As the Northern hemisphere rugby season reaches its climax with the European Cup and Lions speculation ramps up, Adidas Rugby launches a new global campaign called ‘Next Is Everything’.
Developed in harness with New Zealand headquartered agency Augusto, the initiative features several big name stars (such as England’s Maro Itoje and Anthony Watson, France’s Baptiste Serin, the All Blacks’ Savea brothers and NZ Women’s Sevens star Tyla Nathan Wong) and its primary objective is to unify Adidas Rugby markets under a single global proposition.
The campaign opened with a series of social teaser videos,
Ask yourself, are you ready? #NextIsEverything @anthonywatson_ @George_North @maroitoje @Courtney_Lawes @ConorMurray_9 @samwarburton_ pic.twitter.com/nLmsUxaJfv
— adidas Rugby (@adidasrugby) May 1, 2017
How NEXT are you? #NextIsEverything @maroitoje @tylanathanwong @juliansavea7 @ardiesavea @anthonywatson_ @Serin_Baptiste pic.twitter.com/TvnTl5Iizy
— adidas Rugby (@adidasrugby) May 3, 2017
History's nice but we're here to create the NEXT #NextIsEverything @anthonywatson @samwarburton_ @DanCarter @ardiesavea @tylanathanwong pic.twitter.com/GMMEwRGZ01
— adidas Rugby (@adidasrugby) May 8, 2017
before the central hero video debuted on 9 May to mark the official start of the ‘Next is Everything’ campaign.
This flagship film will be followed by an ongoing series of videos and social imagery which will promote key Adidas rugby athlete ambassadors and a new boot range.
Light it up. #NextIsEverything pic.twitter.com/ouNqPuoUGC
— adidas Rugby (@adidasrugby) May 12, 2017
Only for the artists. Only in Paris. #NextIsEverything pic.twitter.com/8ldLO5PhLP
— adidas Rugby (@adidasrugby) May 10, 2017
All executions and content pieces are linked through the campaign’s #NextIsEverything hashtag.
The campaign’s production challenge was broad and deep: the creative development process stretched from London and Paris to the South Pacific, while the content ranged from a set of stills, animated drawings, multi-platform pieces and an evolving series of videos.
“Working with plenty of the world’s top rugby players since we joined Augusto 18 months ago, it’s evident they all have a shared mentality about always looking ahead, not relying on the past, which became the basis of the entire campaign,” explains Augosto joint creative director Matt Sellars.
While co-creative director Rich Robson, adds: “This has been a great opportunity for us to rally players from all regions under a mutual love of the game. Rugby is one of the fastest growing sports globally, so we wanted to create a rugby campaign for the newer generation of fans and players. One that shifts away from sporting heritage towards a more exciting, and future-facing positioning better suited to the modern game.”
CEO and Augusto founder, Michelle Walshe also commented in the new campaign by saying: “This is a big milestone. We were awarded the work out of Germany off the strength of our strategic and creative thinking and then brought it to life across production, post production and design almost entirely inside Augusto. This is the type of work we hang our hat on and it’s a perfect example of the Augusto magic that only comes from true end-to-end collaboration.”
Activative Comment:
Carefully timed to leverage sky high rugby union interest as it leverages both the squad announcement for the British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand, as well as Saracens victory over Clermont in the European Champions Cup and the climax of the big three European leagues.
In terms of the creative approach and feel (although not in terms of message), there is a hint of Adidas’ Football’s ‘Haters’ campaign from 2015 (see case study).
In recent years, Adidas Rugby has built an impressive stable of endorser and team partners across the sport’s landscape.
In terms of team deals, it has major partnership deals with the All Blacks, FFR, USA Rugby, Munster, Harlequins, The Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders, Highlanders, Suntory Sun Goliath, and Ricoh Black Rams.
While adidas’ rugby endorsers include Beauden Barrett, Sonny Bill Williams, Julian Savea, Maro Itoje, Anthony Watson, Sam Warburton, George North, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Wesely Fofana, Baptiste Serin, Dan Carter and Tyla Nathan Wong.
Links:
Adidas Rugby
https://www.youtube.com/user/adidasrugbytv
http://www.instagram.com/adidasrugby
http://www.facebook.com/adidasrugby
http://www.twitter.com/adidasrugby
Augosto
