With the All Blacks steamrolling over pretty much everything put in front of them, the New Zealand Rugby Union and kit partner Adidas have injected some rare suspense for the team’s fans with the latest kit launch campaign.
The multi-phase new kit campaign kicked-off with a digital and social teaser stage, before the central launch itself in Auckland and a follow-up phase revolving around the team’s trip to play Ireland in Chicago.
To tease the iconic black symbol of the world’s top rugby team – which Adidas claims is the ‘strongest ever’ jersey in All Blacks history’ – followed swiftly on from the previous week All Black victory against Australia (which saw New Zealand break the world record for the most wins in a row).
Various teaser pieces ran across Facebook,
and Twitter, with executions led by short social videos carrying the hashtags #BlackReinforced and #ForceOfBlack such as this clip featuring flanker Jerome Kaino wearing different jerseys over the years.
The core launch phase came when the new shirt wase shown off at an official event at the Adidas Newmarket store in Auckland – with the first 10 people through the door receiving one for free.
Several All Blacks star players, including Israel Dagg, Malakai Fekitoa and Jerome Kaino were at the shop launch.
This phase came with an official launch video posted on YouTube on 27 October.
Away from the store itself, the launch event was amplified socially across Adidas and All Blacks platforms from Twitter,
Kieran Read, @beaudenbarrett and Owen Franks pose with the new #AllBlacks jersey.#BlackReinforced pic.twitter.com/hrOgdquKWG
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 27, 2016
#BlackReinforced, @adidasNZ have unveiled the latest #AllBlacks jersey.
VIDEO: https://t.co/YhRMtRuLbC#TeamAllBlacks pic.twitter.com/kVsg2d1HEk
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 28, 2016
to Instagram.
The new kit on-field debut came on 5 November when the All Blacks play Ireland in Chicago and the team continued to promote the new kit (and the game) at a series of Chicago events – including a trip to watch the Chicago Bulls in their new NBA season home opener.
Rugby meets basketball! The #AllBlacks loved cheering on @chicagobulls today!#ChicagoBulls #TeamAllBlacks pic.twitter.com/d8d9lY1pb8
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 30, 2016
The campaign was developed by New Zealand agency Augusto, which works with Adidas (which has sponsored the All Blacks since 1999) and the New Zealand RFU on key kit launch initiatives.
The new jersey, said by Adidas to be the strongest ever with a ground-breaking chassis system and new fabric innovation, has a pure white fern (rather than one with the grey hue f recent seasons) while its collar goes back to black.
Several other key All Blacks sponsors also activated around this USA game: including shirt sponsor AIG
WATCH! The #AllBlacks team up w/ @AIGRugby in Chicago to run a skills & drills session with a group of passionate locals!#TeamAllBlacks pic.twitter.com/zj3ORlIN0e
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 31, 2016
and new sponsor Dove.
Comment
As well as the Chicago game, the new All Blacks kit launches ahead of the Northern Hemisphere autumn internationals series – a popular launch slot which even saw sportswear company Canterbury debut of the new British & Irish Lions shirt with its ‘Untouchable Jersey’ campaign (see case study).
The new Adidas kit follows from 2014’s last shirt launch,
as well as its twin-pronged Rugby World Cup 2015 #Belong (see case study) and #ForceOfBlack (see case study),
Links
NZRFU All Blacks Web:
NZRFU All Blacks Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AllBlacks
NZRFU All Blacks Twitter:
NZRFU All Blacks Instagram:
http://www.instagram.com/allblacks
Adidas Rugby YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/adidasrugbytv
Adidas Rugby Website:
Adidas Rugby Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/adidasRugby
Adidas Rugby Google+:
https://plus.google.com/115119264288478615464/posts
Adidas Rugby Twitter:
https://twitter.com/adidasrugby
Adidas New Zealand Website:
Adidas Rugby New Zealand:
Augusto:
