Australian wine brand Hardys is leveraging its sponsorship of the England Cricket Team through a £4m consumer marketing campaign – spanning TV idents, ambassador activity and digital/social content – built around Anglo/Australian Ashes rivalry and its own corporate origins.
The brand’s early 2015 activity was led by a ‘100 Days To Go’ online spot starring England bowler Stuart Broad.
At the tip of the main summer campaign is a broadcast sponsorship between the ECBs’ official wine brand and official UK TV rights holder Sky Sports that is led by an ident spot series sandwiching the ad breaks during coverage of the England v Australia test matches.
To drive home the point, all the ads all carry the strapline ‘Hardys of Australia, proud sponsors of England cricket.
The comic idents series, developed by agency McCann and spanning around 18 different bumpers, all play on the perversely wrong idea that Australia’s biggest wine maker is sponsoring England Cricket and how unpopular this is down under.
The approach is based on the simple insight that anything that annoys Australian cricket fans pleases English supporters.
The creative is running across all Sky Sports Ashes coverage, plus in-stadium executions and ads across various press platforms and online formats.
It includes ads featuring Hardys employees working in its Australian vineyards and wineries and is led by an extended online spot,
and includes many different short format idents.
Within the set there are several ads fronted by England bowler Stuart Broad,
as well as an online-only ‘behind-the-scenes’ Broad film.
Hardys takes the rivalry further with an additional activation strand – running under the hashtag #devotedtocricket – built around a so-called ‘summer of sledging’ and running across its social platforms.
This phase sees the brand link its sponsorship of the ECB with its Cricket Australia partnership and asks fans on both sides of the Ashes divide to tweet their affiliations using either #HardysENG or #HardysAUS for the chance to win selected cricket and wine prizes.
Supporting digital cricket content includes pieces featuring English cricket greats including Michael Vaughan and Sir Ian Botham (a well-known wine buff).
These include Botham-fronted online Ashes test reviews,
and his digital blog.
‘It has been a fantastic first year for Hardys and England cricket, and now the second year is off to a great start with England’s success against New Zealand,’ commented owner Accolade Wines general manager Paul Schaafsma.
‘We are delighted to be extending our agreement with Sir Ian Botham, as a cricket ambassador for the brand, and to be working with Michael Vaughan and, bowler Stuart Broad, for the first time.’
Comment
Hardys initially became an ECB England team sponsor last summer – when it released this video on its YouTube channel.
Signed in 2014, its deal as the Official Wine of England Cricket is a three-year deal relationship and already looks like something of a success.
After all, the link has helped Hardy’s sell six million more bottles over the last 12 months than it had in the previous year in the UK – more than it does in Australia.
Links
Hardy’s YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/hardyswineuk
Hardy’s Twitter:
https://twitter.com/hardyswine
Hardy’s Website:
ECB Website:
