The second phase of ECB sponsor Toyota’s ‘Future Cricket’ project sees England stars help launch a competition incentivising fans to come up with innovative ideas on improving the game.
The England and Wales Cricket Board partner aims to encourage cricket lovers to come up with inventive and imaginative ways to make cricket better with a competition incentivised by an impressive cricket prize package.
The initiative was launched on 18 May, the day before the start of England’s opening test of the summer to leverage fan (and media) interest in the game, the spearhead spot stars England test captain Alistair Cook and stars Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood (along with members of the grassroots game).
The three-minute ‘call to entry’ film features the players discussing their own inventive thoughts on making the game better: these range from rotating cricket grounds for varied spectator views and balls that release a puff of chalk during training to help judge line and length, to sound effects broadcast for fours ‘Zap’ and sixes ‘Shazam’.
‘Last year we had some fantastic ideas from the kids, now we want the rest of you to let us know how we could make cricket better. My own idea is to have a ‘Snick’ machine that aids training by replicating the angles the ball flies off the bat to the slip catchers,’ says Cook.
‘When we are playing, the crowds give us great inspiration and they are never slow in letting us know what they think. We want them to share their innovative ideas to improve the game we love.’
In addition to debuting on the auto partner’s YouTube channel, this promotional video is also being amplified across Toyota’s social channels – such as Twitter.
The players have told us their ideas, now send us yours: https://t.co/f6HbO4cwYF. #BetterCrickethttps://t.co/CXoU8MNgKQ
— ToyotaGB (@ToyotaGB) May 18, 2016
These shout out creative pieces point viewers to Toyota’s bespoke campaign digital hub where fans can contribute their ideas at toyota.co.uk/bettercricket.
Cricket lovers are also able to submit ideas on Twitter using the campaign hashtag #bettercricket.
Entries logged prior to 16 June will then be assessed by a panel of independent judges who will choose the three they consider to be the best and then these will, in turn, be put to a public vote to determine the overall winner.
As well as the winners having an opportunity to be involved with Toyota and the ECB in exploring how their idea might potentially be put into practice in the game, the prizes on offer for those who come up with the best ideas range from a cricket bat signed by members of the England team, a pair of tickets for England’s Royal London One Day International against Pakistan on 4 September and a meet-and-greet with an England player.
‘Our Future of Cricket campaign has already produced some amazing contributions from children learning to play cricket through the Chance to Shine charity,’ explains Toyota spokesman Stuart Sanders.
‘Now we want the rest of the countries fans and players to have their say and potentially see their cricketing innovation benefit the game in the future.’
The campaign, which was developed with creative agency Saatchi and Saatchi and sponsorship agency Sponsorship Intelligence, was neatly timed to coincide with the first day of the first England test match of the summer.
Comment
This work continues the previous phase of the #BetterCricket campaign which revolved around ambassador James Anderson and a series of kids’ voxpop style webfilms about their ideas for improving the game (see case study) and these inspirational tips from younger fans can be built on by the wider cricket community.
Other parts of the partnership sees Toyota take the role as headline sponsor of Channel 5’s peak-time international cricket highlights coverage and other summer 2015 activations included:
Toyota Wicket Cam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_ExYph-dg
Toyota Lane Departure Warning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWh-SYZGlZg
Toyota Field Navigation Sstem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANA4l0vGrfY
Toyota Ball Impact Alarm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI3NWAHtsTc
Toyota Stability Control
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTtexNg3WdQ
Cricket is clearly a sport going through considerable change as it adapts to socio-cultural and technical change and, especially with the recent entrance of Silicon Valley companies like Google and Tesla, so too is the automotive industry.
Toyota believes that both it and the ECB blend fine, long-standing traditions whilst still both being organisations unafraid to move with the times, to embrace innovations and new technologies that improve performance.
‘We strive for the perfect car. England strive for the perfect performance’ says Toyota.
It also aims to highlight a shared admiration for impeccable timing, controlled power and calm precision.
The car company’s umbrella approach to its own category is to innovate and embrace new technologies, to approach challenges with optimism and to take pride in performance.
All values it believes are shared by cricket and by a joint belief in and common approach to the car outfit’s umbrella tagline ‘Always A Better Way’.
‘Our partnership with the ECB is an excellent opportunity for us to support a fantastic sport that reaches millions of people. We’re proud to be backing England for every success this summer and beyond and providing its players and personnel with vehicles they can depend on,’ said Matt Harrison, Toyota GB President and Managing Director, when the deal was signed.
‘Ahead of a hugely exciting summer of cricket for the England team, we’re delighted to be entering into a new partnership with Toyota. They are a leading high profile automotive brand that continually strives for enhanced performance; a great fit for England cricket. The deal highlights the continued appeal England cricket brings to a variety of brands,’ added ECB Commercial Director Sanjay Patel
The agreement with the ECB adds to Toyota international sports sponsorship portfolio which also includes Cricket Australia, as well as the International Olympic Committee and support for the IAAF World Championships (athletics).
Links
Toyota UK Cricket Microsite
https://www.toyota.co.uk/cricket.json
Toyota UK YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ToyotaUKTV
Toyota UK Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ToyotaGB
@ToyotaGB
Toyota UK Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/toyotauk
Toyota UK Website:
https://www.toyota.co.uk/
ECB Website:
http://www.ecb.co.uk/
Saatchi and Saatchi:
http://saatchi.co.uk/en-gb/
Sponsorship Intelligence:
http://sponsorshipintelligence.com/
