INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - On Wednesday the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour wrapped production of the second stage print advertising for "Looking for a Hero?", the Tour's landmark multi-million dollar global marketing campaign, initially launched in the summer of 2008. The first phase of the campaign, shot in Rome and New York, featured 40 players in television, print, and digital advertisements, along with user-generated content initiatives, and became the most dynamic and ambitious marketing drive in the Tour's 35-year history. With the just-concluded shoot, a total of 57 players are now featured in the campaign in the most ambitious effort to date by the Tour to promote not only current, but also rising and national stars of the Tour. A third phase of the campaign, focused on the digital space and including community, user-generated and viral elements, is set to launch later this year.
The "Looking for a Hero?" campaign portrays the Tour's players as modern-day superheroes both on and off the court and is designed to promote the Tour's current and next generation of stars in their year-long race to the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha. This year's print shoot took place prior to the start of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and featured top players such as Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic; future stars such as Caroline Wozniacki, Alizé Cornet, Anna Chakvetadze, Sania Mirza, Aleksandra Wozniak, Sorana Cirstea, Anne Keothavong, Peng Shuai, Samantha Stosur and Sabine Lisicki; and top doubles teams Rennae Stubbs and Stosur, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual and Yan Zi and Zheng Jie. The players were once again photographed by noted American lifestyle photographer Nathaniel Welch.
"I was very excited to be a part of this "Looking for a Hero?" shoot as I love being in front of the camera and this campaign represents a great opportunity to promote women's tennis," Jankovic said. "I really like how the campaign shows that women tennis players are not only great athletes on the tennis court but also glamorous and interesting women in our everyday lives."
Wozniacki commented: "I love the concept around the marketing campaign and besides the fact that being photographed for it was a great opportunity for me personally, it is an honor to be able to help promote women's tennis. It's great that the campaign includes both our current champions as well as many players who might be the next champions of the Tour."
Andrew Walker, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Vice President of Global Marketing & Communications, added: "With close to 60 different players featured in our global advertising campaign, the Tour will be able to help create more stars and raise more player profiles among consumers than ever before. As the "Looking for a Hero?" campaign enters its second year, we are excited that we've hit upon a creative concept that goes to the core of what makes our sport and athletes both unique and attractive to consumers and sponsors alike."
New York-based portrait and celebrity photographer Nathaniel Welch was again selected to shoot the print elements of the Tour's campaign. The focus of Welch's career has been photographing world-class athletes, including Shaquille O'Neal, Mike Piazza, Terrell Owens, Pete Rose, Gary Sheffield, Tony Stewart, Brian Urlacher, Jerome Bettis, Mario Andretti, Kelly Slater, Bode Miller and many others. His work on the first stage of the "Looking for a Hero?" campaign last year gave him a chance to add such legendary women's tennis names such as Maria Sharapova and Venus and Serena Williams to his resumé of world-class athletes.
On set, Welch said: "These women are extraordinary athletes, capable of doing things that ordinary humans can't do. They possess an on and off the court duality - amazing power and skill on the court and great personalities and beauty that agrees very well with the camera. Last year's shoot was very memorable to me and I am glad that I was asked to come back and build on that experience."
The "Looking for a Hero?" marketing campaign consists of television, print, and digital advertisements, along with user-generated, community and viral elements. In its first phase, the campaign has run extensively across all forms of media, including broadcast media outlets Eurosport, ESPN, CCTV and CNN; print publications such as International Herald Tribune, USA Today, Sunday Times of London, Sports Illustrated China and various tennis and general sports publications; and online at Yahoo/Eurosport, CNNInternational and select sports, tennis and lifestyle sites. For the period 2008-2010, the Tour expects a total investment of $15 million in the campaign in the single largest commitment to promote women's tennis and Tour players. The campaign's third phase, including a significant new push into the digital space, will be unveiled in the summer of 2009 and will be featured in more than 75 countries through the end of 2009.
