A few days after the Rugby World Cup kicked off, the host nation rugby union has launched a new campaign – ‘We Call It Rugby’ – to challenge rugby stereotypes, to connect with the next generation and to encourage young, non-traditional rugby demographics to take up the sport.
The objective of this national, digital campaign is admirable and obvious: build on the surge of interest in the sport during the Rugby World Cup by engaging with 16 to 24-year-olds, inspire them and encourage them to re-appraise their opinion of the sport.
The initiative, which is being run in partnership with VICE Media and vlogger Joe Sugg, is spearheaded by a set of emotionally powerful long-form documentaries.
The video series brings to life the personal narratives of young rugby players from varied backgrounds and with surprising histories: each tells a true story of how the significant role rugby plays in enriching and improving their lives.
A set of visuals and a 30-second teaser
lead the way towards five inspiring stories showing that rugby is for everyone, no matter who you are.
Meet Jake & Sammy
Meet The Wharfdale Brothers
Meet the Twins
Meet The Spartans
Meet LJ
The spots all drive viewers to find out more from the campaign hub at www.findrugby.com
By partnering with Vice Media, one of the UK’s leading youth media companies, the hope is that the campaign will inspire teenagers and young men and women to find a local rugby club.
The documentaries were created in tandem with Virtue Worldwide (the creative services division at global youth brand VICE Media) and activated throughout the VICE digital network, as well as via England Rugby’s own digital channels.
Five inspiring stories that show rugby is for everyone, no matter who you are.
http://t.co/p86DLaiWcD
https://t.co/2tXHrBzXi9
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) September 25, 2015
Meet the Wharfedale brothers!!! Amazing video ❤️ #wecallitrugby @wharfedalerufc @EnglandRugby http://t.co/tLOIpIgeca
— Sarah Benson (@sarahj_b01) September 25, 2015
Another youth-focused alliance strand to raise awareness of the initiative sees England Rugby work with vlogger Joe Sugg (who boasts five million subscribers to his YouTube channel) to create engaging content for use across Sugg’s social media channels.
To boost rugby awareness amongst his followers ahead of the campaign launch, Sugg spent a day at Twickenham to create a vlog that has thus far notched up 430,000 views.
This vlog sees him kick-start the #HuddleSelfie:
I had a #huddleselfie with the boys! Share yours & @EnglandRugby to win England tickets! #ad #luckyboy pic.twitter.com/LoyKS1jqFL
— Joe Sugg (@Joe_Sugg) September 12, 2015
a social initiative backed by musician Ella Eyre and cricketer Stuart Broad.and aimed at giving fans the chance to win England tickets that is going viral across the UK.
#huddleselfie @EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/NflKkIsjmV
— Sarah Butler[PB] (@blxndiesarah) September 14, 2015
@Joe_Sugg #huddleselfie pic.twitter.com/3PnJ8mF02g
— abbie (@AbbieeeH) September 13, 2015
‘We Call it Rugby is a fresh and exciting campaign that uses genuine content to tell the stories of young people who many can relate to and who have the potential to be inspiring role models,’ outlines England Rugby Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer Sophie Goldschmidt.
‘We have pushed many boundaries with this campaign, exploring avenues and approaches that are new to England Rugby and extremely relevant to this audience.’
‘We’ve been working for three years to broaden the game and ensure that by the time 1 November comes around, we’re ready for the surge in interest that we’re expecting the Rugby World Cup to bring,’ adds England Rugby development director Steve Grainger.
‘England Rugby has been working closely with a number of partners across multiple initiatives to bring more 16-24 year-olds into the game, and as part of that, Sport England have supported us with a grant to help make it happen. We are confident that the campaign will be a powerful driving force behind this and look forward to seeing how the campaign rolls out over the coming weeks.’
‘Working with England Rugby has been a great experience for us,’ comments VICE managing director Matt O’Mara.
‘There’s no doubt that rugby has its stereotypes like any sport. We wanted to show that what people think isn’t always the case. Our work always attempts to see beneath the superficial surface of a particular subject matter to find stories you won’t find elsewhere, or to provide a different perspective.
‘The We Call It Rugby series does this in abundance, showing that people from all walks of life can get involved in the sport.’
Comment
Leveraging its status as host nation of the biggest rugby event on planet to drive grassroots rugby and boost wider participation is a obviously a no brainer.
Using new tech platforms that inspire people through emotional long-form story-telling is a clever creative approach.
Linking with vloggers and a contemporary, non-sport media outfit like VICE is a creative and media partnership is imaginative and inventive and shows the RFU is serious about reaching out to the non-rugby segment.
Good work all round!
Links
RFU ‘We Call It Rugby’:
http://www.englandrugby.com/news/call-rugby/
RFU YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/officialRFUTV
RFU Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialEnglandRugby/
RFU Twitter:
https://twitter.com/EnglandRugby
RFU Instagram:
https://instagram.com/englandrugby/
Vice:
Joe Sugg YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ThatcherJoe
