Being given a Baggy Green cap is an honour for all Australian cricketers and new Cricket Australia sponsor XXXX Gold is leveraging this iconic national symbol by introducing a tech-enabled ‘Goldie’ cap.
The beer brand is activating its new Cricket Australia sponsorship with an internet-of-things style initiative that gives away Goldies to those who buy specially-marked packs of XXXX Gold.
This tech-enabled Australian/brand gold coloured cricket cap has been designed to reward fans for coming together and supporting the national side right across Australia during the upcoming Magellan Ashes Series.
Using an on-pack code, consumers can use an app to pair their smartphone to their Goldie – which contains miniature iBeacons in the lining and can detect other in-range Goldies.
Throughout the season, XXXX is challenging Goldie wearers to link up with one another to increase their chances of winning one of 6000 cricket-related prized with a value of more than $350,000.
The prizes range from LG TVs, Qantas flight vouchers, official merchandise and other cricket items such as Ashes tickets and VIP match day experiences.
The more Goldies in one place, the higher the chance of winning: so the bigger the cricket party BBQ, the bigger the prize.
XXXX Gold will give fans wearing a Goldie the chance to win $10,000 if they catch a six during the Australian Men’s Test matches and One-Day Internationals.
This is an incentive for thousands of fans wear Goldies to the stadium to watch the Ashes – thus generating in-stadium brand visibility.
It was in late September that the official partner announcement was made: accompanied by a straightforward announcement spot,
and followed by a cricket Q&A.
A week later the Goldie was officially launched by former Australian Text cricketer and XXXX Gold ambassador Adam Gilchrist on the brand’s YouTube channel
and on Cricket Australia’s channel too.
This was followed by a ‘How To Connect With Your Mates’ spot,
a ‘How To Pair Your Goldie’ video,
and a ‘How To Register’.
The initiative was also promoted on the beer brand’s Facebook page.
“Cricket is about more than just the players. It’s about the fans that head out to the Test, play cricket at the beach or get together with their mates at home to watch the match,” Gilchrist said.
“The Goldie has been created to unite these fans over their favourite sport and make them feel part of the Ashes this summer.”
“We thought doing something big for the fans was a great way to kick off the season,” added XXXX Gold marketing manager Richard Knight.
“Launching the Goldie is all about giving Aussies more joy in coming together over cricket this summer.
“Whether you’re playing cricket with your mates in the backyard or sitting in the stands –the Goldie is going to take the experience to the next level.
“Partnering with Cricket Australia was a natural fit for us, especially given that XXXX GOLD has long been a supporter of cricket.
“We’re stoked to be back and be the official beer sponsor of the Australian cricket team and encourage Aussies to get together with their family and friends under the Aussie sun and celebrate the season ahead.”
Comment:
We love this idea: it’s not just innovative, but it neatly links the brand to the game and also joins fans together in acts of collective support (and may well see TV commentators discussing why the stands are filled with fans wearing XXXX brand gold for the Ashes).
Although consumers do need to sign up for SMS and email alerts when they register a Goldie account: so there is the potential for the activation leading to a stream of marketing email spam.
An Ashes summer is always an opportunity for innovative Australian beer brand activation: for past series we’ve seen inventive work ranging from beer fridges and wi-fi scoreboard radios (see case study), interactive bobble heads and getting fan names on team shirts (see case study), and even buying the whole country of Australia a round (see case study).
And the smart ‘Goldie’ cap ensures that this year is no exception.
It reminds us a little of New Zealand beer sponsor Tui’s brilliant ‘Catch A Million’ campaign (see case study).
What next?
A wi-fi white cable knit classic cricket jumper?
Links:
XXXX
https://www.facebook.com/XXXXGOLD/
https://www.youtube.com/user/xxxx
Cricket Australia
https://www.youtube.com/user/cricketaustraliatv
https://www.facebook.com/cricketcomau
https://www.instagram.com/cricketcomau/
https://twitter.com/CricketAus
