As the Rugby Football Union’s shirt sponsor O2 aims to drive support for the team by revamping its ‘Wear The Rose’ integrated initiative to leverage the 6 Nations kick off.
The campaign builds from England coach Stuart Lancaster describing fan support as that ‘extra 10%’.
The idea behind the push is that the power of support can be the difference between victory and defeat and it urges fans and customers to ‘be that difference’.
‘Wear The Rose’ is O2’s attempt to get the country to get behind the team by wearing a symbol that represents the very heart of England (and one that is sewn onto the chest of every England Rugby shirt) – the red rose.
O2 2015 campaign, which marks 20 years of its RFU sponsorship, was launched to coincide with the start of the RBS 6 Nations and continues its 2014 call-to-arms campaign.
The campaign copy reveals:
‘Wearing the rose may be an individual act, but it’s a collective demonstration of our support for England Rugby.
If everyone stands up to Wear The Rose, the England players will feel stronger, faster and perform better. They will feel like giants.
Join the movement. Show it. Wear it. Share it. #WearTheRose’
The activation opens with a new TV spot – first aired on O2’s YouTube page the day of England’s first 2015 6 Nations game against Wales.
The emotive ad showcases the difference that the power of fan support can make through different British storylines across various sports scenarios.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgL2aBR0M8w
The initiative will continue right through the year and in the build up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
It will run across TV, on-demand video, O2 Sports YouTube Channel, print, digital out of home, radio and social media and aims to encourage fans themselves to form the core of the campaign.
O2 and the RFU are encouraging fans to tweet messages of support using the #WearTheRose hashtag directly to England’s Pennyhill Park training base.
These fan tweets will be displayed to the players at their camp and also displayed on digital billboards across the UK (including at Waterloo Station and in the West Fan Village at Twickenham itself).
Those O2 customers who show their support via social media on match days are entered into a competition offering exclusive rewards, experiences and offers via O2’s Priority platform.
Another strand of the O2 campaign sees the brand touring major cities and rugby clubs across the nation and offer a virtual reality rugby experience via Oculus Rift (which continues from last year’s England Rugby campaign – see previous case study).
This virtual experience is also available via the O2 Blueroom and at Twickenham on matchdays.
This also follows its recent ‘Ultimate Fan’ competition,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aczqjkTwvrQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1xtu8qpSaA
and its online film series of exclusive England Rugby content.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0wmKdaeWAo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4sDvQXqZck
as well as its England Women’s Rugby activation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uvOYag7RJc
Comment
‘We’re launching ‘Wear the Rose’ at the start of an amazing year for O2 and England Rugby. We are calling upon the country to stand beside us, and get behind the England Rugby Team,’ says O2 heaad of sport Gareth Griffiths.
‘To do that we need a symbol that represents the very heart of England, a symbol sewn onto the chest of every England Rugby shirt – the red rose.’
England coach Stuart Lancaster said fan support could be the difference between winning or losing.
‘The support we get is fantastic and I’m sure that in this special year for rugby our fans can be that difference.’’
‘As players and coaches we thrive on support, it can provide that extra 10% which in a game of small margins, can be so important. We’re delighted O2 are bringing fans right to the heart of their campaign.’
Links
O2 Wear The Rose:
http://www.o2.co.uk/sponsorship/rugby/wear-the-rose
O2 Sports Priority
http://www.o2priority.co.uk/sports
O2 Sports YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/o2spor
O2 Sports Google+
https://plus.google.com/116304440606210600730/videos
O2 RFU Twitter
https://twitter.com/o2sports
O2 RFU Instagram
http://instagram.com/o2sports
O2 Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/o2uk
England Rugby Website:
http://www.englandrugby.com/
