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Ahead of Wimbledon 2019, The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) released its new campaign, #JoinTheStory, which ran across broadcast, out-of-home and online platforms.
The campaign—created by McCann London, director Elliot Dear and animation studio Blinkink—layers key world events with Wimbledon headliners to create a series of portraits that can be enjoyed both on their own and as part of a sort of visual timeline.
To produce the campaign, the various contributors combined different media, including photography, live action, typography, state-of-the-art VFX and post-production techniques. Combining all of those different techniques allowed static archive imagery to be projection-mapped onto 3D wireframes, bringing to life historical moments. It’s all sound-tracked by an orchestral re-record of Oasis’s” Live Forever.”
“The story of Wimbledon began in 1877 and we’ve been making headlines ever since,” said James Ralley, head of commercial and brand at the AELTC, in a statement. “Each tournament creates new heroes and new stories; while our greatest moments have shared the front page with two world wars, the moon landings and the invention of the Internet. This global campaign truly celebrates Wimbledon’s ongoing role at the forefront of world news and events – and shows that when it comes to sporting achievement the best is yet to come.”
“Wimbledon is the most prestigious tennis event on earth. A championship that is truly unique: in its traditions, rituals and its place in the pantheon of sporting history,” said Rob Webster and Alexei Berwitz, Creative Directors, McCann London, in a joint statement. “Working alongside Blinkink and visionary Elliot Dear, we have aspired to create a campaign with a story for all the ages. An obsessively craft-driven piece that represents Wimbledon’s ongoing pursuit of greatness.”
As part of #JoinTheStory, the AELTC also is running a social campaign that plays on the same historical themes. In the week prior to the qualifying rounds, it also will be releasing a mini documentary series, produced by Livewire Sport. The series showcases five of these historical stories through the mediums of audio and video, tapping into podcasting with more than 50 different voices coming together to reflect on such tennis icons as Althea Gibson, Billie Jean King, Boris Becker, Steffi Graf, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and Andy Murray and the impact they have had on both tennis and sports in general.
Wimbledon begins today, Monday, July 1, and runs through Sunday, July 14.
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