Australian Open. Where Brands Show Their Personality.
With Ground Pass in hand, my aim was to soak up as much of the brand activations that I could at the Australian Open 2025 (AO), at a world class international event that mixes people with a love of tennis, eating & drinking, games for all ages, and just being social!
From the moment I arrived at the gates, I felt ‘grand slammed’ with a unique and well-planned event. All aspects were considered. From the express entry using facial recognition (happy to share my face to beat the ques - thanks AO!), to Bondi Sands mist tunnels and 50+ SPF sunscreen huts and ambassadors, live music, drinks, eats, games, recycling hubs with Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme team members, and all the giant screens with live tennis you could ever wish for. All of this without even entering one of the main or side court tennis arenas.
A spectacular collection of sponsor stands was incorporated into the overall experience including major partners Kia, Associate partners Emirates and Rolex, and a vast collection of partner activations such as APEROL SPRITZ, BONDI SANDS, CANADIAN CLUB, CHEMIST WAREHOUSE, M&M’S, MASTERCARD, MECCA, HAIER, POLO RALPH LAUREN, PIRELLI, PERONI NASTRO AZZURO, AND RED BULL (the list goes on, and on!).
The experiential brands that took part extended well beyond food and drinks, meandering their way around Grand Slam Oval, Live Stage, and new Topcourt precinct, as well as many other locations around the 39 courts.
It certainly did feel that membership (or in this case, sponsorship) has its privileges. And as a normal punter visiting the Grand Slam, I was happy to reap the rewards of their contributions!
The common ingredients to all brand activations were;
- Iconic brand appeal – Uniquely themed marques and pop-ups, exclusive to the brand.
- Brands with a view – all brand activations created opportunities to view the live tennis action via screens or with a rooftop viewpoint.
- Experience and win – brand gamification (merging analogue and digital), subscribe, win prizes.
- Shopping the experience – Purchase new products themed around the AO event, linking the brand to the occasion. Personalisation and customisation were key ingredients of engagement to many of the brands selling merchandise.
- Tech. Yes, I’m for it! - I’ll give you my data and you can get me in the doors quicker, give me interactive experiences, and excite me with branded selfies and free drinks!
The brands were having fun in this unique outdoor arena, totally blurring the line between sponsor activations who were using the opportunity to educate about their products and services, and vendor activations who were amazingly clever at combining selling products with experience at top of mind.
Companies with stand-out brand activations included BONDI SANDS, APEROL SPRITZ, GREY GOOSE, KIA, PERONI, MECCA, AND RED BULL, WITH CHEMIST WAREHOUSE, PIRELLI AND M&M’S taking take cake for me.
I was blown away by the scale, interactivity and diversity of the ‘pop-up’s’; I use the term pop-ups just because of their temporary nature, but many of the stores were so grand in size, appearance, and tech-WOW nature that perhaps they need their own name (Grand Slam Brand Stands?!).
Taking a step back and thinking about what I was experiencing, my strong feeling was that this is where brands come to present their personalities in more human ways; an experience that traditional retail spaces do simply not offer.
It’s challenging for brand owners to take risks being playful and ‘different’ especially in the traditional retail space.
The events space is created for experience; shoppers want it, and the Australian Open 2025 is ‘THE’ flag-ship event showcasing experiential marketing at its absolute grandest. I have no doubt that the brands who invested their marketing spend in these activations have achieved success in brand awareness and making them relatable on a more human level.
These are my 10 favourite experiences from the 2025 Australian Open.
Keep me cool and sun smart.
All wrapped up in a Australian timber panelled beach box theme, BONDI SANDS had a comprehensive collection of experiential activations including cool mist tunnels, free sunscreen at every turn, educational pop-ups, and on-point brand ambassadors.
Further to this, they also had a Beach Club in the Live Stage zone and their Techocolor pop-up in the new Topcourt precinct for where you could use their technology to find your perfect self-tan colour, then purchase a sample for $2. Who said a day at the tennis needed to be expensive!
Impressive displays using a combination of classic POP displays, vibrant prints, and mood setting lighting that spoke to the various markets where they were situated.
Summer is served.
With their iconic orange and white branding, TERRAZA APEROL was the go-to destination to watch the action on the big live screens, whilst sipping your Aperol Spritz under the shade of a fabulous, scalloped awning. Learn the 3 steps to making a spritz. Play on the digital screen to win free items.
A highly branded stand that everyone gravitates towards.
Colour match
KIA not only had their latest EV’s on show with a light show projected onto a water mist curtain for the kids to stay cool, but they also had another activation in the terrace, Kia Colour Match.
The Colour Match activation is a play on South Korean fashion and beauty trends. Designed to let AO visitors discover their personalised colour profile based on eye colour, skin tone, hair colour, and personality.
I loved the idea of a brand who is more known for affordable cars in the Australian market, positioning themselves as South Korean cool, stylish, and fashion forward, appealing to the younger future customer.
Let’s Go
I walked into the CHEMIST WAREHOUSE marque thinking it would be a pharmacy, but it made me see the retailer as so much more than that. And that’s the point, right?
I should have realised as I was entering along cushioned blue tennis court feeling runway, that this marquee was going to surprise me.
It was set up like a pharmacy with the walls clad with brand activations, but along the journey you could discover pop-up zones all about looking and feeling your best. Refresh Zone “Confidence is King” with nail salon, and hair stylists, Go Go Glow Bar to get skin and beauty advice, and a photo zone – Just give the photographer your mobile number and they will send your shots instantly.
The displays were perfect, the shape cut “Let’s Go” free-standing signage was a big step away from the normal Chemist Warehouse POS displays. All highly disruptive to the usual Chemist Warehouse retail experience and an excellent way to present the well-known discount pharmacy is a transformational way.
High-Tech vault
The PIRELLI stand was a top pick for me. Premium, yet understated from the outside, this activation blended the themes of performance tyres and driving, with tennis professionals’ performance.
Play the interactive push-button wall game to see who has the top speed control. See how fast you can put a new grip on your tennis racket, and AR interactive serve speed games.
Although the brand doesn’t feel like a natural fit for the AO, it was the perfect activation to extend Pirelli’s brand experience to the massive AO visitor market with more than 1 million visitors expected. The displays were world class, vibrant, and the gamification devices were seamless. Perfect activation to demonstrate Pirelli’s personal the world’s best high-tech tyres.
Is that match point?
The M&M’S stand had me queuing for more than 30 minutes, so I was looking forward to something exciting! Waiting in the que, you scanned the signage and completed the info to get a code. Inside the booth, you show staff your code so they could email your photo instantly – a very impressive AR experience and a cool keepsake of AO 2025 + M&M’s.
This brand activation had an excellent mix of photo opportunities, vibrant POS displays, technology, curating your own M&M selection, and personalisation. A fun M&M shopping experience for the brand enthusiasts, with quirky AO inspired messaging throughout the store.
Game, Set, Mecca.
TOPCOURT precinct at the AO has transformed Middle Terrace at Melbourne Park with gaming, AR, live music and the innovative trends in beauty and fashion. A highlight for me and many others I’m sure was the MECCA SUMMER CLUB.
This stand could not be missed – a shoe box style store clad with super vibrant, three-dimensional summer themes and coloured flowers, fruits, and parasols. Inside, candy stripped curvaceous displays ran from start to finish of the stand. You could book a 15-minute express beauty service at one of the very clever “tennis rackets inspired” mirror booths. There were even sinks and cleansing stations to use after trialling products.
Other brands with standout experiences.
Grey Goose at Courtside Bar
Talking about location location here! If you want to socialise in style whilst watching tennis, enjoy views of court 6 in VIP style from the GREY GOOSE ROOFTOP BAR. Outstanding POS displays and selfie opportunities also.
Red Bull
RED BULL RALLY STATION created beer garden style benches that doubled as table tennis tables. Amazingly simple, cost effective, but a crowd favourite.
House of Peroni
PERONI had an expansive space with an abundant amount of seating. Knowing that tennis goers would be setting up in this zone for the long haul with good viewing of the biggest screens, Peroni added personal mist zones to cool off from the midday sun. Italian inspired design of course.
Written by Zita Watkin
Contact zita@zitacreative.com.au
