Usama Al-Qassab: Growing Tennis' Timeless Brand

Tennis has been around from the 12th Century. Yet for All England Lawn Tennis Club's (AELTC) chief marketer, making it feel new, year after year – like any sport, is a challenge. Relevance isn't guaranteed and for Wimbledon, reinvention is part of the game.

AELTC Wimbledon is a brand that, on paper, sells the same product every year, but somehow makes it feel as exciting and unique as the next. 

Despite the stereotypes – strawberries and cream, all-whites, Pimms on the Hill – it’s a brand rich in heritage, sporting excellence, and ambition for growth. This year's Championships saw its highest-ever attendance with 550,151 guests; its social media, which saw 4.8 billion impressions, grew its following by 11 per cent from 2025; and its digital audience was the highest-ever at 138.5 million globally. 

And its global brand campaign There’s Only One Wimbledon saw a second instalment with Where Beauty Meets The Battle – a celebration of the tournament’s unparalleled experience where heritage and the beauty of sport collide. 

Usama Al-Qassab, The All England Club’s marketing and commercial director, leads the charge for the 158-year-old brand’s growth – and it’s clear to see it's as ambitious as ever. 

“This is a challenge we constantly wrestle with, balancing heritage and innovation is key to brand relevance, perhaps the most crucial measure of future growth and ongoing success,” he says. “Wimbledon is considered in what it does and why, data-driven in decision making, researching with a myriad of guest segments, and this helps us make informed choices that are effective and efficient.”

Tradition with a twist

Al-Qassab’s career is one that sees Wimbledon as his first sporting venture, but is no stranger to the world of marketing.

After starting out at Creative Review, he joined Proctor & Gamble, which he describes as “the best Marketing training ground in the world within brand management”, where he undertook a variety of roles internationally and domestically in brand and digital. He then went on to become Playstation’s regional VP marketing, and Disney’s VP marketing EMEA. 

Growing a brand that already has a recognisable global identity is something he isn’t a stranger to.

“It is tough to have a single campaign for a global brand with such a broad demographic and guest segmentation,” he explains. “Thankfully we have constants that are instantly recognisable, allowing us to focus on the tennis and our unique sense of place in this year’s campaign.”

Where Beauty Meets The Battle, by its creative agency of record VCCP, celebrates the representation of Wimbledon being “the pinnacle of the sport and tennis in an English garden”, with a butterfly at centrestage. 

“Our butterfly represents both the grounds and their beauty, and by proxy our traditions, and is pitted against the battle we see on the court, with players pushing themselves further than ever before to conquer their opponents and make their dreams a reality.”

Despite adorning a new creative look for this year’s Championships, Al-Qassab notes that consistency within work and brand architecture tends to be received much greater by consumers. 

Its brief to VCCP, he says, was for an “overarching campaign that would work for several years”. 

He continues, “Wimbledon across all brand metrics remains at the pinnacle of tennis and sport and is distinctive from our beautifully manicured courts to all white playing uniforms to the extreme effort that players are willing to push through in order to win the most prized competition in annual summer sport.

This year's campaign focused on the players, highlighting grace and poise, balance, power, effort, and the guts required to win – engaging for Wimbledon fans of old and new whilst creating a FOMO for those who have never watched before. The data we have on this year’s broadcast growth and global engagement is showing we delivered on those objectives and much more.”

Guardian of an iconic brand

The AELTC’s growth metrics from 2026 alone are staggering; UK +9 per cent, US +17 per cent, India +19 per cent, Germany +14 per cent, Japan +40 per cent.

Despite its continual brand-building quest, how, as a marketer do you grow one of the most respected brands in sport while keeping its timeless heritage at the forefront? 

“You can’t please everyone, and don’t try to,” Al-Qassab says pragmatically. “It is far better to have a campaign that the vast majority loves and a select few dislike than work that stirs no emotion and is forgettable.

“Mediocrity is the enemy of good work and brave decision-making is needed to not pick the comfortable ‘banker’ route that is average.”

He admits that Wimbledon is always looking for innovative ideas from its agencies, that focus on bigger, better, and fewer deliverables. IBM – its Official Technology Partner since 2018 – has been on a journey with the brand as technology continues to evolve tennis’ traditions. 

“Partnering with IBM’s AI capabilities since 2018 allows many of the ways we engage with fans via our Wimbledon App or website to be focused on the end benefit. The tech itself is brilliant but invisible; the tech should not be the story but how it makes you feel. “We always have in our briefs how any creative, campaign or innovation should make the target group think, feel and do.”

The World of Marketing according to Usama Al-Quassab

This is the second year working with VCCP – why pick them as your creative agency? What do you value about them as creative partners?

VCCP as an organisation has a people first attitude, as seen by their retention of colleagues and clients. They were founded less than 5 miles away and they get Wimbledon, in all its nuances and peculiarities. They have helped to define our communications strategy, and aim to stretch us and increase relevance, whilst also being respectful to our past. Creatively they make sure they respond on brief, budget and time, (which are all the basics) but do so with multiple and varied routes, and most importantly they listen to the client. Expertise in production is not a given but they have a great black book of Directors and Production Houses which certainly helps the excellence in execution, which is so important when you only have one major campaign each year.

What do you most enjoy about the industry?

No two days are ever the same, there is always a problem to solve and opportunity to investigate. You also get to cross paths with interesting and in the majority, well principled and fun people, which makes coming to work pleasurable, after all, life is too short to not enjoy yourself at work. 

What is most frustrating about the industry?

The industry is still not as diverse or inclusive as it should be. Socio-economically, ethnically and regionally across the UK are just few areas, amongst many others where we need to attract, nurture and grow more talent. Positive DEI drives business results, improves culture and helps to form a better society so lets all get behind it.

What is a career moment you are particularly proud of?

Launching a PlayStation, a streaming service like Disney+, or gaining a Euro Effie Grand Prix may have got the teams I've led more plaudits.

The work I am most proud of was when I led Pampers at P&G. The Pampers, One Pack x One Vaccine campaign lasted for several years, went global, and has vaccinated over 300 million people and reportedly saved over 1 million babies, eradicating neo-natal tetanus deaths in over 20 countries.

It also led me to becoming a Board Trustee for UNICEF UK for the last six years, where I have met a host of inspiring, dedicated and outstanding individuals. 

What can we expect next from The AELTC?

2027 is a big one for us, we have the 150th Anniversary of The Championships to celebrate. With that in mind there will be quite a few announcements in a few months' time, so watch this space.

It is safe to say Only One Wimbledon will remain as our campaign, or perhaps that could be Only One-Fifty Wimbledon!