September 22nd
Welcome again to the Trippant Takeaways, our regular selection of recent stories that highlight trends, best practice and provocative ideas in communications across sport, entertainment, technology and culture.
Roger Federer’s Retirement
On Friday, Roger Federer will step off the court at The O2 in London to complete one of sport’s greatest modern careers.
Even in an era of stunning tennis, the 41-year-old Swiss has found ways to stand apart. He confirmed his retirement with customary charm. His final tour appearance will be at the Laver Cup, surrounded by elite stars at an event his management team built almost as ‘an extension of ‘Brand Federer’’ – and Brand Federer is a pretty big deal.
Yet above all – as this David Foster Wallace classic so memorably explored – people have just loved watching Roger Federer play. Sometimes, that’s more than enough. Read the New York Times article here.
The Season of Conferences
The summer holidays are very much over in the northern hemisphere and for a lot of us, those back-to-school vibes must mean it’s conference season.
After an eventful but mostly event-free couple of years, you may be a little out of networking practice. If so, the latest edition of the Unofficial Partner sports business podcast – a smart and entertaining chat with Leaders in Sport managing director Laura McQueen – is well worth a listen. Listen here.
The Rise and Fall of Company Swag
Meanwhile, if you’re exhibiting and want your branded swag to say the right things about your company, this Fast Company piece might help keep your name out of a landfill.
Check out the article here.
The Future of Patagonia
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard said he was living his values by giving his $3 billion company to a charitable trust. How does the company now live up to its mission to fight climate change?
CEO Ryan Gellert explains all to The Times.
Rockstar Games Footage Leak
Here’s a communications challenge. Imagine you created one of the biggest video games – one of the biggest entertainment properties – of all time.
Imagine you spent an entire decade working on the sequel and had to build anticipation before exceeding expectations. Then imagine a load of unfinished content got leaked. Explore the Bloomberg article here.
What would you do next if you were Rockstar Games?
Wrexham and the Future of Football
The gaps between sport and entertainment are closing and, as we’ve noted here before, one of the most compelling examples of this in action is the takeover of Welsh football club Wrexham by Hollywood comedy stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny.
They spoke to the New York Times writer Rory Smith about their FX series, Welcome To Wrexham, and what they had learned about football so far. But they really told us about how the business of storytelling is changing and what that means for sport. The New York Times has more.
The Death of Queen Elizabeth II
The UK stopped on Monday to pay its respects to Queen Elizabeth II, with a state funeral that demonstrated meticulous skill in pageantry and protocol.
Before that, hundred of thousands of ordinary – and, in some cases, quite unusual – mourners filed dutifully along the River Thames and into Westminster Hall, where the late monarch was lying in state. David Beckham was there, in line for at least 12 hours, and so were the many, many, many, many feature writers – and there really, really were a lot of them – whose editors all apparently had the same idea.
Whatever they learned about queuing or whether the British are uniquely interested in it, the sentiment was easy enough to understand: in the biggest collective moments, personal stories are still important.
Trippant can help your company grow through communication, creating purposeful change through PR, thought leadership and strategy. To find out more – or get in touch – head to our website.
