Kit supplier Canterbury activated several of its shirt supply sponsorships through an umbrella #CommittedTo big idea that adopts a hub and spoke strategy where #CommitedToRugby sits at the centre and various #CommittedToINSERTCOUNTRYHERE spokes stretch out from the core.
This strategy saw several rugby-themed central spots run through the Rugby World Cup such as #CommittedToSpeed,
#CommittedToEndurance,
and #CommittedToStrength,
and multiple individual team focused spoke strands that included July and August’s #ComittedToEngland shirt launch work,
and #CommittedToJapan via its ‘Japan Way’ film.
But probably the most developed of these #CommittedTo strands was in Ireland where it ran a tournament-led campaign under the tagline ‘Four Provinces, One Team. #TogetherForIreland’.
This opened with a pre jersey launch teaser spot, called #CommittedToStreetArt, launched in late June 2015.
This in turn was followed later by a traditional player-led, PR-focused launch event, the introduction of the #CommittedToIreland across social channels and a ‘reveal’ online film.
The main #CommittedToIreland activation phase opened in mid September with a core promo spot that aimed to unite fans of Ireland’s four provinces to come together through the green jersey.
And this was supported later in September with
and a fan-focused activation strand that saw the kit manufacturer set out on a nationwide search during the tournament itself that saw it seek out the most committed Ireland fan as defined by signing the team’s anthem ‘Ireland’s Call’.
Comment
This latter tactical idea based around anthem singing shows remarkable similarities to Molsen’s beer fridge focused Canadian national anthem singing campaign from 2014 (see case study).
Overall, we like the multi-phase, stepped Irish work – particularly for its blend of street culture, fan fun, blended content and ATL work and its consistent focus on the fans.
But we do wonder whether, in this increasingly globalised world, fans are genuinely able to separate #CommitedTo England from ‘CommittedToIreland and fully buy into a ‘committed to’ message’ when a brand also has matching relationships (and a matching message) with rival teams?
For further details and analysis of Canterbury’s England activity at RWC 2015 see our case study.
Links
Canterbury YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialCanterbury
Canterbury Website:
Canterbury Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/canterbury
Canterbury Twitter:
https://twitter.com/canterburyNZ
Irish Rugby YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/IrishRugbyTVOfficial
Irish Rugby Twitter:
https://twitter.com/IrishRugby
Irish Rugby Website:
Irish Rugby Facebook:
