It's been seven years since ANZ signed on to sponsor the Australian Open, and in that time the bank has gone from a logo to the tennis being one of its biggest marketing investments.
The growth in the program has seen ANZ extend its offering beyond Australia and the Australian Open to China and the Shanghai Rolex Masters, with the tennis now being almost a year-round event for the bank.
ANZ has several different campaign aspects associated with the tennis, from a partnership with Novak Djokovic to its Hot Shots campaign for young up and coming tennis stars.
The bank's general manager of marketing, Louise Eyres, wouldn't be led on the cost of ANZ's investment in the tennis, but she did say it was the bank's most significant investment to date, highlighting that it well and truly delivers in terms of ROI.
“Across Asia we're looking at a broadcast reach of 250 million through the tennis as a cumulative audience number. It's a significant reach for our brand; on that basis the investment is certainly warranted,” Eyres says.
This year the brand has also launched a social campaign with Djokovic called #HeadbandForGood, which sees the bank donate $2 for every social post featuring a person wearing a tennis sweat band to World Vision. The bank has pledged to donate a maximum of $100,000 for the campaign, with Eyres saying that ANZ will not struggle to hit that target.
“The work had already surpassed last year's 'Rally for Good', which was our former benchmark,” Eyres reveals. “The campaign has reached more than 10 million people in the first week and the video has had more than a million views, so this is tracking to be our most successful social activation to date.”
The tie-up between the bank and the Shanghai Rolex Masters hinges mainly around its Hot Shots program, which since its inception has seen a 41% year-on-year increase in terms of participation from young people. As part of the relationship, the bank launched an exchange program, which sees two of the young 'Hot Shots' go to China to experience the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
“It's a strategic partnership and strategic friendship that brings those events closer together, which gives ANZ a comprehensive program of tennis that we can activate through out the year,” Eyres says.
ANZ has been using social for its charitable campaigns for some time now, but Eyres explains its move towards a diversified content strategy shows how the brand is updating how it is communicating with its audience.
“We're giving people the opportunity to engage with us in a way that suits them - for some it's with Instagram, for some it's the deeper and longer content through Facebook and YouTube,” she says.
“We're really adapting our content to how our staff and customers want to connect with us, through the channel and the type of material, so there are multiple ways you can connect with ANZ, but it's all around the way that suits you.”
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