The Ashes began in 1882 and, after all those years, the score in the oldest international cricket competition stands pat at 32 series wins each (and five draws).
Little wonder then that so much marketing activation around the biennial England vs Australia tests on both sides of the world is dominated by the themes of rivalry, banter and sledging.
This year’s rivalry-led official partner campaigns and ambush activity leveraging the Ashes fit into three silos.
The first is the light-hearted and good natured approach to rivalry taken by brands that sponsor both Cricket Australia and the ECB such as Hardys ‘Official Sponsor Of‘ and Toyota’s #SettleTheScore.
The second is the slightly more robust route taken to incentivise fan antagonism such as that illustrated in Australian bookie Sportsbet’s #Pommel campaign.
The third path, typically one trodden by self-styled rebel/challenger brand archetypes, is based on overtly tasteless tactics designed to generate controversy and thus PR such as Paddy Power’s ‘Rolf Harris’ outdoor stunt.
