Tennis ace Caroline Wozniacki on partnering with brands that ‘share the same passion’

As Danish tennis star and Lavazza brand ambassador Caroline Wozniacki prepares for her third round Wimbledon match tomorrow (4 July), she tells Marketing Week what she looks for in a sponsorship deal.

As part of her role as Lavazza ambassador, Wozniacki served the Italian brand’s coffee to the famous Wimbledon queue this week alongside fellow partners Judy Murray and Toni Nadal. The aim was to promote the “Lavazza coffee break” as a vital feature of the tournament, not unlike strawberries and cream or champagne.

However, the role signifies more than an endorsement deal to the sports star, who was the number one women’s tennis player in the world from 2010 to 2011.

She added that no matter the partnership, she looks to work with brands that are already a part of her life.

“I drink coffee on a regular basis – it’s my wakeup call in the morning or I walk around like a zombie all day,” she said.

“It’s about finding brands that I love already and making sure we share the same passion.

Also a brand ambassador for Godiva and Rolex, she added: “With Godiva, I love the chocolate and Rolex is my favourite watch.”

Meanwhile, Lavazza’s Wimbledon partnership, now in its fifth year, has helped it reach sales success according to the brand’s VP Giuseppe Lavazza.

The brand has doubled its UK revenues to £50m in the past four years and has also seen double-digit growth across all its channels.

He added that Wozniacki has helped Lavazza towards its goal of engaging with the active tennis audience.

“You need to have something hot online because otherwise it’s quite difficult to draw the attention of the audience,” he said.

“Having the chance to work with relevant brand ambassadors such as Caroline, Judy and Toni gives us a way to be relevant with digital and social media.”

Lavazza also said that, like Wozniacki, the brand makes sure it shares the same values and attitude as its ambassadors.

“The brand has to be mirrored in our ambassador,” he said. “Caroline embodies all of the values Lavazza trusts in, like professionalism and openness.

“She loves sharing with people the passion for what she’s doing, which is exactly what Lavazza does every day.”

Recommended