In 2018, Häagen-Dazs is returning to the All England Club as the Official Ice Cream of The Championships, Wimbledon, for the third year running. This year, in a celebration of brand ambassador Grigor Dimitrov’s favourite ice cream flavour, Cookies & Cream, the brand is challenging the classic champion Strawberries & Cream to a battle to find out which will be the No.1 flavour of the summer.

The “Let’s Play” campaign, devised by London-based creative agency Space, aims to highlight the fun, playful characteristics of both the brand and Dimitrov by introducing his favourite flavour, Cookies & Cream as the disruptive new challenger to the traditional favourite ‘champion’ Strawberries & Cream.

To mark the collaboration, the brand is introducing his all-time favourite flavour, Cookies & Cream, on a limited-edition stick bar designed by Grigor himself. This will be launched exclusively for Wimbledon to further drive buzz and rival Strawberries & Cream head-on for the duration to become the must-have accessory of The Championships.

Grigor Dimitrov, global ambassador for Häagen-Dazs, says: “I’ve been a Häagen-Dazs Cookies & Cream guy all my life, so when my favourite ice cream brand asked me what flavour I wanted as my limited-edition for my favourite tournament, the answer was obvious as it’s the one flavour I can’t live without. I’m thrilled to be the creator of the flavour challenge for this summer’s #letsplay campaign and had a great time collaborating on my limited-edition which I hope everyone will get to enjoy during The Championships. I love Wimbledon and all its traditions, but this time, I am hoping to start a new one with my Cookies & Cream.’’

The campaign will be activated across a series of content films, placed through Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, as well as out of home and in-store across all major supermarkets with money-can’t-buy experiences.

The ‘Champion vs Challenger’ campaign will also be brought to life on-site at the Häagen-Dazs parlour at The Championships with a face-off between Wimbledon’s favourite strawberries and cream-inspired ‘Champion’ recipe and Grigor’s favourite cookies and cream inspired ‘Challenger’ recipe.

In the build-up to The Championships, Wimbledon, the brand will also be activating the ‘Champion vs Challenger’ series around LTA events, including The Queen’s Club featuring fan engagements with Grigor himself and the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) Tennis On The Thames event at Bernie Spain Gardens on London’s Southbank, at the foot of the OXO Tower.

Here, the brand will bring the #LetsPlay campaign creative to life for consumers in the form of an epic ‘Champion vs Challenger’ piñata game, in which consumers will be invited to participate, with free ice cream sampling happening all day on Thursday 28th June. Fans will also have the chance to challenge a secret women’s tennis star, who is a huge Häagen-Dazs fan herself and join in the flavour challenge.

Arjoon Bose, Head of Marketing at Häagen-Dazs, says: “We are thrilled to be launching our third Häagen-Dazs summer as Official Ice Cream of The Championships, Wimbledon. This year, however, we wanted to be more disruptive and playful, taking a cue from our very own super fan and ambassador Grigor Dimitrov who really germinated the idea for this unexpected flavour challenge, to create what we believe is our most engaging Wimbledon campaign to date. Grigor is a major challenger for Wimbledon himself and backing #TeamCookies which is certainly raising the stakes. But with our Strawberries & Cream keeping the bar high from last year, can Grigor’s favourite live up to the challenge and convince the nation? You decide!”

David Atkinson, Managing Director at Space, adds: “Space is proud to bring to life the collaboration between Häagen-Dazs and Grigor Dimitrov to celebrate some of the brand’s classic flavours during this grass court season. We’d like tennis fans and ice cream lovers to try both flavours and declare support for their favourite. So often ambassadors have only a tenuous link with the brand that they support, and it’s been refreshing to work with someone like Grigor who is sincerely passionate about his love for Häagen-Dazs.”

The campaign forms part of a £1million marketing investment, which includes out of home, TV, PR and social.

Häagen-Dazs is the Official Ice Cream of The Championships, Wimbledon, and British Tennis. The brand is owned by General Mills, which also owns a portfolio of dynamic market-leading brands including Old El Paso, Green Giant, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley and Jus-Rol.

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Nature Valley, the official snack bar of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), is bringing back its ‘The Court is Yours’ campaign for the second year running, and has signed up Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith to front the activity alongside last year’s brand ambassador, British no. 1 Johanna Konta.

The campaign, put together by creative marketing agency Space, calls on the British public to pick up a racket and get playing. Designed to encourage people of all ages and abilities to get out and play tennis this summer, it follows last year’s successful campaign which resulted in Nature Valley becoming the No. 1 protein bar brand, and the fastest growing. This year’s campaign will focus on supporting 150,000 people to get out in nature and play tennis, proactively demonstrating how you can play wherever and whenever.

Johanna Konta and Leon Smith will provide inspiration and share their top tennis tips, encouraging people to make their own court wherever they are, with whatever they have at hand, such as using a bench as a net to make a court space between two trees.

The campaign is aiming for a reach of over 500m, tripling last year’s results through an integrated approach across shopper, digital, social and PR.

To bolster its grassroots credentials and get more people playing at tennis venues as well as on improvised courts, for the first time Nature Valley is also supporting the LTA’s Great British Tennis Weekend on July 21-22, a country-wide initiative to help tennis clubs and venues attract people from the local community to come and try their local tennis facilities and have a go at the sport.

In partnership with four clubs in Eastbourne, Birmingham, Nottingham and South West London, the weekend of play aims to make tennis more accessible for families across the country, encouraging them to visit their local courts and have fun with tennis. The clubs will be holding a range of free activities to demonstrate the many ways to get into tennis, from mini tennis for youngsters, opportunities for families to play together, and showcasing fitness sessions such as Cardio Tennis. The Nature Valley activity at the London club will also welcome Johanna to the event, where she will play with members of the public and share her top tips.

To further support tennis in British, tennis fans will be able to keep their energy levels up by trying a variety of Nature Valley bars with more than 50,000 bars given away during the summer.

Arjoon Bose, Marketing Head UK & Northern Europe for Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley and Fibre One, says: “Our ambition is for everyone in Britain to include a Nature Valley bar in their tennis kit bag. We are excited about continuing our journey with British Tennis by working with both our ambassadors and helping make tennis more accessible to people across the country. We want to demonstrate the power of sport to connect with our audience and show that tennis can be enjoyed by everyone, anywhere.”

Last year’s campaign (which won Gold in the Most Effective Sponsorship category at the IPM Awards 2018 last week) saw total brand sales grow +19% on the previous year, and generated the brand’s highest ever penetration at 15.2% – contributing 70% of total segment growth in the category. It generated a 76% lift in sales for Nature Valley’s protein line, resulting in record share and penetration.

This year’s campaign will also include bespoke initiatives with Tesco and Sainsbury’s, giving shoppers the chance to win equipment and skills such as a coaching session, tennis kit signed by Johanna Konta and professional Babolat rackets and balls. The British no. 1 will also appear in person at supermarkets in Birmingham, Eastbourne and Nottingham.

David Atkinson, Managing Partner at Space, adds: “The Court is Yours is an inspirational campaign with a true purpose. It’s a long-term and powerful platform designed to create real change for good that we can evolve year on year to align with Nature Valley’s ambitions to encourage more people to get involved with the sport by providing inspiration and practical support.”

Newly-signed brand ambassador Leon Smith has been the Great Britain Davis Cup captain since 2010, leading the team to Davis Cup victory in 2015. He coached Andy Murray during his early years and has been devoted to developing and growing the new generation of British tennis talent in his Davis Cup capacity.

Nature Valley is owned by international food group General Mills. In the UK, Nature Valley is the #1 cereal bar brand and is a major partner of British Tennis as title sponsor of the prestigious ATP and WTA grass-court tournaments of the LTA at the Nature Valley Open (Nottingham), the Nature Valley Classic (Birmingham) and the Nature Valley International (Eastbourne) with British #1 Johanna Konta as its brand ambassador. Nature Valley is also an official global partner of the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals at London O2.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the National Governing Body for tennis in Great Britain, responsible for developing and promoting the sport, with a mission to get more people playing tennis more often. The LTA runs and supports a network of 11,500 approved tournaments for players of all ages, the corner-stones of which are the premier grass court events leading up to Wimbledon: the Nature Valley Open at Nottingham, the Nature Valley Classic at Birmingham, the Fever-Tree Championships at Queens Club and the Nature Valley International Eastbourne.

Space is an award-winning integrated marketing agency which works across social, mobile, outdoor, in store, on-pack, in print, live or virtually. Clients include Heineken, Arla Foods, William Grant & Sons, General Mills, Eurostar, Sky, Coral, Bundesliga, UEFA, NBA and AELTC.

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Quorn, the UK’s best-selling meat free brand, has renewed its successful partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) for a further five years.

The partnership will see Quorn continue to be the title sponsor of the Quorn Family Tennis Cup, as well as sponsor of all LTA grass court events and sampling at The Queen’s Club Championships, where tennis enthusiasts in attendance can enjoy free Quorn samples throughout the week, and take part in an interactive hub promoting the brand’s benefits.

Plus, for the first time, Quorn is launching a partnership with the LTA High Performance Team specifically to test and research how mycoprotein, the main protein source used in all Quorn products, supports the growth of muscle mass and bioavailability of protein.

James Mercer, Commercial Director at the LTA, said: “We are delighted that Quorn will continue its partnership with the LTA and stay with our family of sponsors. The Quorn Family Tennis Cup is a strategic priority for British Tennis which has helped us to get more people playing tennis and we’re keen to understand the benefits of Quorn for elite sports performers.”

Working with the LTA High Performance Team will give Quorn an opportunity to further develop the research it has started wth Exeter University, which discovered that protein found in Quorn foods may be just as good for building muscle mass as animal proteins. Researchers from Exeter University compared whey protein with mycoprotein and found equivalent bioavailability. The partnership with the LTA High Performance Team will include a commitment to continuing their applied research into this area, and use of Quorn within the dietary programmes of its high performance athletes.

Over 10,000 families across the UK have taken part in the Quorn Family Tennis cup since it launched in 2015, either at LTA grass court events or at local tournaments. The renewal of the Quorn title sponsorship means more fit and active families will have the opportunity to take part in informal and fun competitions for the next five years, as well as being encouraged to eat a healthy protein source with products such as Quorn Crispy Nuggets and Quorn Burgers.

Peter Harrison, Quorn’s Marketing Director, said: “Our partnership with the LTA is very important to our Quorn vision, which is to provide food that is healthy for our families and the planet. We also want to understand the positive impact mycoprotein can have on the growth of muscle mass, so it’s truly exciting to be able to extend our work with Exeter University.”

The partnership forms part of Quorn’s £14 million investment in the brand throughout 2018 which, alongside an increased consumer focus on healthier lifestyles and more people looking to reduce their meat consumption, will drive the growth of the UK’s meat-free category.

Quorn Foods is a global market leader in healthy, sustainable protein. Headquartered in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, the company offers a wide range of great-tasting products to appeal to the rapidly expanding group of people wanting to reduce their meat consumption.  The company employs around 714 people and exports to 16 countries around the world, including Australia, South Africa and the USA. Quorn is one of the UK’s top 50 FMCG brands.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the National Governing Body for tennis in Great Britain, responsible for developing and promoting the sport, with a mission to get more people playing tennis more often. The LTA runs and supports a network of 11,500 approved tournaments for players of all ages, the corner-stones of which are the premier grass court events leading up to Wimbledon, held in Nottingham, Birmingham, Queen’s Club-London and Eastbourne, all title sponsored by Aegon.

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Woolworths, the Australian retailer, is taking tennis fans at this year’s Australian Open Tennis Championships on a unique food journey through a multi-sensory brand experience.

The Woolworths Summer Sensorium  takes place at the world-renowned tennis tournament in Melbourne from Monday January 16^th to Sunday January 29^th. In conjunction with the Woolworths marketing team, BEcause Experiential Marketing, devised the exclusive free visitor experience on Grand Slam Oval at Melbourne Park.

The activation is designed to appeal to all five senses with ‘A Taste of Australian Summer’. It offers fans the opportunity to see, touch, hear, smell and taste Woolworths’ fresh seasonal produce and immerse themselves in an environment which also showcased the local farmers that partner with Woolworths.

Housed within a giant geodesic dome, the immersive multi-sensory food experience provides a rounded paddock-to-plate journey for participants. Consumers can enjoy three summer-inspired dishes taken directly from the pages of Woolworths’ FRESH magazine, each expertly paired with fresh juices to enhance tasting pleasure.

The one-of-a-kind journey takes full advantage of the distinctive dome with highly visual and immersive 360˚ projections produced by Visual Playground, with full narration to take those inside on a full journey from field to plate.

The integrated campaign is being amplified by PR via a media launch involving top Australian tennis player Daria Gavrilova and the Woolies Ballkids, all of which is amplified across the Australian Open social channels. The Sensorium is also attracting a great deal of attention from the visitors attending the popular event from both Melbourne and across the country.

Andrew Hicks, Director of Marketing, Woolworths, comments: “The Australian Open is an iconic Aussie event and we wanted to use our partnership this year to bring to life the great quality food our farmers produce for our customers through a unique and memorable experience. As well as our sponsorship of the Woolworths Ball Kids at the Australian Open, the Summer Sensorium also supports our aim to inspire a healthy Australia and feed fresh talent by showcasing the amazing recipes within our FRESH Magazine, all inspired to create quick, healthy and affordable meals for all the family, ensuring our customers can make the most of their summer.”

This year’s Australian Open tournament is expected to attract more than 700,000 visitors from around the globe across 14 days. Visitors to the Grand Slam Oval at the Open can reserve a ticket onsite at the experience daily.

BEcause XM is an international brand experience agency with offices in Ascot, London, Dublin and Australia as well as a global network of experiential partners.

Woolworths Ltd is an Australian retail group and the second largest company in Australian by turnover. Despite its name, it was never connected with the F W Woolworth retail group which was a fixture on American and UK High Streets.

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evian has teamed up with specialist content agency MEC Wavemaker to appeal to the inquisitive streak in Wimbledon fans’ with the return of the award winning #wimblewatch campaign, which this year watches people reacting to the action and packages the results into a daily three-minute film.

Viewers of #wimblewatch will also have the chance to win VIP Wimbledon tickets by taking part in the Celebrity Match Point competition. After each episode, viewers can vote via social media on who they think will win a table tennis challenge between evian’s celebrity pairings.

Featuring celebrities and sports personalities (including Lee Mack, Laura Whitmore, Russell Kane, Rebecca Adlington, David Haye, Pat Cash and Greg Rusedski), each #wimblewatch episode will capture evian’s Live Young spirit by showcasing those spontaneous moments that create the most gripping on- and off-court drama each day.

The films will be released at 11.00am each day, in line with digital viewing habits and just in time for morning coffee. #wimblewatch can be seen at wimblewatch.com and will be co-promoted on Wimbledon and evian’s social channels.

The shows will run daily throughout Wimbledon fortnight, 28^th June to 10^th July, appealing to young professionals with a keen interest in healthy lifestyle, celebrity culture and fashion.

Last year’s #wimblewatch, which won ‘Best use of Digital’ at the European Sponsorship Association awards, earned evian the accolade of being the most

talked-about Wimbledon sponsor on social media, with 4.56 million video views and 6,700 hashtag mentions.

 Hugh Ayling, Brand Manager for evian, says: “From star spotting in the crowd, fashion triumphs, through to those unexpected moments like when David Beckham effortlessly caught the ball whilst in the royal box – #wimblewatch captures these shareable moments and publishes them online in the form of a daily content series to bring the nation closer to the all of the action at SW19.”

MEC Wavemaker Account Director Louise Cornish says: “To cut through in an increasingly competitive environment, #wimblewatch is designed to get people talking about the evian brand and make it part of the Wimbledon cultural conversation from the start.”

Launched in April 2016 and part of WPP, MEC Wavemaker creates content that measurably improves a brand’s performance, bringing together expertise in Sport & Entertainment partnerships, content strategy, social, SEO and creative services whilst working collaboratively with clients and MEC Communications Planning teams.

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Häagen-Dazs has been named the Official Ice Cream of The Wimbledon Championships after signing a five-year deal with the Lawn Tennis Association, the tournament’s organisers.

The General Mills-owned luxury ice cream brand will be supporting the partnership with a £2.5m UK-wide 360° marketing campaign, including social and digital activity, high-impact print and outdoor advertising, in-store shopper activation plus promotional packs with the official Wimbledon logo on front-of-pack.

The partnership will also see the full range of Häagen-Dazs being sold at Wimbledon as the event’s exclusive ice cream brand, from branded scooping parlours located right by Court No.1 and Centre Court, as well as ice cream kiosks selling stick bars and mini cups.

Nearly 500,000 spectators are expected to attend the championships.

Building on the momentum and premium heritage of the tournament as well as supporting its recent stick bar launch, Häagen-Dazs will be kick-starting its new role by launching a new limited edition Strawberries & Cream stick bar, to be sold exclusively at this year’s event.

Arjoon Bose, Northern Europe Marketing Manager for Häagen-Dazs, says: “Wimbledon is a strong fit for our overall strategy to increase brand saliency and elevate our iconic equity.  Awareness is going to be very high this summer and this gives us the perfect opportunity to excite and attract new shoppers, and ultimately cement Häagen-Dazs’ position as the go-to luxury ice cream brand.

General Mills UK & Ireland owns a portfolio of market leading brands including Fibre One, Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Green Giant, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley and Jus-Rol.

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Britvic has collaborated with M/Six and Kinetic, global leader in planning and buying out-of-home (OOH) media, for a Robinson’s campaign to transform the area around Waterloo station into a tennis-themed display to mark the upcoming Wimbledon tournament.

The campaign, reminiscent of Robinson’s 1988 ‘Anything else just isn’t tennis’ advertisement, is running until July 18. The ads will be displayed across Primesight’s Waterloo domination sites and will include a special-build installation devised by Kinetic Active, featuring a replica tennis net and a line machine previously used at Wimbledon. The mini replica was designed by integrated agency iris.

It is understood that there will also be sampling and experiential activity in and around the station.

Wimbledon first partnered with Robinson’s 80 years ago, launching its iconic Lemon Barley Water at the 1935 championships. Since then, Robinson’s has become synonymous with what is one of the most iconic British sporting events, with 2016 marking the launch of new squash’d flavours.

Sarah Norcup, Creative Development Executive at Kinetic, said: “Working with Robinson’s provided us with the opportunity to create a memorable campaign, celebrating one of our nation’s most loved sports. It’s always exciting when we work with a heritage brand like Robinson’s, as the scope to fuse heritage with cutting edge creative advances creates the groundwork for a truly unique OOH experience.”

Nadine Campbell, Business Director at M/Six said: “This year we wanted to really amplify Britvic’s sponsorship for Wimbledon, with a significant, dramatic OOH presence. So we worked closely with Kinetic to create the Waterloo Domination campaign, delivering real impact and awareness, in one of London’s busiest commuter routes. The highlight of this is definitely our largest billboard, outside the station entrance, which is a mini replica of a Wimbledon pitch, designed by iris.”

Toby Fairlamb, Account Director, Primesight, commented: “We see Waterloo as the gateway for supporters to get to and from the famous tennis tournament and the Domination is the perfect platform to engage fans. According to Route, the Domination delivers over 9 million impacts across a two week period and we are sure that the first ever special build on this unavoidable site will generate even greater levels of impact and interest from consumers.”

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Rodda’s, the world’s leading producer of Cornish clotted cream, is serving up a sponsorship deal with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which sees the brand named as the Official Clotted Cream of British Tennis.

The sponsorship was devised, negotiated and delivered by integrated marketing agency Bray Leino, which has now been appointed Rodda’s primary marketing and communications agency.

The partnership will promote the iconic Cornish brand as the ‘premium serve’ at all British LTA tournaments, including the Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club in June. It also includes sampling and retail space for Rodda’s, and will see the Cornish clotted cream served to all LTA hospitality guests.

An on-pack promotion to support the partnership will offer consumers across the UK a chance to win one of 25 pairs of LTA British Grass Court Tournament tickets plus £200 spending money and a cream tea experience.

With almost five million annual players nationally, tennis is also the UK’s second most watched sport, attracting an affluent audience that values quality, a perfect fit for Rodda’s.

Rodda’s Managing Director, Nicholas Rodda, said: “Cornish Clotted Cream has always been synonymous with tennis and this partnership further strengthens the association. Rodda’s is about sharing special moments with the ones you love, and what’s better than doing that whilst watching a quintessential British sporting past-time. We are extremely proud and excited to be an official supplier to the LTA.”

Kate Cox, CEO of Bray Leino, added: “When you think of classic Cornish cream tea and quality clotted cream, you think of Rodda’s. The LTA partnership will allow us to build on the brand’s existing association with summer and special occasions, providing opportunities for consumers to fully experience the quality and tradition of Rodda’s. This is just the start of what we have planned.”

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