ROGERS

On May 12, 2015, Canada and Rogers Communications announced the renewal of their 5-year sponsorship agreement with Rogers Cup, Presented by National Bank. Within this renewal, Rogers will continue to assume the naming rights of the event with their broadcast segment, Sportsnet, expanding their coverage of the event in and through to 2020.

In addition, Rogers and Tennis Canada will work towards a grassroots strategy that helps to solidify the sport in Canada.

Rogers Cup, is a world-class tournament owned and operated by Tennis Canada. Attracting the biggest stars in tennis - , , , , to name a few – this tournament is the ultimate destination for tennis in Canada. Visitors are welcome to Toronto and Montreal (Coupe Rogers), where the men and women alternate locations on an annual basis, to enjoy elite tennis and off-court entertainment, shopping, and dining.

The tournament is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, Premier WTA tournament and Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series event, and third-oldest title in tennis, behind only Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Tennis Canada

Founded in 1890, Tennis Canada is a non-profit, national sport association with a mission to lead the growth of tennis in Canada and a vision to become a world-leading tennis nation. Aside from Rogers Cup, they own and operate eight professional ITF- sanctioned events and financially supports 15 other professional tournaments in Canada. Tennis Canada operates national junior training centres/programs in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Tennis Canada is a proud member of the International Tennis Federation, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and the International Wheelchair Tennis Association, and serves to administer, sponsor and select the teams for , Fed Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and all wheelchair, junior and senior national teams. Tennis Canada invests its surplus into tennis development.

Rogers Communications

Rogers Communications is a leading diversified public Canadian communications and media company. It is Canada’s largest provider of wireless communications services and leading provider of cable television, high-speed Internet and telephony services to consumers and businesses. Through Rogers Media, the suite of assets consist of radio and television broadcasting, televised shopping, magazines and trade publications, sports entertainment, and digital media.

In addition to products and services, Rogers brings a wealth of knowledge in creating large scale events, experiential marketing, and content creation.

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Coupe Rogers, Présentée par Banque Nationale, Montréal

Tennis Canada has seen tremendous success with the tournament in Montreal with both men and women competitions being a sellout. Based at Uniprix Stadium, and taking place in early August, Tennis Canada has worked towards making the tournament not just a place to witness world-class tennis, but to also indulge in an evening out with music, dinning, and entertainment. As such, they claim hold to a very vibrant target market that ranges from young socialites to tennis enthusiasts.

Over 20 corporate sponsors are affiliated with the tournament in both Toronto and Montreal. Having activations rights in both cities, every corporation associated with Coupe Rogers has the ability to create signage with Rogers Cup or Coupe Rogers marks, have experiential space onsite, and promote the partnership through social media.

The Marketing Challenge

Although Rogers holds the naming rights to the tournament, there is little association with the brand in Montreal. In a competitive Telco market where Vodafone has a large portion of brand equity, Rogers needs to break through not only competition within its own industry, but also among other Coupe Rogers sponsors in a way that speaks to their core target – families – and stays true to Rogers brand role within the tournament. Rogers needs to change the perception of the brand in Montreal and create awareness and association with the tournament.

With a vast suite of assets (media, social, print, etc.), ability to create onsite experiences, and athlete endorsements through Genie Bouchard and , the capacity for the company to create campaigns at scale is vast. Activation and marketing can start as early as two weeks out from the tournament.

The Ask

Develop a brand strategy and marketing campaign both pre and during tournament that solves the above challenge. You will be able to leverage Rogers complete collection of assets to create your plan; including athletes, although keep in mind that they are not available during the tournament.

Output

 Complete 4 slides that outlines your solution to the marketing challenge.

Parameters

 Must be aligned with the Rogers brand, target of families (with some variance based on Montreal audience), and value of connecting people to their passion points.  Think SCALE and different. Rogers does not own any media in Montreal unlike Toronto.  There is no budget to sign new athletes.

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Evaluation /100

 Strength of your solution and if it solves the marketing challenge. (25)  Creativity. (15)  Understanding of Rogers and assets that are able to support the marketing solution (20)  Strong strategy pre and in tournament strategy that resonates with the Montreal market place. (25)  Ability to bring innovative and forward thinking concepts. (15)

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