To celebrate the premiere of Being Serena—HBO’s five-part documentary series chronicling the life of Serena Williams through her recent pregnancy, marriage, new motherhood and return to the tennis court—the network hosted a private interactive experience honoring the tennis star.
HBO partners with experiential marketing company The team’s Epiphany to transform New York Industry in tribute to Williams on April 24. The network invited HBO executives, influencers and media to celebrate Williams in an environment that highlighted her accomplishments with details such as a career timeline and major milestones in the tennis star’s life, a replica of a tennis court, and oversized promotional images from the documentary series, which premiered on May 2. Lucinda Martinez, senior vice president of multicultural and international marketing at HBO, welcomed guests and played a teaser for the series.
“When you’re dealing with the most dominant athlete of all time, you don’t want to get overwhelmed by that key narrative,” said Jarrett Cobbs, vice president of strategy at Team Epiphany. “We all know Serena because she is an amazing athlete, but there are so many other sides to her life. We wanted to deliver a complete experience that showcased Serena on and off the court and have an activation that spoke to each of the facets we know.
The experience featured themed event elements such as a tennis ball court for photo ops and a retrospective of her Nike tennis outfits and Beats by Dre headphones she wears during tournaments. Jane Kim-Smith, vice president of accounts for Team Epiphany, said HBO also wants to bring in brands that support Williams, including Wilson and Nike.
“What we did was reach out to partners: for the tennis ball pit, all the tennis balls were donated by Wilson,” Kim-Smith said. “For the retrospective, we wanted to highlight certain outfits and moments in a tangible way. Someone from the Nike archives in Portland, Oregon, flew out to make sure their outfits were displayed correctly. From her stylist, we got the actual bodysuit she wore during Beyoncé’s training tour (when she was performing on stage).
Guests were also invited to participate in a short dance routine taught by renowned choreographer Jose “Hollywood” Ramos. The activity was inspired by Williams’ love of hip-hop and dance (she appeared in Beyoncé’s music video for “Sorry”) and specifically by her Vogue Musical clipin which she dances to NERD and Rihanna’s “Lemon” on an airport runway.
Williams was not supposed to attend the event due to a scheduling conflict, but she surprised attendees by arriving in the last 15 minutes. Williams took photos with guests, and after the event ended, Kim-Smith noted that she, her husband, and her agent were given a private tour of the space.
Here’s a look at how HBO worked with Team Epiphany to create the interactive tribute to Williams.
