What makes the US Open different from any other Grand Slam is that it’s played in the gritty heat of August in the City That Never Sleeps: NYC. It’s loud. It’s sweaty. The games go late. The players act up. The fans get drunk. Even the player attire is unconventional.

IBM used this insight to deepen the US Open fan experience by celebrating the city that makes the tournament so unique. To do this, we combined tennis data generated from the matches with local neighborhood insights and observations that were distinctly New York-- ultimately creating a data hybrid that put tennis data in the context of the city, delivering moments of delight for New Yorkers and a better understanding of the city for visitors.

Although these data mashups were originally posted on the USOpen.org landing page in real-time throughout the 14-day tournament, content was designed for seamless social sharing. Scaling socially to Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter, the tiles drove 48MM+ social impressions from both a paid, organic and earned perspective. The colorful, quirky animations also grabbed attention at JFK airport and inside high rise elevator buildings across NYC to ensure fans, visitors, and New Yorkers alike got the chance to consume the action on the court in a whole new way. These outdoor placements, along with online media and social traction, resulted in 152MM+ total impressions.

Overall, the campaign drove 152MM+ impressions, with time spent on the IBM US Open landing page doubling year over year and receiving 27,000 site visits per day--with 17% of traffic being return visits. The interactive tiles were amplified and shared across social platforms, resulting in 48MM+ impressions and a 7x higher engagement rate on Twitter vs. the IBM brand benchmark.