Irish Rugby shirt sponsor 3, despite not holding any direct Rugby World Cup rights, continued its ongoing #AllitTakes rugby activation through the tournament with a phased set of player-fronted, content-led strands that were spearheaded by long-form video.
The objective was to give Ireland rugby fans have a chance to get closer to the World Cup conversation through key members of the team opening up in the #AllitTakes film series.
Thus, just days before the competition kicked off (and before Ireland first game) in mid September, the telecoms brand released ‘Getting Here’ – the first film in a series featuring 3 athlete ambassadors (Robbie Henshaw, Paul O’Connell and Johnny Sexton) discussing their adventures at previous tournaments and outlining just what it means to be in the Irish training camp.
The next film in the series, ‘Team Talk’, was posted online across 3’s own digital and social platforms on 7 October (to leverage interest in Ireland’s final group game) and saw the same trio of stars talk about the various ingredients – from wine gums to blue movies – that make a team and what it’s like for the players during a tournament.
This was followed on 10 October by ‘Thick Skin’ – starring three other players in TommyBowe, Luke Fitzgerald & Keith Earls.
The brand also ran a multi-media reactive campaign strand that responded to tournament events.
This spanned further online video, such as 22 October’s #Thanks Paul’ (following captain Paul O’Connell’s tournament and international career ending injury),
as well as low latency outdoor executions and social media content.
‘The “All It Takes” videos were a huge success for us but they did not happen overnight. We spent a lot of time planning with our agencies on how best to use our assets,’ explains Gavin McAllister PR and Sponsorship Manager for 3 Ireland.
‘It was important for us to determine what role our brand would play in the online conversation and to create a point of difference that our customers would find engaging. Digital allowed us to share these moments with our customers and fans and offer access to something that they would not find elsewhere’.
Comment
As a team sponsor and not a RWC partner 3 is activating under a set of rights restrictions – including a ban on featuring its logo on the jersey during the tournament.
With far more digital freedom to activate than traditional tournament platforms, 3 turned primarily to digital in order to enable the team sponsor to offer Ireland fans and 3 customers a wealth of exclusive, unique and engaging content unavailable elsewhere.
Indeed, according to in-tournament data gathered by Ireland-based Core Media Group’s Livewire, Radical and Ignite Research, 3’s RWC related marketing had a considerable impact with 31% of Irish fans stating that the brand’s sponsorship has added to the tournament.
Its approach in leveraging England 2015 effectively continues its Irish Rugby campaign from earlier in the year – specifically its 6 Nations activity that was also player-led – such as Johnny Sexton fronting a February ‘#AllitTakes is Everything’ spot
(For full details of 3’s #AllitTakes 6 Nations work see previous case study).
Links
3 YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/threeireland
3 Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/3Ireland?_rdr=p
3 Google+:
https://plus.google.com/103724954374975247121
3 Website:
Irish Rugby YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/IrishRugbyTVOfficial
Irish Rugby Twitter:
https://twitter.com/IrishRugby
Irish Rugby Website:
Irish Rugby Facebook:
