Ralph Lauren tops Australian Open engagement as fashion and influencers surge

Fashion and influencer-led cultural moments drove some of the biggest engagement spikes in Australian Open history this year, with Ralph Lauren emerging as the tournament’s most engaged sponsor brand following a late influencer-led activation, according to new Meltwater data.

Meltwater’s analysis shows the 2026 Australian Open generated 3.47 million media mentions, up from 2.63 million in 2025, making it the most talked-about tournament in the event’s history and reinforcing the Open’s evolution into a cultural and lifestyle platform.

While Ralph Lauren boasts a significantly larger owned social audience than many sponsors, including major partner Kia, Meltwater says audience size alone does not explain performance.

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“Audience size provides context, but it doesn’t explain performance on its own and this data is a good example of that,” said Ross Candido, VP ANZ at Meltwater.

“Ralph Lauren’s follower base didn’t change during the tournament, yet its share of engagement surged dramatically after a single influencer-led activation late in the Open.”

Prior to 30 January, Ralph Lauren sat well behind Haier in sponsor engagement rankings. Following the influencer activation, it overtook every other sponsor, despite no change in owned audience size.

“That tells us the lift came from third-party amplification and cultural relevance, not scale,” Candido said.

Candido said it show that sponsorship performance is no longer linear. "Brands can under-index for most of a tournament and still win overall engagement if they trigger the right cultural moment at the right time.”

Different strategies, different strengths

A strong focus on fashion and creators helped Ralph Lauren leapfrog Haier to become the most engaged sponsor brand of AO 2026, generating 1.82 million engagements - more than double Haier’s 781,000. Kia ranked fourth overall in sponsor engagement with 367,000 interactions, reinforcing its role as a credible, tournament partner rather than a culture-first player.

Despite not being an official sponsor, Nike emerged as the most visible non-partner brand, generating 22,400 mentions, followed by Lacoste with 14,625 mentions and Yonex with more than 7,000.

Candido said the contrast between Ralph Lauren and Kia illustrates two distinct, but valid approaches.

“The difference was in how each brand chose to show up authentically,” he said. “Ralph Lauren leaned into fashion and influencer-led storytelling, tapping into the off-court cultural energy of the Open and driving sharp engagement spikes through creator amplification.

“Kia took a more tennis-centric approach, focusing on official partnerships, on-site activations and consistent presence through Australian Open channels.”

Alignment, not luck

Candido said Ralph Lauren’s surge was the result of strategic alignment with the cultural tone of this year’s Open, rather than chance.

“It was driven by alignment, not luck,” he said. “Ralph Lauren’s surge followed a deliberate influencer-led moment that matched the cultural tone of this year’s Open, where fashion, lifestyle and off-court storytelling played a bigger role in engagement.”

Top-performing Ralph Lauren sponsored content came from creators including @gmmtv (reach 6.9 million; engagement 38,000), @soufhv_ (engagement 27,000) and @beckyentofc (engagement 18,800).

By comparison, Kia’s strongest sponsored posts were driven via the Australian Open’s official channels, reflecting its emphasis on partnership visibility and in-tournament presence.

While not leading overall engagement, Kia topped Meltwater’s Generative AI visibility rankings, appearing in 818 GenAI outputs and featuring in 39% of relevant results, ahead of Rolex (809) and Nike (718).

Candido said the divergence between engagement and GenAI visibility points to a new measurement challenge for marketers.

“As GenAI starts to shape how people discover and interact with content - from search results to summaries - understanding how your brand shows up in that layer is becoming just as important as tracking traditional media and social performance.”