How Bastion Collective and Garnier created an exceptional experience for tennis fans this year
Bastion Collective’s leading experiential and sponsorship agency Bastion EBA pulled off another memorable activation at the Australian Open, this time for Garnier to mark the beginning of their two-year sponsorship deal as the Official Skincare and Haircare Partner of the Australian Open.
Garnier returned to the Australian Open this year after a 10-year-hiatus and were looking to offer a completely different consumer experience, stepping away from a product and beauty service focus. This time round Garnier wanted to hero the master brand and drive brand advocacy for Garnier.
Bastion’s brief was to bring to life the new By Garnier Naturally brand identity through an immersive experience at the Australian Open; deliver Garnier’s commitment to nature and drive towards a more sustainable future; showcase the fun, energetic and fresh image of the brand; and to stimulate mass social engagement organically.
Bastion’s concept for the activation was a nature inspired playground that both kids and adults alike could run wild in. The exterior design focused on natural elements such as greenery, fruit, flowing water and natural wooden tones. As guests entered they made their way through nature’s walkway, an open-air hedge maze delivering messaging about Garnier’s commitment to nature and the environment, before they transcended into Nature’s Playground.
Involvement from the wider collective involved the stand-out creative concept by sister agency Bastion State. During the tournament Bastion Effect managed Garnier’s ambassador partnerships as well as running the PR and influencer engagement. Bastion Films produced video edits for Garnier Australia social channels and Bastion Promote successfully sourced 60,000 recycled balls for the ball pit inside the experience.
Over the course of the 14 live days, Garnier had 44,331 people through the experience, exceeding the target by 70%, and distributed thousands of goodie bags and merch items; driving positive brand recall and inclination to purchase the Garnier brand in the future. Adding to the campaign reach, over 950 organic social moments were shared by fans during the tournament on Instagram using the hashtag #bygarniernaturally and Garnier’s account grew by 4,000 followers. The tournament also served up their highest engaged organic post in six months.
Says Alexandra Shadbolt, marketing manager, Garnier: “We couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome. The activation looked even better than expected, the demand from fans to immerse themselves in the activation space was exceptional with huge queues even on very hot days, and the social engagement has been amazing! Bastion and Tennis Australia worked exceptionally well together to deliver an unforgettable experience that our brand has benefitted from in a huge way.”
Says Fran Fenemor, head of experiential, Bastion EBA: “It was a dream brief for our team. We love what the Garnier brand stands for as much as we love working at the Australian Open. Grand Slam Oval is a world-class activation platform and such a rare opportunity for brands where you have the chance to engage with more than 780,000 fans in the one place. The end result for Garnier was testament to the collaboration between all of the people involved including Garnier, Tennis Australia and our amazingly passionate team at Bastion Collective.”