England Rugby unveils a new women’s team identity and future vision for the women’s game as the team prepares to defend its Rugby World Cup crown next year based around a ‘Red Roses’ idea.
With the identity built around England Rugby’s famous rose emblem, the objective is to showcase the unique qualities of England Women as ‘strong’, ‘relentless’ and ‘glorious’.
The initiative was first teased socially in early October,
before the official unveiling on 5 October led by a launch film called ‘Introducing England’s Red Roses’.
This inspirational video depicts a young girl’s journey to become a Red Rose.
The spot was first screened at a Twickenham launch event led by England stars Sarah Hunter, Natasha Hunt and Emily Scarratt and also attended by RFU CEO Ian Ritchie, RFU Director of Professional Rugby Nigel Melville, RFU Director of Rugby Development Steve Grainger and England legend Maggie Alphonsi.
The rebranding also ran right across England Rugby’s digital and social platforms – including Facebook,
as well as Instagram,
Snapchat and Twitter with various executions and assets ranging from amplifying the launch film, to a behind-the-scenes style ‘Meet the Cast’ clip,
Enjoyed the #RedRoses launch film?
Meet the cast [L to R]:
▪️16 year old Emily
▪️Real Emily
▪️6 year old Emily#WSW16 #RugbyWomen pic.twitter.com/vlTkPdMJmt— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) October 6, 2016
and player interviews from the launch event.
"To be the best you have to play the best"#RedRoses star Sarah Hunter focused on retaining the World Cup in 2017: https://t.co/zzjDv737Vd pic.twitter.com/3Oa0wsW7Go
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) October 6, 2016
RPA TV
Our #RPA Women's Player of the Year for 2015/16, @sarah_hunter8, explains the importance behind the new #RedRoses identity.#WSW16 pic.twitter.com/iDqAjMfOdF— The RPA (@theRPA) October 5, 2016
While former stars and ambassadors also amplified the launch on their personal social channels.
Had a great morning launching #RedRose. I'm really enjoying #WSW2016. Want to know more about the week. Take a read https://t.co/yBYCeh8W86
— Maggie Alphonsi MBE (@MaggieAlphonsi) October 5, 2016
Another direct-to-media strand of the campaign saw fullback Danielle Waterman spread the word in Salford on her visit to BBC Sport: ‘The red roses is really important for us, it really encapsulates not only who we are as individuals and the journeys we’ve been on but also us as a whole team’.
The campaign identity refresh was unveiled alongside the RFU’s new four-year plan for the women’s game.
England Rugby announced 48 professional contracts for 15s and sevens players, the first commercially- sponsored women’s series will take place in November with the Old Mutual Wealth Series.
Indeed, sponsor Old Mutual also supported the new identity launch campaign on its own social platforms.
Since the England Women’s team won the World Cup in 2014, 20 professional full-time sevens contracts were introduced ahead of the Rio Olympics and the RFU launched a strategy to get an additional 10,000 women and girls playing regular contact rugby.
To date, 26,000 women and girls regularly play contact rugby in England – which beats the RFU’s women and girls strategy target of 25,000 a full year ahead of schedule.
So the next development phase is being launched by England Rugby – with new growth targets that include doubling the number of players, increasing the number of matches by 100% and teams by 70%.
In global terms, according to World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper, 25% of the planet’s rugby players are now women.
25% of 7.7 million rugby players in the world are women….Inspiring film from the Womens Rugby World Cup holders, @EnglandRugby #RedRoses https://t.co/yL17PqBM9S
— Brett Gosper (@brettgosper) October 5, 2016
Comment
The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017, run by World Rugby (formerly the International Rugby Board), will be hosted by the Irish Rugby Football Union and will run from 9 to 26 August at grounds in both Dublin and Belfast.
The primary sponsor for the event is Worldwide Partner AON.
The Women's Rugby World Cup #WRWC2017 is coming to #Ireland #BringIt pic.twitter.com/fz8ILMErlm
— Aon Ireland (@AonIreland) May 12, 2016
The last tournament in 2014, the seventh staging of the global competition, saw England crowned world champions for the second time after beating Canada 21-9 in the final (while hosts France beat Ireland 25-18 in the third place play-off).
Links
England Rugby (RFU) YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/officialRFUTV
England Rugby (RFU) Twitter:
https://twitter.com/EnglandRugby
England Rugby (RFU) Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialEnglandRugby/
England Rugby (RFU) Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/englandrugby/
England Rugby (RFU) Web:
Women’s Rugby World Cup:
World Rugby:
