13/03/2017

Vodafone AFP ‘Four Days In November’ Documentary At Heart Of Irish Rugby #TeamOfUs Activation

Leveraging RBS 6 Nations fever around of Ireland’s 25 February game against  France, shirt sponsor Vodafone produced an advertiser-funded programme (AFP) called ‘Four Days In November’: a documentary about Ireland Rugby’s historic first ever win against New Zealand.

 

To mark the IRFU’s showpiece home game at in the Aviva, RTÉ screened the 52-minute fly-on-the-wall programme – an insider story about the team’s autumn international series in the USA and its wins against both Australia and the All Blacks.

 

It was teased across the brand’s digital and social platforms ahead of airing,

 

 

 

After screening on RTE, the documentary was later posted to the telco’s YouTube channel (and its digital hub at http://rugby.vodafone.ie/four-days-in-november/).

 

 

Again it was promoted by promos

 

 

and cut-down clips such as ‘The Pope’,

 

 

‘The Walk Out’

 

 

and ‘Basketball’.

 

 

It follows the IRFU’s ‘Irish Rugby: What We Did Last Summer’ film which was broadcast last November.

 

Both were produced by Vodafone and its agency Target McConnells, the TV programme is a core marketing pillar in Vodafone’s €15m, four-year #TeamOfUs sponsorship of the Irish rugby team.

 

‘Four Days in November aired at 7.30pm on RTE 2 on Saturday, 25 February after the Ireland v France match.

 

The objective behind the AFP was to create something that was ‘culturally contagious’ and which would be talked about ‘in homes and pubs across the country’.

 

‘We knew that we had something that really connected with the public when we were constantly asked “when’s the next one due?” adds Target McConnells’ managing director Abi Moran.

 

‘That feedback was enough to tell us that Vodafone customers and rugby fans really got behind our first #TeamOfUs programme which aired on RTE One last year.  It sets up strong anticipation for ‘Four Days in November’, the new programme we have produced on behalf of Vodafone.’

 

‘The making of the programme involved the agency travelling throughout Ireland, meeting the players, coaches and management behind the scenes and interviewing them to hear their stories. With no storyboards, no scripts, just a culturally contagious idea that Target McConnells and Vodafone wanted to see come to life, the outcome is an alchemy between fans, supporters and players that makes for compelling viewing,’ continues Moran.

 

‘From the outset, one of the aims of the #TeamOfUs platform was to build the most interconnected team and fanbase on the planet. Through a truly collaborative approach with the IRFU, the agency has produced a must see film that really captures some of the most memorable moments in recent Irish international rugby,’ explains Anne Mulcahy, head of brand and communications, Vodafone Ireland.

 

The initiative was developed for Vodafone partnerships team led by head of brand communications Anne Mulcahy, brand operations boss Paula Murphy, senior sponsorship and engagement manager Gerry Nixon and sponsorship specialist Paddy Carberry.

 

The Target McConnells team included agency producer Michael Cullen, a creative team that included Karl Waters, Jamie Whelan, Bobby Byrne and Steven Mangan, plus strategist Paul Fisher, client services pair David Curran and Conor Thompson.

 

The programme’s director was Alan Gilsenan, with directors of photography Cian de Buitlear and John Sherwin and editor Cúán Mac Conghail

 

The AFP was just one part of the ongoing and multi-strand #TeamOfUs activation programme which includes behind-the-scenes video in the form of an introductory ‘Welcome To The Team of Us’ spot,

 

 

and a series of cut-downs for bumpers and clips like ‘The Kick’

 

 

‘The Dressing Room’

 

 

and ‘Pool Session’ on YouTube,

 

 

Twitter

 

 

 

and Facebook.

 

Plus numerous other activation strands such as ticket contests, jersey giveaways, exclusive prizes and tag & share initiatives – these included sub campaigns like ‘Jersey Swap’ and ‘Best Seats in the House’.

 

 

 

a competition to win a seat on the team bus,

 

 

and a handset tie-in with Samsung.

 

 

 

Activative Comment:

 

Airing an hour-long AFP documentary on the national broadcaster isn’t a move most national team sponsors would be in a position to make to make or might choose to make to activate around a tournament like the 6 Nations.

 

But, with cumulative engagements across all channels in the millions (an impressive number – especially considering the Republic of Ireland’s population is only 4.5m) it certainly seems to have been a clever strategy that is paying off for the telco.

 

In terms of the creative, we at Activative particularity like the natural approach of the programme: one created without storyboards or scripts – it brings the story to life in a natural way that is quite unusual for most brand-backed films.

 

This kind of activation, which relies on so much access to create so much content, is only possible when there are extremely strong levels of trust between sponsor (Vodafone) and rights holder (Ireland Rugby).

 

It is a reminder that creating trust between sponsor and rights holder is essential for the creation of genuinely compelling content.

 

This collaborative understanding emerges from not just all parties having a thorough understanding of objectives, and an openness and willingness to explore innovative new initiatives, but also a pretty deep level of trust.

 

Despite the #TeamOfUs only launching in summer 2016 (after Vodafone took over the IRFU rights from O2), the campaign has already won gongs at the Irish Sponsorship Awards (including ‘Best Use of Social Media’ and ‘Best Use of PR’) and surely there are more to come.

 

Clearly the IRFU and Vodafone are going to be a partnership to be reckoned with – on the level of England Rugby’s long-running and deeply-integrated relationship with O2.

 

Links:

 

Vodafone

http://rugby.vodafone.ie/four-days-in-november/

http://www.vodafone.ie/

https://twitter.com/VodafoneIreland

https://www.facebook.com/vodafoneireland/

 

IRFU

http://www.irishrugby.ie

 

RBS 6 Nations

http://www.rbs6nations.com

 

 

 



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