but of the Club, the players’ techniques and the atmosphere. All while staying true to the Wimbledon brand people know and love today.”
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All England Lawn Tennis Club - The Wimbledon Championships
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McCann London
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