UK Broadcaster ITV Launches ‘Rise for the Rugby World Cup’ Japanese Anime Promo

A month ahead of Japan 2019 , UK broadcaster ITV launched a ‘Rise For The Rugby World Cup’ trailer to build tournament buzz and promote its own competition coverage.

The creative was inspired by elements of modern Japanese artistic culture including anime and gaming.

Drawing on influences ranging from classic anime movies like Battle of the Planets and Dragon Ball Z, Manga artists Katsuhiro Otomo (who directed cyber-punk anime film Akira) and Satoshi Kon (who co-wrote and anime film Paprika), to classic 16-bit games such as Street Fighter and Tekken.

The spot, launched on 14 August, features a series of rugby fans from each of the home nations (including a small child, a girl waiting for a train and an office worker) sleeping and dreaming with excitement and anticipating of the action ahead in Japan.

Each takes a journey through live action and an anime rugby landscape populated with super-sized players, Mount Fuji and the bullet trains.

Luckily, they all awake in time for kick-off, which, due to the time difference, will be early in the morning UK time.

Hence the campaign tagline inviting viewers to ‘Rise for the Rugby World Cup’.

The promo was developed in-house by ITV Creative in collaboration with Stink Films and Golden Wolf and it features the track Goku by Jaden Smith (which itself was inspired by anime with its reference to the titular character from the Dragon Ball series.)

As well as the lead spot running on television and across the broadcaster’s digital channels, the promotional campaign and tournament activation also includes a partnership with Ocean Outdoor offering big game scores and highlights on outdoors screens across the Uk for those on the move.

As part of this strand, the England v France game will be shown live on the large full motion screen in Westfield Square, London on Saturday, 12 October (kick-off 9.15am)

ITV’s campaign also spans a dedicated Rugby World Cup site at https://www.itv.com/rugbyworldcup2019, a Twitter account @ITVRugby, as well as podcasts and a special six-episode series ‘Flats and Shanks in Japan’ on the ITV Hub ahead of the tournament.

“Because the Rugby World Cup is taking place in Japan for the first time, we already know it’s going to be like nothing else rugby fans have experienced before,” said Chris Anstey, ITV marketing manager.

“The campaign aims to tap into the way the tournament grips imaginations and capture the promise of a spectacular event awaiting on the horizon in September on ITV.”

Tony Pipes, executive creative director for ITV Creative, added: “We wanted to create a piece that captured the excitement and tangible giddiness that rugby fans have been feeling with the kick-off around the corner. We felt Japan’s rich and pioneering history with animation made it the perfect medium to translate the physicality and action of the game and tease what I’m sure will be a unique and historic tournament.”

Keith McCarthy, Stink Films director, said: “The RWC project really is a dream job. So many elements and teams coming together to craft a great film. The script itself was so singular and clear in its ambition and I wanted to push all the ingredients – the cinematic live action, the authentic anime-inspired animation, inventive transitions that blur the lines between the physical and animated. The challenge of working in dual worlds of performance and animation made so much easier with the infinite knowledge and smarts of Golden Wolf.”

Comment:

Rugby meets anime in this dazzling and fun spot.

We expect it won’t be the only creative approach of this type we see activating around Japan 2019.

In fact, England Rugby’s marketers adopted this tactic with their launch of its own ‘Rising Sons’ World Cup initiative (see case study).

The 2019 Rugby World Cup runs from 20 September to 2 November and every game is live on ITV and ITV Hub.

With experts on the ground in Japan and in the UK, the ITV team is led by presenters Mark Pougatch and Jill Douglas and a commentator and pundit line-up that includes Jonny Wilkinson, Sam Warburton, Brian O’Driscoll, Bryan Habana, Sir Clive Woodward, Paul O’Connell, Gareth Thomas, George Gregan, Sir Ian McGeechan, Lawrence Dallaglio, Maggie Alphonsi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Jim Hamilton, Mike Phillips Michael Lynagh, Jamie Roberts, Ugo Monye, Shane Williams, Scott Hastings, Danielle Waterman, Ben Kay, Alan Quinlan, Craig Doyle, Martin Bayfield, Nick Mullins, Miles Harrison, Martin Gillingham and Simon Ward.

Links:

ITV

http://www.itv.com

https://www.youtube.com/user/ITV1

http://www.facebook.com/itv

http://www.twitter.com/itv

http://www.instagram.com/itv

Rugby World Cup

https://www.rugbyworldcup.com

https://twitter.com/rugbyworldcup

https://www.facebook.com/rugbyworldcup

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