Ladies & Gentlemen, please.
Wimbledon partnerships · Bizarrely Austrian · Liverpool rebrand · Asian local content ·
☝🏽Busy? Lazy? Multitasky? Click play above and let me read this to you. 🎧
Wimbledon is known for its proud adherence to tradition both on & off court, but they also put their money where their tradition is. I look at their approach to partnerships this week- we can debate why more properties don’t have the confidence to take the scarcity approach.
I have another round up from APOS 2025, this time looking at various takes on the appetite for local content across the region.
▶️ Curated/Cuts feature a bizarre spot from Austria, Liverpool FC’s reimagined identity, and Tripadvisor’s fresh new look.
➕ Youtube’s new (or not) guidelines for repetitive content, Adobe & EPL, indies in India and Time’s Top 100 creators.
Brands are ready, ladies & gentlemen.
Wimbledon say ‘NO’. A lot.
Sure, we all know the All England Lawn Tennis Club famously don’t allow coloured clothing at the event- it is tradition. And tradition is central to the ethos of The Championships (as we ought to correctly call it)- from strawberries & cream to white dress codes.
Equally, I have always been struck by its highly selective approach to commercial partnerships; a philosophy defined as much by what Wimbledon excludes, as what it includes.
This is telling- Wimbledon featured just 17 sponsorship deals this year; the last three Grand Slams had 30, 40 and 30 sponsors respectively.
It is not, of course, a sign of low interest. Far from. The Club (in more ways than one) have maintained a fiercely curated and protected partner ecosystem, with deep relationships and ‘fit’ holding sway. Slazenger is a prime example- official ball partners for 123 years; Rolex has been around since 1978; IBM came on board in 1995.
The presence of sponsor logos is minimal. There are no flashing rotating banners, no LED boards on court, only fixed signs.
This scarcity makes for an elite, uncluttered brand experience. That creates its own special value.
For us fans, it is a wonderful viewing experience- not being hit on the head by commercialisation is a good thing, yes? It’s unified with their clean, elegant aesthetic, and adds a halo to their traditional persona.
Brands show up for the vibe as well- just this year, Stella had a classy-chic limited edition can that tied in just so with the Wimbledon aesthetic. (Though I’m really not sure about Maria’s love for jam in tea!)
Economics
Some estimate that in sticking to this approach, Wimbledon leaves anywhere between $60-120million in deals on the table every year.
But The Championships are also very profitable, with usually the most or second-most total revenue amongst the Grand Slams.
They have the highest revenue generated from sponsorships, at $124.7 million across its 17 deals for this year (doing more with less).
Winnings too- the prize pool for this year's event is a record $72.7m.
Aside: AELTC’s ability to stick to this highly selective commercial approach is underpinned by strong financial reserves and debenture funding, plus lucrative broadcast deals (an estimated half of its revenue come from media rights sales).
This curated approach helps continue the prestige around the event. But Wimbledon is not some fuddy-duddy event stuck in the tradition. A sampling:
Collabs and innovations- activations and gaming pushes on Roblox & Fortnite, an e-sports version- Wimbledon eChampionships in 2024, a tiktok collab.
An excellent app that helps me navigate the entire two weeks with both ease and joy.
Embracing technology (with long standing partner IBM of course)- including AI line calls and long standing Hawk eye use. (Fans can debate if AI line calls detract from the game!)
Their social media channels are a brilliant mix of fun, curious, stylish, unexpected, classic and creative.
My biggest takeaway (and what I really like)? How all of this ties in to growing the brand ethos and voice, while managing the balance of having fun with the brand, moving it with the times, preserving its century old aura- all while being very, very successful.
🎬 Curated/Cuts.
1. Take A Risk
Have you heard of Linz? No? It is a small city in Europe with a big plan to make you sit up & take notice. Watch:
Risky? Puzzling? Bizarre? Makes you want to go? Makes you remember a place called Linz?
Yes, yes, yes, errrrr, and yes?
Using an extreme or negative narrative is not new, though this spot throws all caution to the wind. It looked suspiciously AI generated, and, well, it is. Kinda gives the vibes of someone who got the paid version of a fancy Gen AI tool for a week and thought “unlimited tokens! bring it on!”
2. Tripadvisor rebrand
A rebrand meant to amp up the ‘real’ nature of the platform, its authenticity with real traveller reviews (’advice’) and an increasingly full service platform.
Photography is real user content, there is a wide colour palette, and Ollie the owl has had a makeover (though I’ll admit to never really getting that owl).
"In a time when everything's being optimised or AI-generated, Tripadvisor's advantage is that it's real. And we made sure the brand wears that proudly.” _Arthur Foliard, Koto Studio.
3. Liverpool FC
A new shade of red, two new fonts, more prominence on the liver bird- this is the Liverpool FC rebrand that kicked off around when the club won its twentieth championship, and will roll out into the new season next month.
It comes from a two and half year project, that also brought a new brand promise – inspiring belief – and new brand principles- graft, faith and togetherness.
by Bulletproof.
APOS: the local content vibes
The local content vibes were strong at APOS 2025 in Bali. As platforms and producers gathered we saw both a palpable desire, and the increasing feasibility of creating stories from lived experiences. Despite a content and broadcast/streaming ecosystem that is grappling with questions, the ambition shone, especially for India & Indonesia.
Dhivya from MPA shared a quick look at the content landscape in Asia. There are on average 5-7 streamers per market. Consumers have choices of 15-25,000 titles at any given point. The average consumer is sampling five titles a month.
Let that sink in.
Surfacing your content in such a landscape is an overarching challenge, but these conversations centred around the nature of the content that actually resonates. Not surprisingly, the continued success of local content was cause for both optimism and ambition, across markets.
What works (and how).
Amazon has been working to create differentiated services in India, given it is a heterogeneous, diverse and constantly evolving market.
The tendency to ‘slot’ shows and ideas by genre was subtly challenged by Prime Video Originals head Nikhil Madhok, who spoke passionately of both series and theatrical, “We think very deeply about themes, and not just genres”. It is a nuance not often considered, and evident in their wide-reaching slate. Now, for movies, the MGM Studio is gunning for 4-6 films a year from 2026 onwards.
“Adding advertising allows us to invest in content for a longer period of time,“ Gaurav Gandhi (VP, APAC & MENA) said, as he shared the narrative for Prime Video with MX Player, their recently acquired service exclusively crafted for AVOD customers- it has 250million subs, and focuses on scripted dramas and dubbed content from around the world. Short form content is coming soon, with the delightfully named MX Fatafat (more on that in my upcoming piece on micro dramas).
While over at Netflix, we learnt that 50% of new members in Korea are signing up to the ad tier.
India’s Jiostar also mentioned looking for creators from small towns for authentic experiences. This is a growing theme across platforms in the country (I feel Amazon has taken the lead here strongly), but is not something uniquely Indian.
Indonesia’s Angga Dwimas Sasongko knows a thing or two about bringing to life stories that resonate. His studio Visinema is behind 'Jumbo', the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animation film of all time:
“Our next generation of audience is not waiting for global to have that joy in cinema. They can have that joy with stories that come from places they have grown up in.”
Import-export.
(but always, local first)
Netflix Korea continues to find resonance both within the country as well as overseas. Squid Game might well have been lightning in a bottle, but they have since managed a steady flow of content that has found overseas audiences. Just in the lead up to APOS, Content Asia had shared research on Asian titles on Netflix, which suggested Asian TV content has commanded almost 60% of viewing of non-English language TV shows on Netflix’s global top 10 rankings this year.
Netflix has steadfastly maintained that they make for local first, and global success comes from that sincerity. Stating that more than 80% of Netlfix members worldwide have watched some Korean content, the content boss from Korea did also speak of how these shows impact the way the world sees and understands Korean culture.
Banijay India has cracked the format space, with a stream of successful adaptations they make very Indian. Now, CEO Deepak Dhar believes “it’s really time that an Indian story catches the fancy of global audiences”. He also spoke about Banijay’s expansion into Southeast Asia- looking to double down on Indonesia, then Thailand; then cheekily dropped the news about a reality show across India and Indonesia, picking one person from each country, who will get to go to space. Yes, thats right. Space. In a Blue Origin rocket.
Kantana’s head of content Disalada (Stang) Disayanon carried the theme, speaking of being “unapologetically Thai but also instantly exportable.” (Hey, think muay thai in a zombie apocalypse in Bangkok- what’s not to like!).
“There’s no data that tells you what shows to make. If there was, we’d all have great hits. It’s about heart.“ _Don Kang, Netflix
Youtube tightening guidelines?
The platform announced an update to its monetisation guidelines. I spotted a few "saving the platform from AI!" takes on this, thought they might be premature, and had this quick take below. (An update follows).
Youtube mentions "repetitive" and "mass-produced" content as ineligible for monetisation. This has already been the case for some time; an update suggests a tightening of the screws.
I thought it reasonable to view this through a prism of the rapid proliferation of AI generated content, the sheer ease + speed of making it. If it is indeed specifically to check the flow of slop we see, it makes much sense. For Youtube, it helps preserve the authenticity & credibility of the world's most streamed service. For all us content gorgers, it could make a dent on the already rising tide of absolute... tripe.
An aside, the parent company's push on the AI front is parallel to this (though clean content on Youtube will help the training data, thank you very much).
But this is positive- anything to stem the tide and push away the opportunistic video factories is welcome.
Jim Louderback added some nuance to this and how it could translate for creators (and another reason it could work for YT- more rev share!).
- ! -
Then, Youtube further clarified that this really is not a comment on AI assisted videos and does not reflect a policy on AI in general.
“YouTube welcomes creators using AI tools to enhance storytelling, and channels that use AI in their content remain eligible for monetization.”
Ok then, as you were. No battle charge on AI slop yet, you can look forward to a continued flow, thank you.
➕
Indies have lost, again. This piece bemoans the fate of Indie films in India, losing all saviours. “With mid-tier commercial fare staking its claim on OTTs, and theatrical avenues closing fast, independent cinema is once again back to where it began: on the margins. Except this time, theres no movement. No streaming revolution to save it. Just voices waiting to be heard.”
A legit, proper thing Ed Ulbrich is a VFX veteran who recently came on board at Moonvalley, which I wrote about few months ago, with their “clean model of an ethically sourced, ethically trained, a legit, proper thing, no stolen pixels, no scraping of the internet.” This interview touches upon jobs, creative possibilities and change.
An ‘AI influencer’ (they have been a thing for some time, just think personas built for virality, previously known as virtual influencers) made waves for getting traction on her ”hey look i’m at Wimbledon’ posts.
Adobe becomes the Premier League’s Official Creativity Partner’, promising fans can design custom Fantasy Premier League items with Adobe Express and Firefly AI, while the Adobe Experience Platform will deliver tailored content globally.
Time released a 100 Most Influential Creators List. I see (one?) Asian, mostlysane aka Prajakta Kohli from India.
