Roger Federer: Portrait of a Champion
Tennis. What a weird old sport. It’s already considered ‘meh’ by a target audience of wealthy Americans (who last got excited by the sport when Agassi had longer hair than Pamela Anderson), so our film about Roger Federer had to be something pretty special and unique to get their attention.
Credit Suisse wanted to develop a deeper relationship with High Net Worth Individuals andMass Affluent audiences. However Credit Suisse remained outside the top ten banks for wealthier private clients (the top being Bank of America, Citigold and Union Bank).
To change this, it needed to reach out to wealthy individuals with stories that fit with their passion points – not give a ‘hard sell’ about the bank’s services.
We were given an opportunity to make a short film with tennis legend and Credit Suisse ambassador Roger Federer.
However, in the US the most popular sports among wealthy individuals are golf (55.1%),soccer (49.8%) and skiing (20.7%). Tennis is 4th with just 15.3% declaring an interest.*
So how do you get US audiences to care about the bank when they don’t even care about thetennis?
The insight:
Rather than create a niche film with limited engagement, we broadened our scope from tennis to include art. 85% of wealth managers believe art should be a part of their client offering**, so we know the interest is much greater.
And by combining Roger Federer with art we uncovered another benefit: the average age of the Mass Affluent is 55, while UHNWI are 65 on average***.
At this age wealthy people are typically looking to step back from their day-to-day work and need inspiration about what new interests or hobbies to pursue. With Roger Federer nearing retirement age, we believed that focusing on his passion for art – not sports – would resonate with our audience as a demonstration of someone broadening their interests in an authentic way.
* Wealth-X,2021; **Robb Report, 2017; ***Statista
Roger Federer teamed up with artist Ugo Rondinone, who was preparing a sculpture for the Venice Biennale. The work, called ‘Burn. Shine. Fly’, was composed of androgynous figures posed in the air while painted as clouds. It formed part of an exhibition that celebrates life, its seasons and rhythms.
Roger posed as a model – anonymously – and became Cloud #6, after a process involving him stripping to his underwear, being suspended from a harness and having mouldmaking goop painted all over his face.
The results:
The documentary became a premium 45 minute film and we partnered with CNBC to air it in the US. It received over 22m impressions online with 3m completed views, and was featured on the Today Show (mostly, it has to be admitted, because it featured Roger Federer in his underpants). Brand fame for Credit Suisse increased from 46% to 54% in the quarter following the film’s screening, and brand sentiment increased from 14% to 16%.
Most entertainingly, there were over 300,000 visitors to the Venice Biennale, and it was only after the film came out that anyone discovered that Cloud #6 was Roger.
Roger Federer: Portrait of a Champion
Tennis. What a weird old sport. It’s already considered ‘meh’ by a target audience of wealthy Americans (who last got excited by the sport when Agassi had longer hair than Pamela Anderson), so our film about Roger Federer had to be something pretty special and unique to get their attention.
Credit Suisse wanted to develop a deeper relationship with High Net Worth Individuals andMass Affluent audiences. However Credit Suisse remained outside the top ten banks for wealthier private clients (the top being Bank of America, Citigold and Union Bank).
To change this, it needed to reach out to wealthy individuals with stories that fit with their passion points – not give a ‘hard sell’ about the bank’s services.
We were given an opportunity to make a short film with tennis legend and Credit Suisse ambassador Roger Federer.
However, in the US the most popular sports among wealthy individuals are golf (55.1%),soccer (49.8%) and skiing (20.7%). Tennis is 4th with just 15.3% declaring an interest.*
So how do you get US audiences to care about the bank when they don’t even care about thetennis?
The insight:
Rather than create a niche film with limited engagement, we broadened our scope from tennis to include art. 85% of wealth managers believe art should be a part of their client offering**, so we know the interest is much greater.
And by combining Roger Federer with art we uncovered another benefit: the average age of the Mass Affluent is 55, while UHNWI are 65 on average***.
At this age wealthy people are typically looking to step back from their day-to-day work and need inspiration about what new interests or hobbies to pursue. With Roger Federer nearing retirement age, we believed that focusing on his passion for art – not sports – would resonate with our audience as a demonstration of someone broadening their interests in an authentic way.
* Wealth-X,2021; **Robb Report, 2017; ***Statista
Roger Federer teamed up with artist Ugo Rondinone, who was preparing a sculpture for the Venice Biennale. The work, called ‘Burn. Shine. Fly’, was composed of androgynous figures posed in the air while painted as clouds. It formed part of an exhibition that celebrates life, its seasons and rhythms.
Roger posed as a model – anonymously – and became Cloud #6, after a process involving him stripping to his underwear, being suspended from a harness and having mouldmaking goop painted all over his face.
The results:
The documentary became a premium 45 minute film and we partnered with CNBC to air it in the US. It received over 22m impressions online with 3m completed views, and was featured on the Today Show (mostly, it has to be admitted, because it featured Roger Federer in his underpants). Brand fame for Credit Suisse increased from 46% to 54% in the quarter following the film’s screening, and brand sentiment increased from 14% to 16%.
Most entertainingly, there were over 300,000 visitors to the Venice Biennale, and it was only after the film came out that anyone discovered that Cloud #6 was Roger.
