Leveraging its stadium naming rights during the 2022 Guinness Six Nations, the Principality Building Society launched a search for an ‘Unofficial Squad’ – a team of 15 Clubhouse Champions who go above and beyond to make their rugby clubhouses feel like home.
The activation leverages its Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) partnership and aligns with the brand’s umbrella ‘Where Home Matters’ platform and was part based on the insight that 85% of Welsh rugby fans think sponsors should support grassroots rugby communities.
The Unofficial Squad campaign aims to celebrate the true home-makers and unsung heroes of Welsh rugby and also seeks to showcase how Principality Building Society understands the importance of rugby clubs to local communities across Wales.
The campaign was activated via a multi-channel approach to funnel the public to the Principality Building Society website where the wider Welsh rugby community were encouraged to nominate their own local rugby heroes.
The initial call-for-entries phase generated more than 800 nominations to the squad and a team of 15 Clubhouse Champions was then selected by a panel of judges led by Wales’ top try-scorer Shane Williams to form the Unofficial Squad.
These ‘heroes’ were not only given the honour of being a Clubhouse Champion for 2022 but the reward also included being given VIP treatment by Principality Building Society at the Wales vs Italy game on 19 March at Principality Stadium (including box seats and a meet-and-greet with a player from the current Welsh men’s squad).
The first phase consisted of a set of short-form social content starring ambassadors Shane Williams, Josh Navidi and Cerys Hale telling stories of their Clubhouse Champions in order to provide viewers an understanding and inspiration for the types of individuals Principality Building Society were looking to make its ‘Unofficial Squad’.
This was follows by a hyper-local media strategy targeting OOH and print in regions close to grassroots rugby clubs and a regional PR push to land campaign stories in key Welsh titles.
A parallel wave of work shared the content and campaign messages to Principality Building Society and Welsh Rugby Union communities via email, while in-store assets were deployed throughout Principality Building Society branches nationwide with local branch managers heading out into their communities to visit local rugby clubs and raise further awareness of the campaign
Then a ‘squad announcement’ film unveiled the winners to the Welsh public which was fronted by a host of Welsh rugby legends and this was followed by a local social media phase targeting the home locations of each of the 15 Clubhouse Champions
On game day, the ‘Unofficial Squad’ also featured in the official match day programme and also took part in a content capture day at Principality Stadium – mirroring a traditional pre-tournament media day experienced by the national team, which included a behind the scenes tour of the iconic stadium – and they were each presented with a personalised scarf and their own framed Welsh shirt for their clubhouse as mementos of being selected in the Unofficial Squad.
INTRODUCING THE UNOFFICIAL SQUAD!
Watch Welsh rugby stars – past and present – announce our team of 15 Clubhouse Champions…
Congratulations to the final 15, and thanks to everyone that nominated!
Find out more about #TheUnofficialSquad https://t.co/fCFyqMA2Jx pic.twitter.com/lphsYO4rQZ
— Principality Building Society (@PrincipalityBS) March 9, 2022
The campaign was devised and developed by Principality Building Society’s sports marketing agency The Space Between with support from Cardiff-based media agency Orchard.
“As title sponsors of Principality Stadium we wanted to celebrate the deserving club heroes across the country for the continued effort they give to their home club,” outlined Principality Building Society’s Chief Customer Officer Vicky Wales. “From the grounds person to the cleaner, to that person who works hard behind the scenes, the Unofficial Squad has been named with individuals whose dedication and commitment makes a massive difference to their local club. Clubhouses and the fans in them are the foundation that Welsh rugby is built upon and the glue that holds rugby communities together.”
The Space Between Co-founder Tom Gladstone added: “Our research showed that Welsh Rugby fans want sponsors to be more proactive in supporting grassroots rugby, which sparked the idea to create our Unofficial Squad campaign, allowing Principality Building Society to shine a light on these well deserving Clubhouse Champions. The response has been staggering – both the number of nominations and the commitment and passion these champions have for their clubs and communities.”
Shane Williams MBE commented: “The clubhouse has always been at the heart of the community and it’s the community that makes the clubhouse. I was privileged to be on the judging panel and thrilled to see hundreds of nominations – it was a big challenge trying to pick the 15 winners. It’s so important to see Principality Building Society shining a light on the Clubhouse Champions and I was honoured to be a part of its’ Unofficial Squad campaign.”
Comment
The finance brand is a partner of the WRU and since January 2016 has been the title sponsor of the union’s national stadium which saw its Millennium Stadium renamed the Principality Stadium in a deal that sees the building society support the game of rugby at all levels in communities across Wales (and which sees its members receive exclusive access to tickets and more).
Other partnership with the brand’s portfolio include The National Eisteddfod of Wales and The Royal Welsh Show and this 2022 work follows on from its early 2021 ‘Every Seat’ activation which again offered Welsh rugby fans a chance to win their story on a seat at Principality Stadium through a competition coinciding with the Guinness Six Nations to find Welsh rugby fans’ best memories and unique stories from over two decades of games at the stadium.
Again, a panel of judges including Williams and Elinor Snowsill chose their 12 favourite stories and the winners were awarded with their own personal sign that will be fixed to a seat at Principality Stadium, ensuring these stories can live on and be enjoyed by fans when the doors are opened once again. Winners were also invited to watch a match when stadia are permitted to welcome fans to relive those special moments.
Fans could enter their standout stories through Principality’s website and the competition ran from 5 February 2021 to 28 February 2021.
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