In an effort to rally fans and show its own brand support to the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Guinness leveraged its association with the team – recently crowned Six Nations champions and ranked number one in the world – by asking them to keep their confident predictions to themselves so as not to jinx the side for the tournament in France.
Objective
While Ireland go into the tournament as the world’s top team, the work is based on the insight that many committed sports fans believe that it is bad luck to say out loud that your team is going to win. This is particularly hard felt in Irish rugby circles after multiple World Cup dissapointments and particularly following the stinging defeat to New Zealand at the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter finals in Japan.
The Guinness campaign sought to build support for the Irish Rugby Football Union men’s national team, further solidify the brand’s official and unofficial rugby associations and the act of drinking the black stuff whilst watching matches.
Activation
Developed by AMV BBDO, the campaign was inspired by a universal sports fan truth: the feeling that your actions directly affect your team’s performance. It’s particularly true for Ireland fans this year, as they balance the excitement and expectation that comes with being the top ranked side.
The Diageo owned brand marketers and its agency team, through social listening, identified the degree to which Irish fans in particular worry about overconfidence come back to bite them. So, the creative idea plays with the natural caution and self-deprecation of Irish fans by reminding them that boastfully saying out loud that they think their team might win might possibly cost them victory. In short, don’t say Ireland is going to win, or, as the campaign put it ‘Think It, But Just Don’t Jinx It’.
The activation was spearheaded by a TV commercial shot in semi-documentary style: with Ireland fans being interviewed about their hopes for the year ahead and their reflections on previous disappointments. With Ronan Keating’s “When You Say Nothing At All” playing throughout, it opens with a couple in a pub arguing over whether saying ‘Ireland was going to win’ might cost the team a championship title. Another vigentte sees colleagues in a local cafe persuading themselves that just a few good games will offer more than enough excitement for them, as fans admit to previous overconfidence and agree that this time they are happy just to be participating.
The hero ad, which was helmed by Director James Rouse through by Biscuit Filmworks, rolled out in 60- and 30-second versions across TV and on owned and paid social media in the first week of the tournament – as Ireland opened the competition with an 82-8 demolition of Romania.
A outdoor strand of the campaign saw billobards placed near pubs nationwide remind rugby fans to ‘not jinx it’.
A series of ambient activations and in-pub initiatives across Ireland also highlight past dissapointments (and wrongdoings) and get everyone supporting the Irish team ‘in the right way this time’.
“No matter what your sport or who your team is, we’ve all got too carried away and jinxed things – it’s a universal superstition that even the most skeptical of us believe to be true when it comes to sport. Heading into another enormous tournament with their team ranked #1 and previous years’ heartbreaks fresh in their minds, this insight has never been truer for Ireland fans. Guinness too is a huge fan of the national team, so our campaign aims to get ahead of the loose lips and remind everyone to support safely, and to never say that one forbidden thing.”
AMV BBDO Creatives Will Brookwell and Louis Prenaud
The campaign was conceived and crafted by a team at creative agency AMV BBDO London which included Chief Creative Officer/Creative Director Nicholas Hurley, Chief Creative Officer Nadja Lossgott, Creatives Will Brookwell and Louis Prenaud, Producer Nick Godden and Assistant Producer Kieran O’Malley.
The media agency was PHD.
The production company was Biscuit Filmworks with Director James Rouse and Producer Benji Howell, with post production run through We Are Covert and sound handled by Factory Studios Mark Hills.
Outcome
Since it was posted on 8 September 2023, the spot has notched up more than 80,000 views on Guiness’ YouTube channel alone.
Guinness has a long association with the game and is a long-time rugby sponsor and, as well as its curent title sponsorship of the Six Nations is also one of the main Ireland Rugby official partners along with Aer Lingus, Aon, stadium sponsor Aviva, Ballygowan, Bank Of Ireland, Canterbury, DHL, Dove Men+Care, Energia, Opel, PWC and front of shirt sponsor Vodafone.
Previous notable recent Guinness rugby marketing includes 2022’s ‘Let’s Settle This’ and ‘Match Pint’, as well as its 2021 Six Nations ‘Hope Rises’ campaign, 2020’s ‘Love Letter’ and Japan 2019’s ‘Made Of More’.