TAG Heuer Enlists Rising Stars to 'Break Tennis' in This Ad

TAG Heuer has released their latest sports marketing campaign, developed by creative film agency The Progress Film Company.

The campaign, titled Break Tennis, makes a suitably impactful statement, introducing four of the game's rising stars who are ready to disrupt the sport's long-established order and forge their own historic paths.

A 60" hero film, directed by Progress' Ben Lankester, lies at the heart of the campaign. Featuring four top 30 ATP players - Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Alex de Minaur and Frances Tiafoe - the commercial encapsulates the attitude, determination, drive and ambition that defines this new generation of athletes as they set out to break barriers and look to reach the heights of the legendary players who have ruled tennis for the past decade and is in keeping with TAG Heuer's brand motto #DontCrackUnderPressure.



Speaking on the campaign, director Ben Lankester said: "TAG Heuer has always been an agent of innovation and disruption. When we received their latest brief, we saw an opportunity to create work that spoke to this ambition in incredibly powerful and exciting ways. Our ambition was to create a campaign that announced TAG Heuer's entrance into the world of tennis through a creative approach in keeping with the brand's Don't Crack Under Pressure ethos. This approach was built around a central Hero Spot that drove at the heart of an athlete's focus and drive to reach the top, and supported by a suite of personal, authentic documentary films inspired by the themes of hope and ambition".

Meanwhile, Nolan Buchi, global content manager at TAG Heuer commented: "Progress is a maverick within the world of creative film agencies - it is their reluctance to settle for anything less than excellence, the quality of their ideas and the vision of top class filmmakers that results in stunning content with one fundamental value: authenticity".

The project was developed by Progress' in-house creative team. Speaking on the agency's structure, Lankester added: "Here at Progress we are adapting to the changing advertising landscape by building an agency of creatives that live and breathe film. This project is the perfect showcase for what we offer as a creative film agency and production studio, combining these two skillsets to service a brand's brief from start to finish. Filmmaking will always be at the heart of what we do - with any creative campaign we pitch, the concept and the craft go hand in hand, and Break Tennis was no different".

The central hero film has been released ahead of the US Open, with specific player documentaries, strategic social content and photography launching throughout the remainder of 2019.


Credits

Starring: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex De Minaur, Denis Shapovalov & Frances Tiafoe
Talent: Charlie Buirski, Emmanuel Moyo & Levi Lowe-Lennon
Narrator: Jammy Kasongo

Client: TAG Heuer
Client Digital Communication Director: Pascal Tea
Client Global Content Manager: Nolan Buchi

Prod Co: The Progress Film Company
Director: Ben Lankester
Creative Lead: Sam Widdows
Project Lead: Nicola Spence
Producer: Nicola Sims
Production Managers: Heeva Hamed, Matt Bulaitis
Production Assistant: Eloise Saville

1st AD: Steve Wingrove
2nd AD: Chris Riley
Director of Photography: Carl Burke
Focus Puller: Job Reineke
Loader: Chris Rodgers
Ronin Op: Dan Lobo-Pires
Focus Puller: Rupert Hornstein
DIT: Luke McCarthy
Art Director: Charlie Hippisley
Prop Master: Lester Hill
Prop Man: James Middleton
Location Manager: James Khoury
Sound Recordist: Michael Clayton Jr.
Gaffers: Craig Davis, Ryan Delahunty
Sparks: Saul Harris, Rob Stewart, Barry Keegan, Romaine Foster
Riggers: Martin Smith, Christopher Gough
Make-Up & Styling: Olivia Cochrane
Stills Photographer: Holly Wren
Runners: George Gunn, Barney Gee, Sam Barnham

Camera Hire: Panavision
Lighting: Pro Light

Editor: Adrian Ardelean
Music: Only Audio
Composer: Daniel Lidchi
EP: Toby Walsham
Sound: Wave Studios
Engineer: Jonny Platt
Colour & VFX: MPC
Colourist: Matthieu Toullet
VFX Artists: Michael Aveling & Andrew Curtis
Post Producer: Edwin Elkington