Game - Set - Match

There is more to a professional tennis tournament than playing the points to win the games, sets, matches, and ultimately the tournament. There is an elite group of category-specific sponsors playing to leave a strong impression in thousands of minds!

My 14-year-old daughter is a very accomplished USTA tennis player. As a result, she was invited to be a ball kid for the recent ATP Road to the US Open Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, DC.

I saw more tennis with top-ranked players than ever before. But I also saw how the sponsors played their marketing matches.

Serve - Ace

Singha Beer, The Lion of Asia, has been brewed in Thailand since 1933 and is "flowing smoothly across the world." This beer was also the only beer served at the tournament. And with temperatures in the high 90s and low 100s all week, Singha's beer tent was always filled, not only for the shade, but for the cool refreshment.

Serving beer was only part of Singha scoring points. Its freebies were all over the tournament grounds and received TV exposure. And the marketing items scored key points:

-- Foam visors provided protection from the sun...and when you put it on, the pop-up had the beer's ancient-looking lion logo that was immediately visible.

-- Small handheld fans - the kind your mom or grandmother used in days gone by - gave you some cooling air movement...with the Singha logo on both sides.

-- Thick cardboard coasters, not so much to use at the venue, but to take home to keep water rings off your tables...and start conversations with your friends.

Serve - Fault

A local radio station was one of the secondary sponsors, but that did not make it a fault on the company's part.

On huge speakers, the station rocked the food-souvenir-drink area outside the stadium whenever matches were not being played. But never once did the station say a thing about its presence or a simple "hi" to the thousands in the area throughout the week.

One tremendous opportunity for the station turned into a game-losing double fault when its market-dominant morning host was asked to introduce the first major match - the much anticipated final appearance by a true legend - Andre Agassi. Sure, the guy said his name, but once Agassi walked onto the court you couldn't hear another word. And worse, he wasn't wearing a bit of station garb. Those were two unforced errors that cost the station a game.

Winning Volleys

Players using an up close give-and-take strategy won their matches simply by creating beneficial interaction with the attendees.

One of the very few vendors you saw when you entered the grounds was Sport & Health, "a family of 24 full service health clubs and spas in the metro area." Rather than slamming their wares, those in the tent welcomed you to the tournament, invited you to fill out an entry form to win hard-to-come-by tickets to the U.S. Open (one pair given away each day), gave you a free week's club pass, and something perhaps a bit cooler - a battery-powered mini fan with their logo. Now that was a well-executed way to play the point.

A few more steps into the open area and one of the big players - Mercedes Benz - had its stars lined up. Five vehicles on display, each with a touch-screen informational plaque, were more than ready to play. But the showcase player was the new GL-Class 7-passenger SUV. If you've watched any of this year's ATP Road to the US Open matches, you've seen it in more spots than needed to win. And the GL had something to fit its class - a business-card sized tri-fold marketing piece that opened to a 15 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch two-sided poster with a special opportunity to win one of these big players - an access code for the website.

Match Point

These and a few other sponsors undoubtedly served up lots of money to have signage around the courts and services in the tournament grounds. But those dollars really created the opportunity to score points - and get exposure inside and outside the lines.

Sure, your investments may have scored marketing points. But did you make a well-placed shot to win the match?