Only a few months after NZ Rugby engaged Sugar&Partners to deliver its ITM Cup campaign the agency has “successfully reignited deep-seated rivalries and passions for NZ’s premier national sporting competition, stoking the fire within dormant fans” with an outdoor and social media activation campaign.
“The idea was to incite a war between the provinces and remind fans what’s at stake – we were truly blown away at the impact, within the first hour of the billboards going up fans went crazy,” said Sugar&Partners CD Dave Nash.
“Unbranded opposition billboards were dropped into nine key provinces around the country and the billboards were shared on the Provincial Union’s Facebook pages, sparking instant outrage and hunt for who was responsible:
facebook.com/boprugby
facebook.com/canterburyrugbyunion
facebook.com/hawkesbaymagpies
facebook.com/manawatuturbos
facebook.com/OtagoRugbyTeam
facebook.com/rugbysouthland
facebook.com/taranakirugbynz
facebook.com/mooloo
“Once the original posts had hit fever pitch the billboards were replaced with defaced versions supporting the local teams.
“It’s just human nature to capture and share something that is a bit out of leftfield; getting to the heart of these age-old stoushes was the key to the campaign taking off.”
The campaign amassed over 81,000 likes, shares and comments engaging an audience of
over 2 million on Facebook alone.
“The major success of the campaign was that over 30% of the social media audience reach was organic, due to the billboards really hitting a nerve and unpaid broadcast media like Tony Veitch, Radio Sport and The Crowd Goes Wild picking up the activity,” Nash said.
CREDITS
NZ Rugby
Marketing Manager: Craig Harvey
Sugar&Partners
Creative Directors: Damon O’Leary & Dave Nash
Art Directors: Dave Nash & Vikki Cheng
Copywriter: Damon O’Leary
Managing Partner: Jeremy Johnston
Planner: Thinza Mon
Social Media Strategy: Zoe Virtue
Account Manager: Dan Hughes
Designers: Gary Butcher & Stephanie Taylor
Carat
Business Director: Will Douglas
Digital Manager: Gary Joseph
Business Manager: Charlotte Chao
Head of Digital Operations: Linda Quach
Business Co-Ordinator: Kimberley Robson
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