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Launched in late 2017, the Oracle Challenger Series consisted of two events aimed at helping up-and-coming American tennis players secure both ranking points and prize money. After successful inaugural events in Newport Beach and Indian Wells, California, Oracle decided to up the ante and expand the Series into two additional markets for 2018-2019 to strengthen its reach and further tell the brand’s story of supporting and reimagining tennis in the United States.
To accomplish their goals, Oracle turned to MVT to manage all aspects of the marketing, media and communications efforts for the new four-event Oracle Challenger Series.
With our extensive background in professional tennis, MVT was tasked with driving significant brand and media awareness for the Oracle Challenger Series, as well as driving attendance at each of the individual events. In June 2018, MVT took over the day-to-day management of all digital communications efforts, including overseeing the development of a brand new web platform for the Series; and strategy and execution of all social media channels and email marketing efforts. In addition, our team developed and executed a replicable strategy for grassroots marketing and media outreach across all events.
We leaned on our vast knowledge of local media in Chicago to launch the first of two new events in September 2018, setting a new standard for the Series while breaking ground on professional tennis in the Windy City for the first time since the 1990s; leveraged social media and participatory on-site activations to appeal to a younger demographic of fans at Rice University in Houston in November; utilized email marketing and industry relationships to build on prior success at Newport Beach; and finished off the Series finale at Indian Wells by parlaying our existing footprint and local desert community relationships to drive record attendance.
Over the course of the 2018-2019 Series, MVT drove significant growth in all aspects of the brand, from social media engagement to web traffic to earned media efforts and attendance. The Oracle Challenger Series social media following increased by 58 percent on Twitter, 76 percent on Instagram and 85 percent on Facebook from Chicago to Indian Wells – showcasing our knowledge of the tennis landscape and the value of paid social media. Users and page views on the newly-constructed website saw exponential growth (67 percent and 75 percent increases, respectively from Chicago to Indian Wells), reflecting our unique ability to create engaging content and operate a new website; and earned media efforts generated mentions in prominent regional and national publications including Chicago news television outlets, the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle, Tennis.com and more.
Attendance for the Oracle Challenger Series showed similar steady growth from Chicago to Indian Wells – tallying more than 15,000 spectators at Indian Wells and 30,000+ spectators for the Series as a whole.
