2021 Silver Best Use of AI

Agency: Peak Indicators

Client: National Premier League Tennis (NPL)

Campaign Name: ReplAI Boosts NPL Social Engagement

Campaign Overview

How do you improve social media reach and engagement at a national tennis event during a pandemic when no spectators are allowed in?

Without good levels of engagement, the National Premier League (NPL) would find it more challenging to recruit sponsors for future events.

Strategy

AI tends to be used in sport only at elite levels of the game - it’s expensive.

For example, Wimbledon's Hawkeye costs £60,000 per court.

The goal was to build an innovative but affordable AI solution to raise the event's profile and generate excitement among players and spectators.

The team performed an assessment of amateur and semi-professional tennis events around the UK. A key observation was a surprising lack of technology by today's standards.

There were no live scores, no mobile apps, no monitors and no AI technology. Apart from occasional team or player photos, use of social media was non-existent.

On the rare occasions where a camera recorded a tennis match, the length of a tennis match and the amount of dead time between points meant the video was ‘like watching a security camera’.

Creativity

A new ReplAI system learned to identify when a tennis point was in progress and capture the actual play alone.

Highlights with special effects and sponsor logos could then be quickly produced and published to social media.

The initiative succeeded in designing a low-cost infrastructure, requiring less than £100 of camera equipment that could be used with a standard household laptop.

The camera equipment included of a £50 HD ‘reaction camera’.

Results

Despite the tournament being played behind closed doors and without any celebrities present, ReplAI helped engage more spectators than ever before.

For the first time, match highlights were posted across the NPL's social media channels; its social media footprint increased by more than 40%, with over 48,000 views to date.

Roughly 20 videos of match highlights were published to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

As an unexpected bonus, the event's social media reach was extended via other channels.

Players requested personal highlight videos to be produced; female players also asked for videos to support their applications for sports scholarships at US universities.

Following the event, the Lawn Tennis Association asked for the ReplAI system to be used at several event

The Team

Peak Indicators - Antony Heljula, Technical Director

Contributors

Lawn Tennis Association (LTA)