To leverage Vodafone’s primary partnership with the Ireland Rugby Football Union (IRFU) as the 2023 Rugby World Cup kicks off, the telco and broadband provider launched a fresh iteration of its long-running #TeamOfUs activation called ‘Connections You Can Always Rely On’ which goes to the heart of what makes the current squad special and champions the company’s reliable connections.
Vodafone’s Irish marketers teamed up with agency Folk Wunderman Thompson and several players and head coach Andy Farrell to tell a story about a core family, brand and team value – reliability.
The underlying insight is that under the guidance and support of Farrell, the 2023 Irish team have learned to rely on each other like family. The idea is that Farrell’s recipe for success reflects Vodafone’s own values: providing ‘connections you can always rely on’.
The cross-platform campaign spans TV, cinema and outdoor and is supported by an activation at Dublin Airport which enables travelling fans to experience what it feels like to walk from the tunnel on to the pitch as an Ireland rugby international.
The hero commercial, which dropped on 23 August and came in 60- and 30-second versions, opened with the moment a young Farrell first thought to rely on his teammates like family back in the 1980’s playing junior rugby in Wigan and then explores how he has taken this ethos to the current Irish squad today. The spot closes a Farrell pre-game motivational speech to the players as they prepare to walk out onto the pitch (supposedly at the Rugby World Cup).
The spearhead spot and airport installation experience were supported by a set of activations including social media content (linked by the #TeamOfUs hashtag) and a 5G augmented reality Aviv a stadium app.
“Since the beginning of our partnership with the IRFU we have seen the team take their performance to the next level. Through this advert we wanted to celebrate that success and bring to life the team’s spirit, by capturing its foundations, which are deeply rooted in reliability, dependability and what it means to be part of #TeamOfUs,” explained Vodsfone Ireland Head Of Brand Orla Nagle. “These values strongly mirror what we aim to deliver to our customers so they can truly feel the connection through the power of our mobile and broadband networks. We are excited to join the nation in celebrating what we hope is yet another special moment in history,.’
Folk Wunderman Thompson Creative Partner Karl Waters added: “Andy Farrell has instilled a sense of family and reliability in the Irish camp. We wanted to get to the heart of where Andy learned this, going all the way back to Wigan in 1983. Reliability is of course the role Vodafone’s network plays with Irish families too”.
The campaign was created for and briefed in by a team at Vodafone Ireland which included Head of Brand Orla Nagle, Head of Sponsorship & Business Brand Gerry Nixon, Brand Manager Ciara Kennedy and Sponsorship Activation Manager David Dunne.
It was created by a group at Folk Wunderman Thompson led by Creative Partner Karl Waters and Creative Director Jonathon Cullen and which included Copywriters Karl Waters and Robert Cummins, Art Directors Jonathon Cullen and Orla Byrne, Managing Director Enda Kelly, Account Team Managers Laura Kelly, Louise Smith and Melissa Byrne, Agency Producers: Michael Cullen and Eric Brindley, plus Strategists Tara Finnegan and Kim Comiskey and Photographer Liam Murphy.
The media agency was Carat and the production company was Smuggler with Producer Molly Pope, Head of Production Ameilia Hanbury, Director Tom Hooper, Director of Photography Barry Ackroyd and Production Designer John Hand.
Post-supervision and grade was by Barnes / Rascal, with music from Peter Raeburn and Ben Jones of Soundtree Music and sound mix by 750mph.
Comment
This joint sponsor, rights owner and agency marketing team clearly believes less in leveraging outright fanaticism and more that the most powerful sports partnerships tap into consumers’ innate passion to create lasting connections.
There is certainly a fairly special bond between most Irish people and its cross border rugby team.
This activation follows in the footsteps of several other recent notable Vodafone IRFU campaigns geared around the annual Six Nations, November Internationals and the quadrennial World Cup.
These have included 2019’s ‘Ireland’s Ball’ and 2017’s #TeamOfUs ‘Four Days In November’ from 2017 (see case study).
In rugby, Vodafone is also a principal partner of the WRFU and of the British and Irish Lions, while its other sports alliances include tie-ups with Wimbledon and the LTA.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.