Title	WE ARE TENNIS FAN ACADEMY
Brand	BNP PARIBAS
Product/Service	WE ARE TENNIS
Entrant Company	WE ARE SOCIAL Paris, FRANCE
Advertising Agency	WE ARE SOCIAL Paris, FRANCE
Production Company	ICONOCLAST Paris, FRANCE

Name	Company	Position
Sandrine Plasseraud	We Are Social	Managing Director
Guillaume Lalu	We Are Social	Deputy Managing Director
Nicolas Billières	We Are Social	Group Account Director
Julien Thibon	We Are Social	Account Director
Nicolas Breuil	We Are Social	Account Manager
Charlotte Michalska	We Are Social	Account Manager
Thomas Guilhot	We Are Social	Creative Director
Mehdi Sedira	We Are Social	Art Director
Max Vedel	We Are Social	Art Director
Julien Ouvrel	We Are Social	Digital Producer
Emilie Lepot		TV Producer
Cécile Ousset	We Are Social	TV Producer
Adrien Armanet		Film Director
Laurent d'Herbécourt		Music

Brief Explanation

Tennis is one of the world’s most popular sports… though you’d have a hard time telling based on the sleepy atmosphere in some stadiums... BNP PARIBAS, the world’s leading tennis sponsor, is on a mission to energize tennis fans across the world, and unite the most passionate among them. TV, social networks, press conferences, print, recruitment sites, ad displays, stunts… All of the above were used to broadcast John McEnroe’s invitation to tennis fans to join the We Are Tennis Fan Academy. The absolute top candidates took part in a unique, live final interview with none other than the living legend himself! From Roland Garros to the Davis Cup, we coached these fans into becoming the greatest tennis supporters of all time… The first 250 "graduates" of the We Are Tennis Fan Academy have pumped up more than 60,000 spectators in the Glasgow, Paris, Brussels and London stadiums.

The Campaign

In 2014, BNP Paribas launched their new brand promise: a bank for a changing world. This promise is integral to all parts of branded strategy and communications, including non-banking areas such as We Are Tennis, their tennis sponsored brand. We were briefed to imagine a concept which would engage this community over the long term, and with enough impact to anchor the bank’s new promise in their minds. To change the face of tennis, without changing the actual rules of the game and without having to depend on the players, we decided to leverage supporters. This insight, coupled with our motto « Support tennis like never before », helped us create the We Are Tennis Fan Academy, led by John McEnroe and with one main objective: to change tennis as we know it, by energizing the usually calm supporters of the sport.

Creative Execution

Leveraging Roland Garros' worldwide audience, we teased the campaign using surprising stunts, announced the launch of the school, and encouraged people to register online via a print, banner, outdoor and TV ad campaign, along with a press conference led by McEnroe himself. The selection process led by the tennis icon was then live-streamed online and the best recruits were sent to London to train and pump up crowds in stadiums for the Davis Cup. Their training was broadcasted on social networks, catching the interest of a wider audience and media, and their enthusiasm during matches was clearly visible in stadiums and on TV.

The first 250 graduated supporters have pumped up more than 60,000 spectators in the Glasgow, Paris, Brussels and London stadiums and have showed the world how they were able to change the face of tennis in matches broadcasted on TV. Fans flocked to social networks to share and spread the campaign with their communities. Even tennis players and media personalities were astonished by this groundswell of support and excitement in the world of tennis.