Why is this work relevant for PR?

This was a wholly earned-media, reputation building, idea. No real paid support or media ‘added-value’. It relied purely on being a world-first, newsworthy event which tapped into growing cultural consciousness for disability awareness and mainstream inclusion. It helped that our idea centred around an influential identity, wheelchair tennis champion Dylan Alcott, with whom ANZ Bank had a strong association. Critically, securing Nike as a partner, added weight and made the event possible. And having Dylan as an official broadcast commentator and participant in the Australian Open with its huge global audience, was an inherent success factor (by design).

Background

We identified a unique opportunity to drive greater earned media for ANZ’s tennis sponsorship campaign and further reinforce the brand’s reputation for inclusion. Having successfully partnered with wheelchair tennis champion and social influencer, Dylan Alcott in 2018, the brief for ANZ’s 2019 Australian Open tennis sponsorship was to once again make Dylan the face of our campaign. At a product level, ANZ wanted to be known as the bank that helps you to save. Discovering the disarming insight that Dylan saved his money for sneakers (500 and counting), we decided to make this the focus of our ‘See it. Save for it’ 2019 tennis campaign. Knowing Dylan’s personal mission to ‘mainstream disability’, the idea of making him his own eponymous shoes struck us as mutually beneficial for our partnership with Dylan and inherently newsworthy.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Our idea was for ANZ, together with Nike, to put Dylan on a deserving equal pedestal to his able-bodied counterparts by having him join the exclusive group of elite athletes with their very own, eponymous shoes. Having replaced Novak Djokovic as the face of ANZ’s Australian Open sponsorship, ANZ’s advertising with Dylan already embraced him as an elite athlete and charismatic personality - who just happens to be in a wheelchair. The ANZ Savings Campaign, featuring Dylan, also established his real-life obsession with saving for (and buying) sneakers. By surprising Dylan with his own Nike Player Exclusive sneakers to wear throughout the 2019 Australian Open event, our idea was designed to: ● send a powerful message of inclusion to disabled individuals everywhere; ● amplify ANZ’s inclusion efforts; ● and put ANZ ‘bank’ alongside one of the world’s most aspirational brands.

Describe the strategy (30% of vote)

We were appalled when the September 2018 US Open decided to play Dylan Alcott’s Quad Wheelchair men’s final against US Champion David Wagner on an inside-court, behind closed doors and with no spectator stand. This unsavoury insight spurred us on to ensure ANZ’s work with Dylan continued to treat him with the respect he deserved and led to our key message, that disabled individuals deserve equal recognition to their able-bodied peers. Our key target audiences were: ● The Australian Open tennis audience, specifically ANZ’s key 18-39 year old banking prospects (a socially-minded age cohort). ● 1 in 5 Australians living with a disability (and their family and friends). To target earned media, news outlets and specialist media were invited to attend the presentation event and an edited video of the presentation was distributed later the same day, together with a tailored media release and images for broader media pick up.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

First, we took the idea to Nike, together with a cheeky ‘Air Jordan-esque’ Alcott logo. They loved it and agreed to create not one but two pairs of Dylan Alcott Nike Court Air Zoom Zero’s, resplendent with our Alcott logo on the heel, tags and dubraes. Then we hatched a plan to surprise Dylan, inviting him on day one of the Australian Open to ANZ’s Corporate Hospitality Suite under the guise of a Q&A session. There, ANZ’s CEO and Nike’s Asia Pacific GM gifted him with his ANZ + Nike branded sneakers. We then shared the video of this event across owned and paid* social and distributed it to news media with a tailored PR release. (*paid social <$10k). To drive further earned-media, we presented Dylan with his second pair, suggesting he might auction them-off for his charity, knowing full-well he’d take every opportunity to talk about them.

List the results (30% of vote) – must include at least two of the following tiers:

Tier 1: Media Outputs ● Earned media hits reached an audience of 97 million. ● Quality coverage included; The New York Times, Fox Sports, Pedestrian, ABC News, The Australian and sneaker culture titles Boss Hunting and The Weekly Drop. ● The social video of the presentation event reached a further 1.7m through owned and paid social Tier 2: Audience Outcomes ● Described by disability organisation, Wallara Australia as ‘an inclusion ace’, ANZ sent a powerful message of inclusion to disabled athletes and spectators around the world. ● The sneaker auction attracted 28,00 visitors to ebay with all monies from the winning $3,600 bid going to The Dylan Alcott Foundation to help young Australians with disabilities. Tier 3: Business Outcomes ● Dylan thanked ANZ in his winning acceptance speech broadcast live to over 100 countries and millions around the world and took every opportunity over the tournament to draw attention to his shoes.