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Are You The Next Novak Djokovic? Global talent scouting campaign for HEAD Tennis

The story:
Equipe launches a global campaign with Novak Djokovic for HEAD. Young talent for the successor promotion program “Team HEAD” wanted.

“Team HEAD” promotes over 4,000 successor talent worldwide and has discovered ATP stars such as Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. But global talent scouting is associated with enormous costs. It needs a whole armada of talent scouts who can sniff out the next tennis aces in the most remote corners of the earth. At the same time, it is essential for HEAD that the talent is discovered early in order to build loyalty before the competition does.

When HEAD contracted Equipe to give the global successor promotion program new twist, it was quickly obvious that the challenge needed to be met with a digital approach. The agency used the enormous digital range of HEAD with its global campaign “Next Novak” and turned the tables around: instead of searching for talent around the world, it challenged them to promote themselves for “Team HEAD”.

Youths between 8 and 14 could put their potential on the tennis court to the test in just a few steps on the campaign homepage. They had to upload a short video showing a couple of predefined strokes to the platform and let the tennis experts from HEAD evaluate it. The process is easy and efficient because talent can be recognized immediately. The testimonial of the campaign is — as the name says — Novak Djokovic. In the teaser, which Equipe filmed with the world’s champion in Monaco this spring, the superstar challenges young talent to follow in his footsteps.

Ottmar Barbian, HEAD Executive Vice President Racquet Sports is enthusiastic about the impact of the campaign: “Over 800 talents from 80 countries applied in just a few weeks. That would have taken months with conventional scouting — and cost much more.” At the same time, it’s an opportunity for HEAD to strengthen its image with youth. And that is worth gold, because tennis players decide very early for a brand and often stay with it their whole life.

The ad:

The Interview:

The credits:
Ad Agency: equipe.agency, Zurich