| Title | LONDON YARDS |
| Brand | MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL |
| Product/Service | MLB LONDON SERIES 2019 |
| Category |
D01. Live Events |
|
Entrant
|
IMAGINATION London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
|
Idea Creation
|
IMAGINATION London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
|
Production
|
IMAGINATION London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Credits
| Jiri Bures |
Imagination |
Creative Director |
| Wesley Richardson |
Imagination |
Design Director 2D |
| Brendon Cleaver |
Imagination |
Designer |
| Seb Bailey |
Imagination |
Designer |
| Colin Rivett |
Imagination |
Design Director 3D |
| Nick Blenkarne |
Imagination |
Creative Strategy Lead |
| Alex Beazley-Long |
Imagination |
Creative Strategist |
| Adam Kimsey |
Imagination |
User Experience Designer |
| Matt Mood |
Imagination |
Content Director |
| Alex Graham |
Imagination |
Content Producer |
| Louis Leeson |
Imagination |
Photographer |
| George Schon |
Imagination |
Digital Creative Lead |
| Chris Green |
Imagination |
Sound Designer |
| Myriam Zahi |
Imagination |
Creative Producer |
| Alison Giles |
Imagination |
Creative Producer |
| Max Hatamian |
Imagination |
Technology Director |
| Mark Holland |
Imagination |
Developer |
| Matt Rose |
Imagination |
Production Director |
| Ben Raby |
Imagination |
Production Manager |
| Andrew Davies |
Imagination |
Production Manager |
| Rob Day |
Imagination |
Client Services Director |
| Hannah Patrick |
Imagination |
Client Services |
| Kiley Leong |
Imagination |
Project Director |
| Ruth Burton |
Imagination |
Digital Producer |
| Louise O'Reilly |
Imagination |
Project Manager |
Background
In 2019, Major League Baseball made history by playing their first ever regular season games in Europe. The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees faced off at London Stadium in Stratford. Demand for tickets was huge, and the games sold out instantly.
However, MLB knew that the true value of London Series was reaching out beyond those avid baseball fans in the stadium. Increasing the popularity of the sport amongst younger fans, along with growing the game globally, are important objectives for the league.
Launching in a new market meant MLB could communicate in new ways and speak to a new generation of baseball fans. Our brief was to create a London Series fan festival that engaged a new, millennial audience.
Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)
Our target audience were ‘New Gen Fans’ who are 18-34 and have a high interest in sports, but are not currently followers of baseball. They represent the future fans of the league, but in all likelihood would not be attending the games at the stadium.
To engage with this group we created experience that was authentic to baseball but also appealed to their cultural passions. Our insight was that what makes baseball so unique is what happens ‘beyond the ballpark’. The London Series gave us the opportunity to present not just the best of baseball, but also the best of Boston and New York culture to a millennial audience in London.
Our approach was to consider both the ‘depth’ and ‘reach’ of the festival: ensuring that visitors had a deep and meaningful experience in person, whilst also creating content that could be broadcast out to a much wider audience online.
Describe the execution (40% of vote)
London Yards was a 3 day festival of all things baseball that ran from the 28-30 June 2019 at the Truman Brewery. It involved baseball activations, screenings of the London Series, ballpark inspired food and drink, and live music and DJs.
We utilised two interconnected venues within the Truman Brewery: U Block and Brick Lane Yard. From a creative perspective, we used the fierce rivalry between the two London Series teams as inspiration, having Boston and New York face off across the space in terms of environment, branding and programming.
The U Block space contained digital baseball activations and had a slick, modern and edgy aesthetic, utilising LED lighting, soundscapes and stark monochromatic branding. Brick Lane Yard had more of a festival vibe, with a large screen, analogue baseball games and food stations. In keeping with the industrial setting, we used shipping containers and scaffolding to construct the space.
List the results (20% of vote)
- 13,115 visitors attended over the 3 days
- 46% were aged 18-34
- 42% were casual fans of the sport
- 90% would recommend the event to a friend
- 12.3M reach on social media
- 550k engagements
- MLB Network live broadcast from London Yards viewed 1.3m times on Twitter