The three Instagrammers -- @bridif, @takinyerphoto and @newyorkcity, who have a combined following that tops 600,000 -- will be at the tournament as part of a tennis-themed Evian marketing play with a clever social media twist. Their shots don't have to be branded or reflect some corporate stance, but the idea is that they'll make Evian look good and connect with a socially savvy audience.
The photographers are being paid a day rate to capture life at the U.S. Open with whimsical shots to be shared via the @evianwater account with the hashtag #EvianDay. Evian has sponsored the U.S. Open for 27 years, and each of the event's title sponsor get one day to activate campaigns on-site, which explains the hashtag.
Dave Brown, director of digital for MKG, the ad agency that devised the campaign, says the one-day push will also reflect well upon the USTA and the event as a whole, as well as help Evian and the photographers build their already substantial online followings.
"It's a win-win for everybody involved," he told Mashable on Wednesday. "We see this kind of thing definitely becoming a trend."
It's actually not the first time MKG has helped a client run a promotion like this. In April, a crew of six Instagram photographers, including the three who will be shooting on Thursday, documented a New York Rangers NHL playoff game as guests of Madison Square Garden and Delta Air Lines. Puma also ran a similar promotion on its own in February, taking a group of Instagrammers on a junket to Dubai to shoot during a leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Before the Rangers activation in April, Brian DiFeo -- who will be at the Open on Thursday and goes by the Instagram handle @bridif -- said companies such as Evian, Delta and Puma are smart to recognize Instagram's current hipness.
“A lot of this comes down to brands recognizing they can work with social media influencers that have large audiences in an organic way,” he said. “Forward-thinking brands that like to do fun, cool stuff and aren’t as concerned with clicks to a website are really onto something.”