Game’s Biggest Names -- Roddick, Sharapova, Venus and Serena Williams, Blake and Others -- To Take Part in “The Greatest Road Trip in Sports”
Filming Takes Place on Customized US Open Series Tour Bus in Indian Wells and Miami
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., March 12, 2007 –
The USTA has announced that filming of “The Greatest Road Trip in Sports,” the new advertising campaign supporting this summer’s US Open Series, is underway at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells and will continue at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. The campaign features the game’s top players -- including
Andy Roddick,
Maria Sharapova,
James Blake and
Venus and
Serena Williams -- being filmed on a specially-designed US Open Series Tour Bus.
Click here to view behind-the-scenes photos from the Indian Wells commercial shoot.
The USTA campaign will highlight the players’ unique personalities as they “live” on the tour bus. Players are shown getting ready for the summer road trip that will carry them across the country from tournament to tournament before arriving at their final destination - - the US Open in New York. The campaign’s tagline - - “The Greatest Road Trip in Sports…. 6 Weeks, 10 Tournaments, $30 Million On The Line.” - - communicates the essence of the US Open Series, the six-week regular season for tennis that links the 10 ATP and Sony-Ericsson WTA Tour summer tournaments in North America to the US Open.
The multi-million dollar campaign is scheduled to break nationally during NBC Sports broadcast of the Wimbledon Finals. Spots will then air nationally in and outside of tennis programming on CBS, ESPN2, NBC, and The Tennis Channel. The USTA will also purchase spots in major market television markets during the top-rated morning and late night entertainment programs. Print executions will appear throughout the summer in USA Today, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, and SportsBusiness Journal. All national ads will direct consumers to USOpenSeries.com, which provides the latest information on the US Open Series, including full television listings.
“This marks the first time more than 20 players have been filmed for a tennis campaign,” said Michelle Wilson, Managing Director, Marketing, USTA. “The US Open Series tour bus captures the season-long nature of the Series and provides a unique platform to showcase the unique personalities of the game’s top players.”
Television ads will be tailored specifically for local tournaments with the majority of tournaments expected to use the Road Trip platform. Select TV ads will incorporate the Lever 2000 sponsorship of the US Open Series. An accompanying radio campaign will air in markets around the country including more than 30,000 spots through Westwood One to drive television tune-in.