Inspiring Film Fronts Coke Zero’s RWC Work With 100s Of Free Sessions & A 1M Replica Ball Giveaway

Coca-Cola kicks off its Rugby World Cup UK sponsorship marketing with an inspirational and a set of online videos promoting hundreds of rugby-inspired UK summer events and a one million Gilbert replica ball on-pack giveaway.

The launch film features two English Rugby World Cup winners – winger Jason Robinson (2003) and women’s rugby star Natasha Hunt (2014) – and aims to inspire and excite the host nation ahead of the tournament (and to show how much fun can be had with a rugby ball).

deliberately shot in a variety of settings far removed from those traditionally associated with the sport – from Brighton Beach to Mile End Skate Park – the spot shows Robinson and Hunt exploring the magic of the rugby ball as it aims to demonstrate that it is a game for everyone and that anyone can pick up a ball and play.

This film is further supported by a set of rugby-themed online videos, including ‘Passing’,

‘Running’,

and ‘Kicking’

which promote Coca-Cola’s plans to stage ‘hundreds’ of free rugby-inspired activity sessions across the country.

These will be ‘open-to-all’ and will offer a broad variety of rugby themed opportunities: from touch-rugby and tag-rugby games, to rugby-fit exercise sessions and rugby-inspired dance classes.

The drinks giant – the official soft drink, water and sport drinks supplier of Rugby World Cup 2015 – is hosting activities in six cities across the country – as part of its ParkLives programme which aims to encourage physical activity in outdoor areas.

Coke is partnering with sports charity StreetGames to create pop-up urban rugby games in every host city of the tournament – London, Leicester, Gloucester, Milton Keynes and Exeter – to engage a wider audience with rugby.

The tournament’s host cities are Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff, Exeter, Gloucester, Leeds, Leicester, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes and Newcastle.

As the soft drinks giant’s leverage campaign evolves through the summer and autumn it will span TV, out of home, press and on-pack competition.

Indeed, a core element of the campaign is a huge, on-pack promotion that will see the soft drinks behemoth give away one million RWC2015 Coca-Cola Gilbert replica rugby balls.

To be in with a chance of winning one of these size four, limited-edition balls (designed for everyone’s fun – from beginners to rugby players – for family and park-friendly fun) offers will run on all four Coca-Cola pack variants with a 10 digit unique code linking to the competition website at http://www.winaball.co.uk.
‘We want to use our sponsorship to help take the sport of rugby to an even wider audience, hopefully inspiring people to get involved in the tournament and have some fun,’ explains Paul Dwan, general manager of Coca-Cola’s Rugby World Cup 2015 team.

‘Our biggest ever rugby on-pack promotion will put up to one million balls into the hands of consumers across the country, giving them the opportunity to try the sport like never before, whether that’s through our ParkLives programme, our partnership with StreetGames or in the garden or park with family and friends.’

Comment

Coca‑Cola has a reasonably long association with rugby – from the elite international game to grassroots programmes.

Since sponsoring the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, the cola giant has featured at every tournament.

It first unveiled its RWC 2015 partnership as soft drink, sports drink and water supplier for the tournament through a March event in Hackney that saw the brand surprise rugby-loving teenagers in east London with a unique training session led by former British and Irish Lions and Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll.

‘Today’s surprise session was a great way to kick-start the partnership between Coca‑Cola and Rugby World Cup, which is all about how the excitement of a global sport event can motivate anyone to move,’ said O’Driscoll at the event which set the foundations for the brand’s approach built around encouraging more people in the community to take up and enjoy the health benefits of rugby.

Interestingly, from a Coca-Cola strategy perspective, its Rugby World Cup works marks the first time the Atlanta-based drinks business has led a major international sports partnership with its no sugar drink Coke Zero.

While all of its cola variants will feature in the campaign as it evolves – as per Coca-Cola’s new ‘one brand strategy’ (unveiled in March 2015) – Coke Zero will be the ‘heroed’ product.

Links

Coca-Cola Replica Gilbert RWC Ball Competition:

http://www.winaball.co.uk

Coca-Cola GB Website:

http://www.coca-cola.co.uk

Coca-Cola YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/CocaColaCo

Coca-Cola Google+:

https://plus.google.com/+TheCoca-ColaCompany/videos

Coca-Cola Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/TheCocaColaCo

Coca-Cola Twitter: