ANZ is repurposing the ‘Dream Big’ grassroots grants scheme support from the ICC Cricket World Cup for rugby to leverage interest in RWC 2015.
With the Rugby World Cup approaching, ANZ has relaunched the grassroots initiative, based around community club facilities upgrades, for rugby to make the most of the public’s appetite for the game through the sport’s top tournament.
The key difference between the campaign’s cricket strand and its new rugby phase, is that ANZ is an official partner of the Black Caps cricket team, but has now official ties to Rugby New Zealand or the Rugby World Cup.
The refreshed campaign launch, primarily on social channels and particularly via Facebook, showcases the initiative with a film about ANZ’s renovation of Waitemata Rugby Club.
The programme, which is being promoted across all of its digital and social platforms,
It's time to Dream Big again NZ! Will share more tomorrow.. Watch this space!! @ANZ_NZ #Beaver #DreamBigNZ pic.twitter.com/GVjVvHLN8C
— Laura McGoldrick (@lauramcgoldrick) August 19, 2015
invites applications from amateur clubs across the country through its digital platforms and its website at https://comms.anz.co.nz/dreambig/grantscheme.
The call for entry copy reads:
‘If you or your club need help achieving your rugby dreams, tell us today and we could make it happen. It’s time to Dream Big again New Zealand!
‘ANZ is once again giving fans and players from around the country an opportunity to make their rugby dreams come true . . . and we want you to dream big.
‘There are no limits to the types of dream you can apply for, provided your application meets our terms and conditions. Your dream could benefit an entire community or just one family. Perhaps your rugby club needs an extreme makeover or you need some help putting on the ultimate rugby tournament?
‘Whatever it is, ANZ’s big blue bus will be delivering dreams to communities around the country and just might make your dream come true.’
To further inspire applications, the campaign offers up some of the cricket dreams that the scheme has already delivered.
Comment
ANZ does not hold an official New Zealand Rugby Union or IRB Rugby World Cup partnership position and thus it doesn’t specifically mention the All Blacks or RWC 2015.
Indeed, this guerrilla approach is an ambush not just of the tournament and the team, but also of rival ASB – the official banking partner of the Blacks.
ANZ initially created its community-focused Dream Big project to cut-through the crowded Cricket World Cup marketing landscape by focussing on grassroots rather than on the elite game.
And, of course, this is a route to activate around an event either with or without paying for official rights packages.
During the ICC cricket tournament hosted by Australia and New Zealand at the beginning of the year, the bank brought its NZ Black Caps sponsorship alive with a practical programme deployed across the country tasked with upgrading various club cricket by facilities around the country.
As ever, the brand created multiple pieces around the ground refurbishments and used them to create shareable content that generated a combined two million likes, shares and comments for the brand.
This property-related approach dovetails with the brand’s umbrella ‘Dream Big’ marketing platform.
There are clear parallels in this initiative with RBS’ ‘Rugby Force’ in UK and Irish grassroots rugby – which links to its rugby sponsorships and specifically to its flagship 6 nations title partnership (see our Insight Briefing Report).
Links
ANZ YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ANZNewZealand
ANZ Website:
ANZ Twitter:
ANZ Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ANZNewZealand
