Roland Garros is getting increasingly creative on its digital platforms
To celebrate the second Grand Slam of the season which kicked off on Sunday, Roland Garros has rolled out a collection of social and digital activations to immerse fans in the tournament like never before. Following in the footsteps of the Australian Open earlier in the year, Roland Garros has used new social and digital tools at their disposal to provide a deeper experience to fans visiting the slams’ various digital platforms.
Social Media
In order to increase engagement from social users, Roland Garros has launched three hashtag emojis on Twitter:
- #RG16 (featuring a clay court): the global hashtag of the event used significantly by the official @rolandgarros account
- #rolandgarros and #FrenchOpen (featuring a racket): in the same way than #RG16 in order to cover all content about the event
- #InsideRG (featuring a hat): to allow fans as well as players to share content and photos directly from the French Open
Wild emoji alert at Roland-Garros! Will you find the hashtags associated with them for the upcoming tournament? pic.twitter.com/xQxzDgPyfi
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 14, 2016
Sunday afternoon #InsideRG pic.twitter.com/6u3Z7Kk5I1
— Francesca Schiavone (@Schiavone_Fra) May 22, 2016
Others hashtags that will be promoted include #RGBall which will be launched from the quarter finals and encourages fans to take a selfie to show how they’re watching the game with the chance of winning a signed ball.
#RGFigurine is another hashtag which gives fans the opportunity to win a special 3D printed figurine if the official account gets a certain amount of retweets.
In terms of content, Roland Garros is getting very creative, particularly when it comes to using emojis in tweets, posting videos and interacting directly with fans, players and celebrities. And despite the rain interruptions, Roland Garros is continuing with its social media engagement using humour, making sure that it’s not losing any fans during the rainy periods.
It's a full house at Court 2 where the battle between @JackSock and @robin_haase rages on. #RG16 pic.twitter.com/xXL2qDHPrO
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 22, 2016
???? ???????? ????
https://t.co/7p8U1XGGVO— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 22, 2016
Rain, rain, go away ☔
Come out sun, we want to play! #SendUsYourSunshine #RG16 ???? pic.twitter.com/JZFsi2sjd2— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 22, 2016
In addition to Facebook, Twitter, Dailymotion and Periscope, Roland Garros has also launched its Snapchat account, taking fans and Snapchat users behind the scenes whether its taking snaps from the courts, around the complex or even in press conferences.
For the opening day last Sunday, a special story was created by Snapchat team using videos from fans and integrating interesting content such as live scores and serve speed.
Digital & New Technologies
In terms of digital and new technologies, the French Open has unveiled some new activations to improve the fan experience.
First, Roland Garros has launched a fantasy game online named RG Contest 2016, which allows fans to manage players throughout the tournament. Similar to Football Manager, this game gives the opportunity for gamers to win tickets for the 2017 edition.
Choose your players, create your team and win the 2016 RG Contest! https://t.co/l6JbxxKhNb #RG16 pic.twitter.com/PluoqtXnxb
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 20, 2016
Secondly, people at Roland Garros can play against… a robot! Indeed, inside the lab of the French Open, to win, fan need to be more precise than a robot, which is equipped with a racket, shooting targets. All news about this crazy technology can be followed on Twitter via the hashtag #RGRobot. In addition to this robot, Roland Garros and the French TV channel France Télévisions have improved the app “RG 360”, which broadcasts in Virtual Reality live matches now with 4K quality.
The first opponent of @la_pouille at #RG16 is our #RGRobot! / Le 1er adversaire de Pouille… Le robot du RG Lab ! pic.twitter.com/NpH5PSLnUx
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 19, 2016
All new social and digital activations from Roland Garros join the Fan Experience game between Grand Slam tournaments, with all want to offer the greatest digital experience to fans.
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