The RWC 2015 ticket campaign launched in September 2014 – almost exactly one year before the tournament kicked-off – with a multi-channel, multi-phase campaign spearheaded by a commercial called ‘Too Big To Miss’.
Pitching the event as a celebration of rugby, the international, national and regional marketing and PR ticket campaign aimed to drive awareness, generate excitement and direct fans to the central ticket sale website at tickets.rugbyworldcup.com.
The two-minute launch spot, directed by Peter Cattaneo (the film auteur most famous for helming The Full Monty), is fronted by movie and television actor (and rugby fan) Charles Dance.
Dance who delivers the ultimate, rousing team talk in the Twickenham changing room to inspire the worldwide rugby family – from star players and fans, to ground staff, mascots, referees, managers, administrators, trophy engravers, kit men and everyone with a passion for the game.
The spot includes appearances not only by current rugby stars from various countries (such as Dylan Hartley, Joe Launchbury, George North, Alun Wyn Jones, Ashley Johnson, Jebb Sinclair, Halani Alukia, Andrea Masi, Lorenzo Cittadini, David Denton and Matt Scott) and past icons (like Martin Johnson, Scott Quinnell, Lawrence Dallaglio, Serge Betsen and Sir Ian McGeechan).
The film worked in parallel with a live launch event to mark tickets going on sale on 12 September saw England Rugby 2015 stage a world record attempt at Twickenham Stadium to create the world’s largest scrum.
Thus bringing the ‘Too Big To Miss’ idea to life.
Officiated by IRB referee Wayne Barne the massive scrum had to comprise of players in three rows on either side – to match the proportions of a normal rugby scrum and the ball needing to be successfully fed from the side and hooked through the back.
The ‘Largest Scrum of Rugby World Cup 2015, provided by Guinness World Records Ltd, saw the organising committee link with Guinness World Records to create a high profile, stand-out event to generate buzz and excitement that would drive ticket sales.
As well as members of the public, the armed forces, the RFU and IRB, several rugby stars (including Piri Weepu (New Zealand), Lawrence Dallaglio and Will Greenwood (England Rugby 2015 ambassadors), and Wales head coach Warren Gatland) took part.
In total, 1,008 participants huddled together to set the new record – beating the previous best of 946 set by Blackrock College and the Irish Youth Foundation in Dublin in 2014.
The event generated major press coverage (with 179 articles published around the world) and the video generated 35,000 YouTube views and more than 300,000 views on Facebook (all in the first six weeks).
Both the film and the event spearhead an integrated campaign spanning PR, CRM, TV, print, digital, outdoor and social media advertising, as well as a city dressing programme in each of the 11 host cities
The Organising Committee for Rugby World Cup 2015’s campaign, developed in tandem with creative agency BBH Sport, in all its phases and executions carried the strapline ‘Too Big To Miss’.
All elements of the initiative feature strong imagery of players and fans all aiming to celebrate rugby, the sport’s character-building values and, of course, the ‘unforgettable experience of attending a Rugby World Cup match’.
It targets both existing rugby lovers, as well as major event fans and mainstream consumers.
The initial launch phase was then followed with further work – including ‘Kick it like Wilko’ later in September.
This film sees a player who looks like Jonny Wilkinson practices kicking, trips over and is revealed to be a lookalike and closes with the strapline: ‘It’s not always clear to spot a fake’ as the organising committee aims to ensure fans buy official tickets.
The initiative continued throughout the year through a range of activation strands: including an ongoing #Countdown series (built around World Cup action highlights) spots on its YouTube channel,
videos of each of the competing nations’ anthems,
,plus a fan-created and fan-voted ‘RWC Dream Team’.
as well as daily social content across Twitter and Facebook.
An interesting emerging technology aspect of England 2015’s ticket campaign came almost a full year after the ticket campaign drive had become when the ticket design unveiling revealed that the tickets themselves were all embedded with an augmented reality strand through the Blippar AR app.
This app enabled ticket buyers to scan their Rugby World Cup tickets for special, match-relevant augmented reality content.
Late June 2015, when the final ticket design for Rugby World Cup 2015 was revealed by former England captain and coach Martin Johnson, saw the organising committee build further pre-tournament excitement through an interactive AR design element that featured on all five design variations of the tickets to all 48 matches.
This offered fans an opportunity to bring tournament to life through Blippar’s Augmented Reality technology.
Described as a first for a major sports event, the technology allowed ticket holders to create a 3D interactive experience with their tickets and smart phones.
By scanning a match ticket with the Blippar app, fans could unlock exclusive content – ranging from England 2015 ambassadors (and RWC 2003 winners) Jonny Wilkinson, Lawrence Dallaglio and Will Greenwood previewing the specific match fans are attending, plus a 360 degree view of the match stadium from their specific seat, plus navigational tools to help get to the game.
The aim was to link the ticket AR experience so that it complimented the so-called fan-first, location-sensitive experience delivered by the official Rugby World Cup 2015 app.
The ticket designs themselves aimed to celebrate rugby and the rich history of the tournament by blending the vibrant tournament look and feel with the heritage of the game.
They featured the Webb Ellis Cup at its centre, alongside four winning captains (Australia’s John Eales, South Africa’s Francois Pienaar, England’s Martin Johnson and New Zealand’s Richie McCaw to represent each of the nations who have been victorious at previous Rugby World Cups.
While on the lower half the ticket is a representation of the fans who are at the heart of the tournament.
Four sets of designs, each developed in three colours, were issued for all matches throughout the pool phase, quarter and semi-finals (and the so-called ‘bronze final’).
The tickets for the games at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium also featured information in Welsh.
A special gold design featuring the host nation’s most celebrated rugby moment – Jonny Wilkinson’s dramatic drop goal in the final of Rugby World Cup 2003 – was developed for the Final tickets.
On unveiling the ticket design, Rugby World Cup 2003 winning captain Johnson said:
‘It is an honour to feature as part of the ticket design for Rugby World Cup 2015. Winning in 2003 holds some very special memories for me,’ said England’s winning captain in 2003 Martin Johnson at the unveiling event.
‘Everyone can remember where they were when Jonny kicked that drop goal, so it’s very apt that one of the host nation’s finest sporting moments is marked in the special ticket for the final. Rugby World Cup 2015 looks set to be a great and global celebration of rugby and with tickets still available for some great matches, these is still a chance for fans to be there.’
‘We are pleased to reveal the Rugby World Cup 2015 ticket design which aims to celebrate rugby and the history of Rugby World Cups. By featuring these iconic Rugby World Cup winning captains we are commemorating the four countries that have lifted the iconic Webb Ellis Cup and of course as host nation celebrating one of the game’s most celebrated moments through Jonny Wilkinson’s famous drop goal on the final ticket,’ added England 2015 managing director Stephen Brown.
‘We are delighted to introduce a Rugby World Cup first, using augmented reality technology as part of the ticket design to enable fans to engage with the tournament through interactive content, which is a really exciting piece of activation. With another day of high ticket demand yesterday, excitement for the tournament continues to grow and with ticket distribution about to start, it will start to become very real for fans.’
Comment
A year-long campaign presents quite a challenge for both property owner and agency.
But with a total of 2.3 million tickets to shift, the size and scale of the ticket sales marketing phase is significant.
‘We are excited to launch the ticketing campaign and begin the build up to tickets going on sale for the Rugby World Cup 2015. Up to one million tickets will go on sale from September 12, offering the opportunity to be part of one of the world’s biggest sporting events, and watch the best players in the world compete for rugby’s top prize,’ commented England Rugby 2015 CEO Debbie Jevans.
‘The campaign is all about capturing the inclusive nature of rugby. We wanted epic but real, rousing but not worthy and emotional but also funny. From the start we had a clear vision for the film and getting the tone exactly right was a huge part of that,’ explains BBH Sport executive creative director Ewan Paterson.
‘When you’re selling Rugby World Cup 2015, you’re selling the third biggest sporting event in the world. That’s 2.3 million seats that need bums put on them. We have to attract people who’ve never been to a game as well as those who never a miss a game.
Links:
Rugby World Cup Tickets:
https://tickets.rugbyworldcup.com/
Rugby World Cup Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rugbyworldcup
Rugby World Cup Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/rugbyworldcup
Rugby World Cup Website:
World Rugby YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/irb
World Rugby Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/rugbyworldcup
World Rugby Google+:
https://plus.google.com/+WorldRugby/posts
World Rugby Website:
Agency: BBH Sport
http://www.bartleboglehegarty.com/
