26/06/2017

British & Irish Lions Beer Partner Doom Bar Recreates Historic Cornish/All Blacks Game

The official beer of the British & Irish Lions, Doom Bar, leverages its rights around the current tour of New Zealand by recreating the historic 1924 fixture between the two rugby sides.

 

The initiative, launched immediately ahead of the first test between the Lions and the All Blacks, sees the Sharpe’s Brewery brand creates a unique rugby experience for supporters of the sport unable to make the long trip to New Zealand.

 

So, Doom Bar created and hosted its own, free Lions-inspired rugby event at the home of Cornish rugby – the Camborne Rugby Club.

 

This game sees a Doom Bar select team (led by former England captain, Lions player and brand ambassador Phil Vickery) tackle a Kiwi invitational side.

 

The initiative is promoted with social video pieces across the beer brand’s Facebook page (click to view)

 

as well as explanatory call-to-action assets on Twitter.

 

 

Fans are invited to come along to watch the free fixture at 12:30pm and receive a complimentary pint upon arrival (when they register on EventBrite).

 

According to Sharp’s Brewery senior brand manager James Nicholls, the idea behind the game match was inspired by a historic match which saw the All Blacks take on the Cornwall County team at Camborne Rugby Club back in 1924.

 

The campaign is also accompanied by a four-part video series exploring the background and origins of rugby in Cornwall, as well as the story behind bringing the teams together for this tribute game, as well as showcasing the match itself.

 

With the Lions/All Blacks games themselves taking place in the early mornings in the UK, Doom Bar addresses the time challenge by developing a ‘pub finder’ function on its own site (see https://www.sharpsbrewery.co.uk/pint-finder/).

 

This invites fans looking to watch the game, which is being broadcast on Sky Sports’ pay TV channel, to simply slot in their postcode to find out which Doom Bar pubs are opening their doors early to show the fixture (Guinness activated around the 2017 RBS 6 Nations with a similar tactic to drive pub foot fall through geo-located OOH posters – see case study).

 

The objective behind the beer brand’s Lions sponsorship is to tell the story of the brand’s rugby-related journey to consumers and to demonstrate that Doom Bar is ‘a fan’ as well as a commercial partner.

 

“The intent behind this is to drive the message of the pride of the association with the Lions and then hopefully increase footfall to our pubs with the pint finder,” explains Nicholls.

 

Simultaneously the beer is using its social channels to engage with Lions fans using the #TogetherToTheLastDrop tagline in commercials,

 

 

and across social media.

 

 

Online it is also running low latency content pieces linked to the Lions series,

 

 

 

 

 

 

exclusive behind-the-scenes Lion news and views,

 

 

a kit giveaway strand,

 

 

plus Lions led content in harness with West Country native, rugby legend and athlete endorser Vickery,

 

 

and media partnerships too.

 

Activative Comment:

 

For any UK-based brand, sponsoring a event in New Zealand means there is a time zone challenge when it comes to activating in real time around the game itself.

 

So one off the things we like about this activation is that Doom Bar has met this specific sports sponsorship challenge by staging its very own match and providing a utility for fans to watch the match in nearby pubs.

 

It was only in mid April that the beer brand, announced that the Sharp’s Brewery’s premium cask beer Doom Bar had become an official sponsor for the 2017 Tour to New Zealand.

 

 

The Lions Tour, a rare sports property that only happens once every four years, sees Doom Bar assume the role of official beer sponsor in both the UK and Ireland.

 

This alliance runs from April through the 10-game tour.

 

“We believe the 2017 British & Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand represents the iconic and inspirational pinnacle of the rugby game so this is a proud moment for all of us in the brewery,” says Nicholls

 

“The association of Doom Bar with the Lions is a great fit, based on our values of dedication, commitment, precision and teamwork, which are required on the field and in the brew house.

 

Signing up fairly late in the Lions cycle doesn’t seem to be a particularly unusual thing when it comes to booze brand, after all, fellow Lions alcohol partner Whyte & Mackay only signed and activated in March (see case study).

 

Doom Bar has a solid heritage with rugby union partnerships and a key part of this tactical approach is because the beer is a Cornish brand and rugby has deep roots in Cornwall’s history.

 

Doom Bar has long embraced this affiliation in its marketing.

 

“Back in 1994 it was six of us with a couple of transit fans and 100 outlets in Cornwall,” says James Nicholls, senior brand manager at Doom Bar.

 

“From those very early days we started to sponsor local rugby clubs and we’ve built on that as we’ve grown.”

 

The beer often includes rugby imagery and references included in its advertising,

 

 

and its on-the-ground events,

 

 

as well as developing rugby-specific marketing initiatives.

 

These are often led by endorser Westcountry rugby union superstar Vickery: such as his trick shot series from earlier in the year,

 

 

 

 

and his ‘Ultimate Rugby Adventure’.

 

 

Links:

 

Doom Bar

https://www.sharpsbrewery.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/SharpsBrewery

https://www.youtube.com/user/SharpsBrewery

https://www.facebook.com/sharpsbreweryuk

https://www.instagram.com/sharpsbrewery/

 

British & Irish Lions

http://www.lionsrugby.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BritishandIrishLions

https://twitter.com/lionsofficial



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