All Blacks take the court with Venus Williams + Caroline Wozniacki as their ball boys in the latest campaign for ASB via Saatchi & Saatchi NZ
The All Blacks have proven they’re world class when it comes to their ball-handling skills, so who better to assist tennis superstars Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Bethanie Mattek-Sands on court at the 2016 ASB Classic than Sam Cane, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Joe Moody and Julian Savea.
On the back of their success in 2015, the All Blacks were eager to prove their ball skills aren’t confined to the rugby field, turning their hands to being tennis ball boys at the ASB Classic for the day.
Cane, Milner-Skudder, Moody and Savea were filmed chasing balls, holding towels and shading the tennis players from the sun during an exhibition match at Auckland’s ASB Arena between Williams, Wozniacki and Mattek-Sands in Auckland last week.
The video was shot as part of ASB’s sponsorship of the ASB Classic, which now includes both the women’s and men’s tournaments, as part of ASB’s increasing commitment to the Auckland-based tournament and its love of tennis.
ASB Bank’s head of community and sponsorship Mark Graham says ASB is thrilled with the public’s response to the video.
Says Graham: “We enjoyed bringing our ASB Classic players Venus, Caroline and Bethanie together with the All Blacks. Celebrating ASB’s first year of sponsoring both the men’s and women’s tournaments and of the All Blacks, seeing tennis champions and rugby champions interacting on the same court provided a bit of fun for the public; it was a great way to show ASB’s love for both sports.
“Last year we wowed the world with ‘The Best Ball Boys in the World’ with our dog stars and we weren’t sure it would be possible to find anybody that could do a better job of supporting this year’s ASB Classic players on the court. But if anyone was up to the challenge, we knew it would be our All Blacks.”
ASB
Shane Evans: General Manager Marketing
Bianca Osborne: Brand Manager
Mark Graham: Head of Community & Sponsorship
Mike Wootton: Sponsorship Manager
Agency
Executive Creative Director: Corey Chalmers, Guy Roberts
Creatives: Charlie Godinet, Antony Wilson
Business Director: Teresa Davis
Senior Account Director: Michael Wood
Senior Brand Strategist: Janisa Parag
Account Director: Campbell McLean
Head of Content: Jane Oak
TV Producer: Claire Kelly
Production Company: Toybox
Director: Matt Holmes
Executive Producer: Sam McCauley, Peter Clews
Agency PR: Isobel Kerr Newell
Jessica Reihana: Content Creator and Social Media Manager
Media Strategy and Management: Anthem