Yonex
THE CHALLENGE
Experience agency GPJ Australia, engaged the services of DisplayWise to build an experiential brand activation for their long-standing client Yonex, at the Australian Open. Holding the position of Australian Open Official Stringer for five consecutive years, the Yonex brand has been the focus of an impressive portfolio of experiential activations in the past, and 2020 would be no different.
GPJ Australia conceptualized a brand activation designed to provoke a plethora of fans, both young and old to the Yonex site. The brief provided to DisplayWise, was the request of an interactive drum pad device that would integrate seamlessly with a corresponding custom gaming solution developed by the agency’s partnering brand, Spinifex.
Along with challenge of innate durability and reliable integration, the brief requested the experiential solution to be housed inside an oversized replica design of the sponsor’s iconic racket and strings.
Display Type | Brand Activation |
|---|---|
Event | Australian Open Tennis |
Venue | Melbourne Park, Melbourne |
Display Size | 300sqm |
THE SOLUTION
As part of the Australian Open experience, DisplayWise collaborated with GPJ Australia to tell Yonex’s brand story in a way that tennis fans could relate to—through play. The “Yonex Fine Tuned” activation combined on-screen content with a real tennis racquet-style guitar, showcasing the importance of high-quality Yonex strings. Fans earned points by striking the corresponding Yonex strings as tennis balls ran along them on-screen in time with the music, testing both precision and accuracy, much like a real tennis match.
As such, DisplayWise approached the brief with an exceptional level of attention to detail, artistic flair and solid production know-how. The experiential drum pad device was required to withstand a fortnight of unforgiving exposure, durability and reliability which required rigorous research and development testing as well as high-quality prototype production methods.
Working alongside technical provider Spinifex, an extensive testing phase was undertaken at the DisplayWise production headquarters – an initiative to ensure 100% reliability for their client before it reached the iconic sporting destination. Coinciding with the technical features of the concept’s fabrication, a meticulous level of detail was applied to the finished aesthetic. Elements such as the high gloss racket rim and its enclosed network of tension cords resulted in its oversized yet life-like Yonex racket appearance.
THE RESULT
The brand activation remained in full and exhaustive use throughout the duration of the Australian Open, with no disruptions in the concepts design, build or integrated solutions. Alongside a list of tennis stars spotted getting in on the action, was the impressive crowd of tennis fans who flocked to the scene.
In fact, Yonex Fine Tuned was a smash with fans and the post-match stats spoke for themselves:
- More than 4,800 fans played
- 125 hours of gameplay across 16 days
- 174% increase in audience engagement year on year
“Big thank you to our partners at DisplayWise who helped us with the design, build and functionality of our Yonex gaming unit. The activation looked incredible and although it took an absolute beating over nearly 3 weeks and 10,000 + uses, it managed to look brand new even on the last day! Thank you for contributing to the success of our activation at The Australian Open.”
MATTHEW NASTASI
SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
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