ARCFEST ‣ YONEX ARCSABER 7 ‣ Social Activation

Building on the success of the latest campaign for the launch of Arcsaber 11 (a racquet series which has a unique subculture of fans), we wanted to increase the level of engagement within Yonex’s community. With the upcoming launch of Arcsaber 7, a brand new racquet from Yonex targeted at more intermediate and advanced players, we focused on concepting a campaign that not only feels accessible, but embodies a true celebration of the sport and its global sub-community.

ARCFEST is the world’s first digital badminton festival, happening across three social media channels aiming to bring together the most exciting voices in badminton.

The digital campaign fully embodies all aspects of visiting a physical festival, with wristbands, posters and maps, whilst harnessing vibrant iconography, language and branding established for the Arcsaber series in earlier campaigns. It takes place over three digital ‘stages’ and features high profile athletes delivering unique content about the new Arcsaber 7 racquet.

Designing the stage maps, and merchandise to drive excitement, we encouraged shareability and engagement over the festival.

“With previous campaigns, we focused mainly on print and film executional launches with posters, stickers and merch. This time, we wanted to bring the sport closer to the fans and build deeper connections. ARCFEST is about driving a wider, global appeal to this sport community.”

- Mélanie Hubert-Crozet

Over the course of a week, a plethora of content is shared to the online stages; Badminton history on Yonex’s Instagram channels, Badminton tips via YouTube influencers, ‘Get in the game’ playlists on a dedicated Spotify-channel dubbed ARCRADIO, and a signpost to the merch corner along with a giveaway.

The ARCSABER family is a racquet series within the YONEX brand that has its own culture, fans and identity. After the launch of the ARCSABER 11 earlier in 2022, which harnessed mysterious symbols and iconography, it was time for the sequel – ARCSABER 7!

We created a new sub-identity for this new racquet, promising supreme control of the shuttle’s flight trajectory. ARCSABER 7 features an energetic colour palette twinned with geometric symbols, showing its powerful flight technology.

To launch ARCSABER 7, we created a tech video, sticker pack and posters before launching ARCFEST.