New Zealand Rugby Asks The Nation To Get Behind The Women’s Team In ‘Like A Black Fern’ Campaign

New Zealand Rugby rolled out a Black Ferns brand building campaign to generate support for the women spearheaded the country’s national game ahead of the delayed Rugby World Cup 21 which will be played in New Zealand in October and November 2022.

The campaign, created with agency EightyOneX, dropped on 10 June and aims to make the most of World Rugby’s flagship international women’s tournament by amping up excitement and support in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup. It was conceived as a platform to continue to support the team with additional activations in the lead up to the tournament.

This campaign brings their infectious attitude to the fore. Making people feel part of the team by showing what it means to train, play, kick, pass, tackle, dance, sing, support, dream, grow, live – Like A Black Fern.

“The momentum around women in sport is infectious, and awesome briefs like this one from NZ Rugby only continue to fuel the fire and raise our female athletes,” commented EightyOneX Direc tor Megan Compain.

EightyOne ECD Chris Bleackley commented: “EightyOneX has a stated goal of raising the profile of Women’s Sport in Aotearoa. What better role models are there than the Black Ferns? Bringing to life their unique personality has been a privilege. Lessgo!”

NZ Rugby Marketing Director Nick Rowland added: “Like a Black Fern is a celebration of all aspects of our women’s game. These incredible athletes have spades of talent on the field as well as huge personalities off it. It is important to use to show what it means to be a Black Fern while also inspiring the next generation in our sport. We couldn’t be happier with the result!”

The campaign was briefed in by client New Zealand Rugby Marketing Manager Nick Rowland and Commercial Partnerships Manager Sarah Dewsbury to a team at agency EightyOneX wjich was led by Executive Creative Director Chris Bleackley, Creative Joe Stuart, Account Services Jenna Chantelau, Strategist Brendan Sturrock and Agency Producer Paul Stent. Production was handled by Director Ian Sweeney of Fish & Clips, with DOPs Julian Vares and Ro Tierney, plus Camera Operative Ollie Stent.

Media was handled by EightyOneM’s Grant Maxwell and Tilt Digital’s John Schofield with post production by ARC EDIT Producer Michaela Fenton and Editor Phoebe Taylor, plus Liquid Studios Producer Tamara O’Neill and sound design was handled by Craig Matuschka.

Comment

New Zealand’s Black Fearns, the current world champions, aim to lift ‘Nancy’ (the nickname of the World Rugby trophy) on home soil later in the year and ensure that success, skills and inspiring personalities will make then household names across the nation spoken about in the same way as their All Black counterparts.