What do you do when one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world comes up to you and asks for your help on a grand (slam) project?

Right. You grab your racket and you smash it.

When Tennis Australia approached MassiveMusic Sydney to develop a sonic brand identity for the Australian Open 2022, we didn’t need to think twice.

With a global audience of 900 million people, we were challenged to create a consistent end-to-end experience for all patrons and to capture the essence of the ‘Happy Slam’ in sound. Next to that, the new sonic brand had to unite all communications from Tennis Australia and create a consistent end-to-end audio experience.

Creating a good sonic brand for such a big tournament is a whole challenge in itself. Yet, in true MassiveMusic spirit, we didn’t back away.

We brought their creative minds together and started working on something that would fulfil everyone’s needs. First, we defined what makes the Australian Open stand out from the three grand slams in the world.

Then, we looked at how the Australian Open is different from other sporting events globally and locally. Finally, we had to express this uniqueness socially and through other arena communications.

Throughout the process, we at MassiveMusic Sydney collaborated with a cross section of the Tennis Australia team to ensure we were designing for all cases and touchpoints. And can we say the end result is something to be smashingly proud of?

The Aussie Spirit and the playful, yet premium nature of the tournament were important considerations that have been brought out musically by a new signature crowd chant and the use of epic orchestral forces. To top it off, actual tennis sound effects from Australian Open tournaments make an appearance as well.

Ready? Throw the ball in the air and smash it to the other side like you just don’t care — points guaranteed.

The sonic brand identity of the Australian Open won 🥈 SILVER 🥈 at 2022 Transform Awards ANZ in the ‘Best Use of Audio Branding’ category.