USTA

Driving Demand for
the US Open

SERVICES

Campaign Development

Content Production

Media Planning & Management

What if...

We could leverage digital channels more effectively to drive interest and sales for tickets to the world's largest tennis event?

A spectacle unlike any other, The Open spans two weeks in the largest tennis stadium in the world – located in bustling, cosmopolitan New York City. Although the event is televised and advertised, we wondered if we could find new, innovative ways to leverage digital media channels and tactics to further ignite interest and altogether increase ticket sales for the event.

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We did

We did...

A digital campaign that used local growth hacks to drive an unprecedented amount of ROAS for the USTA.

To complement the ongoing use of traditional OOH media tactics, we created a digital media plan designed to sell US Open tickets to and through native New Yorkers and visiting travelers via unconventional channels that they had inadvertently been using for other use cases. This approach yieled ROAS unlike anything the USTA had ever experienced.

RESULTS

1,123%

Return on Media Investment

281,272

New Facebook Likes

31.84%

Increase in Social Followers

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Riding the Wave

Prior to the US Open, Emirates Airlines sponsors a US Open Series leading up to the event. We targeted viewers of this prestigious series, tapping into their love of the game and continuing the good times.

Pre-Sales on Social

We promoted an exclusive pre-sale with unique unlock codes to create buzz on all major social platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, SnapChat, and Pinterest. After tickets officially went on sale, we leveraged the local selling power of Living Social to market the Open, reaching users in the tri-state (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) area.

Ready for Takeoff

Through strategic data partners we were able to identify consumers who had booked flights to NYC during the tournament and serve them US Open digital advertising ‘the place to be’ leading up to their trip.

Go Where They Go

Using mobile GPS data, we were able to find people who had recently visited tennis courts and sporting goods stores, as well as those who had attended live sporting events.

Tennis, Anyone?

We targeted consumers who indexed high on tennis in social network channels by looking at shares of tennis-related news. Fans of tennis athletes were targeted, and we did look-alike modeling from known ticket buyers.

VP Targeting on LinkedIn

We leveraged LinkedIn to target consumers based on job title and salaries in NYC-metro area who may be more likely to attend the Open for networking or business purposes.

As the preeminent sports and entertainment spectacular, the US Open strives to deliver innovative campaigns that align well with its brand while supporting its overall marketing objectives. Digital Surgeons quickly learned the unique challenges of our event and developed a host of strategies that delivered outstanding results.

– Nicole Kankan, Managing Director of Marketing of USTA

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What's next?