Women's Tennis Association
What they asked us to do...
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has campaigned for equal rights and prize money at Grand Slams since its conception in the early 1970s. Up until 2007, only the US Open and Australian Open Grand Slams had done so.
C&W was briefed by the WTA Tour to help support its PR programme designed to help drive favourable prize money decisions for female players at both Wimbledon and Roland Garros (France) tennis tournaments in 2007.
What we did...
The campaign was designed to generate awareness of the issue and engagement among key stakeholders and influencers in the UK, without antagonising the All England Club (AELTCC) or Roland Garros. The programme strategy focussed on the following:
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A campaign highlighting the moral argument urging the All England Club and Roland Garros to ‘do the right thing’
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Phased activity to build momentum during the first six months of 2006 and create pressure peaks at strategic points in the campaign (during the Wimbledon and Roland Garros Championships and key announcements)
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Use of under-the-radar third party advocacy backed up with the threat of public heat in the media
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Strategic media executions to increase pressure on the All England Club and Roland Garros if the advocacy did not elicit the desired effect
Our results...
On February 22 2007, The All England Club announced a decision to pay equal prize money. This was closely followed by the organisers of the Roland Garros Tournament on March 17, 2007. After more than 30 years of campaigning, this is a winning result for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
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Between April 2006 & February 2007 C&W secured the following media coverage:
- 112 UK national print articles including front page of the Daily Telegraph & Daily Mail; 374 broadcast pieces with interviews for Larry Scott; 333 online articles; 15 international pieces & 34 pieces in regional press
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Resulting PR Value of £2.8m (up to November 2006)
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On release of the public opinion poll that clearly showed the nation’s support for equal prize money, C&W fuelled debate with interviews and key facts generating print coverage for seven consecutive days (19th – 23rd June 2006)
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98% of articles contained one or more key messages for the WTA in favour of awarding equal prize money
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92% of articles urged Roland Garros and Wimbledon to do the right thing
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The campaign provided a Return on Investment of 56:1
Client Quote...
“C&W’s support and input was invaluable in helping us develop and successfully execute our media and public affairs strategies. The in-house and agency teams worked extremely well and efficiently together and the end result – equality for our players at Wimbledon and the French Open – demonstrates how successful the campaign was.”
Andrew Walker
Vice President Communications
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour