Australian Open 'rebrands' with important message

With a simple copyediting revision, Tennis Australia and Clemenger BBDO rebranded the Australian Open yesterday to encourage tourism in the wake of the country's devastating fires.

A simple and brilliant move, Ad Nut is sure you'll agree, as the country tries to shore up a critical industry (see "Australia’s biggest marketing challenge: reviving its international image").

The move is part of an integrated campaign that started ahead of the semifinals, along with a video (below) in which Tourism Australia spokeshunk Chris Hemsworth explains the move and tennis stars Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka all share their experiences in the country. The change applied to logos all over the venue, digital screens, on-court markings, outdoor media, digital assets and even ticket badges.

Said Paul Rees-Jones, executive planning director at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne: "The Australian Open is not just a world class sport event, it’s a culture brand taking on the responsibility and using its excellence to contribute to the national need."

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(This article first appeared on CampaignAsia.com)