In the debate about how to best enjoy watching sport, most would agree that those at the stadium have it best. The proximity of the live action amplified by the collective reactions of the crowd combine to generate a priceless “I was there” experience that most people dream about experiencing even a few times in their lifetime, let alone week in, week out.

Celebrating with strangers in the away end at a football match, waving Union Jacks at the Olympic Stadium, seeing the sweat drip off a boxer as he slaves towards the end of another punishing round, or relaxing with a drink while watching the cricket at Lord’s on a summer’s evening – all unique experiences to which sitting in front of the television can hardly compare.

That said, there has been some significant press attention of late focusing on the escalating price of watching live football. Rising ticket prices, along with the additional associated costs of the matchday experience (travel, food, etc.), all add up to create an expensive day out. And it’s not just the prices that can make sitting in front of the TV seem a bit more appealing; a better view of the action, replays, punditry (even if of often dubious quality) and the ability to go online and join a community of others watching the same event all contribute too. While recent focus has emphasised the plight of match-going football fans, many of these issues are common to all those who watch live sport.

Up until now, any complaints expressed by those lucky enough to regularly attend live top-level sport would have been dismissed as spoilt whinging from people who don’t know how lucky they are; however, the extent of ticket price rises, especially in football, and the simultaneous observation about the importance of fans to the health of live sport have started to make people sit up and take notice. Sport not only unites and inspires, but also represents big business. If fans stay away, clubs and stadia lose out on income, the atmosphere flattens (with potential impact on both the players and the excitement conveyed in the broadcast), and fans miss out on a potentially fantastic experience; in other words, everyone suffers.

And while the message is still filtering through to clubs and venue owners (though as a previous blog reported, innovative pricing schemes are becoming increasingly common), smart brands have already been stepping in redress the balance. With live events a central asset in many sponsorship platforms, focusing on those who attend is a vital pillar of a strong activation plan.

For example, to reward fans of Capital One Cup finalists Swansea and Bradford – travelling hundreds of miles to Wembley with fuel prices notoriously high – Synergy created the Capital One Convoy, thanking fans for their loyalty by providing them with free transport, another cost contributing to the high price of following a football team.

And recognising that the actual viewing experience at live sport events can often be compromised, with key incidents happening in a flash and without the benefit of televised action replays, Barclays, title sponsor of the Barclays Center in New York – home of the Brooklyn Nets – created an app that gives users a live stream and instant replays: the best of the live and televised experiences rolled into one.

Of course, one thing compromising the live sport experience (well, depending on your point of view) is the lack of internet in many stadiums, something else we’ve passionately questioned on this very blog. This is something that obviously distinguishes the live and televised experiences quite considerably, with TV audiences able to follow punditry on Twitter, interact socially with their mates, and engage with a whole host of branded content as they watch sport. Were WiFi to become widely available in stadiums, the opportunities for brands to step in with apps that improve the live viewing experience for fans would be manifold.

Indeed, some forward-thinking brands have already started to step in to fill this gap. At the Betfair World Matchplay Darts and the Betfair Masters for example, Synergy worked with title sponsor Betfair to install wireless internet in Blackpool’s Winter Gardens and Alexandra Palace respectively – allowing event attendees to bet online and interact socially in just the same way television viewers. A bonus for the brand – after all, they want as many people as possible to be betting on the action – and fans alike. And given the existing online inventory of many sponsor brands, be it content, websites or apps, it is surely in the brand’s interest to allow fans at the venue to make use of them (as well as boasting about their attendance!).

No doubt, the smartest brands will be those that enhance the sporting experience for those watching any touchpoint – be it at the ground, on the sofa or in the pub. With the size of the televised audience for major sporting events, only a very naïve sponsor would forget about the legions of fans in front of the TV. Hence the success of the RBS 6 Nations Live Challenge app, for example, which capitalises on the second screen phenomenon.

The atmosphere is ripe for rewarding those who attend live sport, and the message is clear: wherever they may be, don’t forget the fans.

By Jessica Enoch on April 4th, 2013

Tags: Default, Social Media, Sponsorship, Sponsorship Activation

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On this blog just a few months ago we discussed how the Red Bull Stratos, Red Bull’s ambitious project that saw Felix Baumgartner breaking the sound barrier in a jump from space, showed the ABCDE sponsorship framework executed to near perfection.

Now it’s the turn of Lynx, a brand traditionally less associated with extreme pursuits and adrenaline, but nevertheless targeted at the same male thrill-seeking audience, to blast off into space. To launch its new Apollo range, Lynx is launching a competition that will ultimately send one would-be astronaut from the UK, along with 21 others from around the globe, into outer space on the Lynx SXC (Space Expedition Corporation) shuttle.

Of course this differs in several important respects from Red Bull’s activation a few months ago. Felix’s jump was one (particularly awesome) part of a coordinated and years-old approach by Red Bull towards marketing that emphasises differentiation of their brand via a unique association with thrill-seekers like Felix and other adrenaline junkies who take part in the various Red Bull-created sports.

For Lynx, this is way ahead of what it has ever done before – the Lynx effect taken, quite literally, to the extreme. The Lynx effect is all about helping men up their game to win over the ladies by looking good, feeling good, and – and this is where Lynx has traditionally come in – smelling amazing. This has been demonstrated throughout the years in a series of ads that show the devastating impact of the Lynx effect on the female population. One would have been forgiven for wondering if a scent could genuinely have this sort of impact. But the Lynx Space Academy represents the ultimate substantiation of the Lynx effect – after all, as the advert that launched this activity in the UK makes clear, nothing beats an astronaut.

Of course, another important difference lies in the protagonists of these respective activations and the ultimate importance of them scientifically. Red Bull was out to make history, with Felix, already a noted record-breaking jumper, becoming the first person to break the sound barrier without using any sort of machine. Lynx isn’t doing anything new in terms of space travel. But with space tourism a distant reality for all but the very wealthy few, giving normal people this chance to go to space is genuinely boundary-pushing.

And at a time when national government budgets for space exploration are being slashed as cuts begin to bite, it is brilliant that brands are taking up the mantle in terms of supporting scientific endeavour and taking initial steps to widen space travel. This blog has already discussed the merits of brands stepping in to safeguard public services, and, whilst it would be wrong to pretend that private companies’ intergalactic efforts could get anywhere near to the endeavours of established national space agencies like NASA, this is still an encouraging, and very exciting, trend.

For now, I will look out with interest to see how the participants fare at each stage of the Lynx Space Academy – and (of course) keep an eye out for any astronauts, to see if this particular Lynx effect really works.

By Jessica Enoch on January 17th, 2013

Tags: Advertising, Default, Experiential marketing, Red Bull

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Here at Synergy, we’ve all been very impressed with Marmite’s Christmas lights activation just down the road from us on Oxford Street. Marmite’s sponsorship of the lights is all about giving exposure to the new Marmite Gold. But it’s certainly not just a badging exercise; Marmite has gone the extra mile, creating a campaign that engages customers while reinforcing its traditional brand territory around Love and Hate, and at the same launching a new product. Impressive stuff.

So what has Marmite done? Never afraid of innovating, it has created an ambitious campaign with a strong online / offline link. For the first stage of the campaign it invited lovers and haters to have some fun with a new app on Facebook, allowing them to submit photos of themselves expressing their feelings about Marmite to then appear on a large digital screen within the famous Christmas lights.  But it is the next stage of the activity that has really caught our imagination. A photobooth has been installed at an Oxford Street bus stop, allowing customers to take their own photo and once again become famous for just a minute, with their picture appearing within the Christmas lights. Check out Synergy’s very own Luke Auty below. Clearly not a fan…

Why does this work? Well, everyone loves taking photos, and few can resist the lure of fifteen minutes of fame. But it also works for Marmite as a brand, with Love and Hate central to the photo activity as people are asked to show their emotion about the product. All this comes together in a great piece of experiential activity that provides genuine fun for customers while also landing the brand message. Acknowledging that people hate it has always been a bold approach, but one that Marmite clearly finds fruitful from a long-term brand-building perspective.

This isn’t the first piece of photobooth activity we’ve seen this year. As part of its Olympic sponsorship, adidas installed a photobooth at the athletes’ kitting-out event, showing a softer side to Olympic athletes and generating significant media coverage. The booth was also installed for shoppers in Westfield shopping centre – with a surprise visit by David Beckham to unsuspecting customers a high point of the campaign. With clear potential to create meaningful touchpoints with customers it is no surprise we are seeing more of this sort of activity by brands. This is the opposite of brands forcing content on customers – here they are providing a platform for customers to become brand ambassadors themselves.

With the popularity of photobooth-type activity and its clear potential to engage with customers, we expect to see it forming part of brands’ campaigns to a greater and greater extent. Look out for innovations in the space too, with 3D printing set to become more commonplace, and brands becoming ever more inventive about where customer photos are displayed and how they are used. Marmite has given us lots of (dark, salty and spreadable) food for thought about experiential innovations. And even for those Marmite-haters out there, there is a lot in this idea to love.

By Jessica Enoch on December 5th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Default, Experiential marketing, Facebook, Food & Drink, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultants

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The Sky Sports Scholarships programme supports some of Britain and Ireland’s leading athletes, including Olympic Gold boxer Katie Taylor, and double Paralympic Gold hand-cyclist Mark Rohan. Working with Sky Ireland, Katie and Mark we planned a full day of activity in central Dublin to promote the Scholarships programme to media, customers and staff. This appearance leveraged the success of the Irish Scholarships athletes for the benefit of the Sky Ireland brand.

Activities included a press conference and photocall, an internal staff Q+A session, a customer meet and greet, a Sky Sports News interview, live webchats and finally a very entertaining training swap, with Mark learning how to throw the perfect punch, and Katie getting to grips with the hand bike (see below!). Katie and Mark’s Sky Sports Scholarships mentors Rachel Wyse and Sean Fletcher were on hand all day to answer questions with their athletes and provide the support on media activity that has been a key aspect of the assistance provided by the Scholarships scheme since its inception.

Synergy consulted on all aspects of the appearance, advising on the structure and timetable of the day based on our knowledge of the athletes and what they would be comfortable with, and our experience of planning similar appearances over the course of the programme. In particular, we took  full responsibility for liasing with the athletes and their agents, briefing the athletes, arranging logistics and advising on contractual kit requirements and branding. This all contributed to an incredibly successful day, with several pieces of standout print, online and radio media coverage generated across the spectrum of Irish news and features press, including more than twenty pieces alone on the same day as the appearance, which included the Irish Daily Mail and Irish Sun.

The appearance allowed Katie and Mark to demonstrate to media the help that the Sky Sports Scholarships programme has provided to them – it has helped Katie attend extra boxing training camps, whilst allowing Mark to give up his job to focus fully on hand-cycling – with the mentors’ involvement emphasising the media assistance that the programme has been uniquely positioned to offer to all the eleven funded athletes. In addition to the media element of the day, Sky customers were able to put questions to their idols during the meet and greet.

The promotion mechanism that was used to select the lucky fans provided additional benefit to Sky Ireland in terms of customer engagement. Meanwhile, Sky Ireland staff attended an exclusive Q+A with Mark and Katie – not quite a usual Thursday in the office! All in all it was a brilliant day, with Mark and Katie’s stunning sporting successes this year leveraged to great effect for Sky.

By Jessica Enoch on October 30th, 2012

Tags: boxing, Cycling, Default, Public relations

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What Happened?

During the Team GB kitting-out event in Loughborough earlier this month, kit supplier adidas provided a photo booth with fun props and backdrops, allowing athletes to pose for pictures both individually and in groups. The snaps were printed on adidas-branded passport photo-style paper and sold into the media, with great pick-up across national press and online. This delivered some fantastic exposure for adidas and the kitting-out event, but it was also (or at least it seemed) lots of fun for the athletes, and provided a relatively rare opportunity for fans to catch a glimpse of the less serious side of Team GB.

Why we love it

The adidas photo booth has won significant acclaim, and rightly so. Adidas has been encouraging fans to #takethestage with its Olympic campaign, and this tactic put the athletes on the stage, but in a really original way. It brought to life the kitting-out session for consumers – a feat not to be underestimated given that the event really just consisted of athletes picking up their kit. Media time was available with athletes, but the creation of the photo booth meant that journalists focused on the kitting-out ceremony itself in their interviews, with more than just the requisite credit line.

The photo booth allowed athletes to choreograph their own photography, normally dictated to them by media managers, thereby allowing fans to see more of the person behind the athlete. The delivery of such original content secured media cut-through for adidas in the clutter of the Games time, and showcased the brand’s relationship with Team GB in striking contrast to some of the more stage-managed athlete content evident elsewhere pre-Games.

The success of the photography may well encourage even more brands to experiment with this sort of “talent-generated content”, such as video blogs and other creative photography, when the tone and messaging of the campaign is right. Entertaining and original photo content can clear space for brands when it would have otherwise been tight.

We also love this tactic because it can be deployed across a range of channels; adidas could install the photo booth anywhere so that customers could use it at a festival or big exhibition. I can certainly vouch for the fact that the Synergists loved the (Engine-branded) photo booth at the Engine Christmas Party!

As such, I wasnt surprised to see adidas extending the activity into the public space with David Beckham surprising customers in the adidas photo booth at Westfield Stratford City – the related viral has already had over 2.7 million views.

Fans gasped and burst into tears when their football hero was revealed hiding in a secret compartment, and the stunt once again generated significant exposure for adidas in a congested media environment just two days before the start of the Olympics. Adidas has found its white space in this sort of fun and irreverent activity, and to very great effect.

By Jessica Enoch on July 30th, 2012

Tags: Default, London 2012, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Sponsorship, Synergy Loves

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Despite spending most of last Sunday’s Wireless Festival trying to dodge the giant muddy beach balls being thrown around the crowd and simultaneously attempting to dislodge my shoes from the swamp that was previously Hyde Park, I still managed to notice the Barclaycard PayBands that some festival-goers were using to pay at the food and drink stalls.

The Barclaycard PayBand was a new innovation for this year’s festival, allowing attendees to pre-load the band with money to be spent on-site, in transactions of no more than £20. Whilst not using a band myself, reception to the new system seems to have been largely positive, with no large-scale problems reported. On the same weekend, all fans at the Wakestock festival wore RFID wristbands that served an even broader range of functions than those at Wireless, acting as tickets as well as a wallet.

As someone who both loves festivals and can’t help losing things (often at said events), the advent of contactless technology strikes me as a very exciting development. It also represents a massive opportunity for sponsors, opening up the possibility for brands in the banking and technology sectors to assume a genuine role across a platform that they might have previously found difficult to access. Great sponsorship can, of course, carve out a credible role for a brand where one may not obviously exist, but true authenticity comes from fulfilling a genuine consumer need. The Orange phone-charging tent at Glastonbury Festival provides a great example of this.

As charted in a previous Synergy blog, the potential implications of RFID technology for brands are manifold. More to the point, we already use this microchip technology widely, in everything from Oyster cards to football season tickets. Only the other day, I undertook my first contactless payment from a debit card. So the odds are that this type of payment method will proliferate over the next few years, and – gradually – one card, phone or wristband will grow to serve multiple functions across different areas of people’s lives. For now though, getting universal acceptance even within one festival (i.e. all stallholders and sponsor installations agreeing to use the same NFC technology) is a challenge; it is likely that such forms of payment will be restricted to limited ecosystems, such as single festivals, or a series of events like the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange, for a while. This provides a brilliant opportunity for relevant sponsors to strike an early-mover advantage in this space, just as Barclaycard have done. This brand is now well-placed to possibly expand across other festivals and other functions when the time (and more to the point the technology) is right.

For now, Barclaycard’s contactless payment is fulfilling a genuine need around the core passion point of music and festivals for their young target audience, simultaneously displaying several of the core principles of great sponsorship (and hopefully meaning that I’ll someday emerge from the end of a festival with all my belongings intact).

By Jessica Enoch on July 11th, 2012

Tags: Default, Experiential marketing, Music, Sponsorship, The Arts

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Sport has taken centre stage this week as possibly the least hyped major international football tournament in recent memory – the consensus seemingly having developed that the ridiculous build-up around previous tournaments was never exactly vindicated by brilliant England performances or particularly exciting matches – started with a bang. Added to that Harry Redknapp’s surprise departure from Spurs and Rangers’ sad demise, as well as the continued journey of the Olympic Torch and the unveiling of the details of the Opening Ceremony, and this week’s papers could rightfully be described as a sports fan’s dream.

The new Premier League TV rights agreement was unveiled on Wednesday, and Thursday’s papers were replete with the news of the bumper deal for top flight clubs. Coverage focused on the sheer value of the deal, as well as the surprise entry of BT into the market. The Mirror led with fears that the higher rights prices would be passed onto fans via higher subscription fees.

Meanwhile, England’s solid if unspectacular start to the Euros – a 1-1 draw with France – absorbed several column inches. The Sun got in early with a patriotic stunt, beaming the cross of St George onto Parisian landmarks.

England-France rivalry always provides amusement on both sides of the Channel, and Eurostar has used this as the basis of their latest advertising campaign, making fun of Brits with posters depicting chubby and slobby Greek-style statues.

With only so much to write about how England must get on the ball more and not sit as deeply against Sweden as they did against France, and while the team took a break between their first two matches, the arrival of the WAGs and some controversial new hairstyles proved excellent tabloid fodder…

Rooney’s extreme hairstyle hasn’t totally diverted media attention from what Tim Crow and Siobhan Sharpe call the Jubilympics though. The Torch in Scotland featured on the Guardian’s front page yesterday, while Wednesday’s papers were all about Danny Boyle’s pastoral opening ceremony. While some in the press were enchanted by his rural vision and Glastonbury mosh pits, a commentator in the Mirror responded rather more cynically, asking “What is the point of wanting to bring the countryside into the capital?”

The Jubi in Jubilympics also continued apace, with Kate Middleton accompanying the Queen on the Nottingham leg of her UK tour in the absence of the convalescing Duke of Edinburgh. Kate’s presence at an event virtually guarantees a substantial picture story, with her favoured shops and designers reaping the rewards for their association with the Duchess of Cambridge, whose outfit is fully itemised every time she steps out in public. Missoni were the lucky recipients of this week’s Royal wardrobe choices.

With so much going on, David Cameron might have hoped that his minor slip-up at the weekend – leaving his young daughter at the pub by mistake – might have gone unnoticed. Unfortunately for him, this couldn’t have been further from the case, with his momentary memory blank making front page news on both Monday and Tuesday. The Independent even decided to review the previously low-key watering hole where the mishap occurred, The Plough. Great exposure for them, but with only a few weeks gone since Greggs made headlines at the PM’s expense during pastygate, he’ll be looking to avoid catching the public’s imagination again for a while…

By Jessica Enoch on June 15th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, David Cameron, Default, Diamond Jubilee, Fashion, Media, Olympics, PR, Public relations

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A key ingredient of great sponsorship is finding a natural role for your brand to play which enhances the audience’s experience of the event. With the RBS 6 Nations established as a huge appointment to view (averaging 4.7 million viewers per match and over 30m people watching some of the 2011 Championship), we spotted a ground-breaking opportunity for RBS to bring the ‘second screen’ to rugby for the first time ever.

The second screen phenomenon is one of the most exciting media trends: connected consumers are increasingly using a second device – an internet-enabled phone, laptop or tablet – while they watch TV. We have only just scratched the surface of the possibilities this opens up for brands. The internet hasn’t (at least so far!) marked the death of TV in the way that many predicted – instead, savvy companies are both exploiting its potential to enhance the TV viewing experience and capitalising on observed consumer behaviour. The upshot is the recent growth of companion apps – games and forums that encourage viewers to interact with the content that they are watching.

The numbers are compelling: 74% of consumers with broadband connections say they surf the internet at the same time as watching TV, 51% say they use the internet to get more news or information about the specific programme they’re watching, while 38% discuss shows on social networking services like Facebook, according to 2011 research from Ovum. Meanwhile, 2011 OfCom data shows that 81% of Brits have their phone with them while watching TV.

The combination of this strong and growing phenomenon alongside RBS’ desire to enhance the fans’ experience of the RBS 6 Nations Championship led to our creation of the RBS 6 Nations Live Challenge companion app. Throughout the match, the app challenges fans to predict the result of penalties, conversions, five metre scrums and line outs, take part in opinion polls, and answer RBS 6 Nations rugby quiz questions. The app breaks new ground for rugby fans, using dual screen interaction to revolutionise and enhance the live match experience for viewers watching at home, and is available on iPhone, iPad, Android and Facebook, ensuring the broadest possible user base. Conceived by Synergy and delivered by Jam – Engine’s social media and mobile agency – the RBS 6 Nations Live Challenge is an example of Engine integration at its very best.

The RBS 6 Nations Live Challenge launched on 3^rd February, ahead of the first weekend of fixtures. The launch of the app has been supported by a hard-hitting PR campaign across consumer, rugby and tech titles, leading to coverage in publications including The Sun, The Sunday Times, Sport magazine, Shortlist magazine, The Guardian Technology Blog, T3, Slashgear and several rugby blogs. Reception has been extremely positive and our PR push has also generated masses of organic buzz, as more and more people download and play the Live Challenge. At the time of writing, after 5 of the 15 matches, the app has reached 75,000 downloads. The app will be available for every match for the rest of the Championship – go to www.rbs6nationslivechallenge.com to try it today.

By Jessica Enoch on February 24th, 2012

Tags: Default, Digital marketing, RBS 6 Nations, Rugby

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What happened

To promote its sponsorship of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Sainsbury’s created a short video of David Beckham being put through his paces by David Clarke, team GB’s Blind Football legend. Widely seeded online, on TV and in cinemas, the video raises awareness of the Sainsbury’s 1 Million Kids Challenge, which aims to get a million children to try a Paralympic sport, and its sponsorship of the Paralympic Games overall.

Why we love it

Sainsbury’s ‘Paralympic Games-only’ sponsorship is an exciting innovation in itself.  This is the first time that the rights for the Paralympic Games have been carved out and sold separately to those for the Olympics (although Olympic sponsorship still includes the Paralympic Games as well). Sainsbury’s can use this differentiated position to derive some key benefits.

Firstly, unlike Olympic venues, the London 2012 Paralympic Games’ venues and athletes can be branded.  With 150 hours of Paralympic Games footage to be broadcast on Channel 4, it will deliver plenty of ‘natural’ brand exposure for Sainsbury’s. In addition, the Paralympic Games provide some truly emotive stories of excellence, inspiration and dedication that resonate with the consumers and, critically, are different to the Olympic stories that will be told by the other sponsors. As Sainsbury’s Head of Sponsorship, Jat Sahota, said: “There are amazing individual stories, but it is important not to overplay the adversity angle – they are ordinary people doing extraordinary things; they are elite athletes. There is a richness to those stories that I think the British public will respond to more than some of the Olympian stories.”

Using David Beckham as a Paralympic Games Ambassador is an interesting choice. Whilst it is unusual to have an ambassador for an event who has never participated in it, Beckham’s involvement is a good way to deliver its messages to the widest possible audience.  It is obvious, though perhaps slightly regrettable, that a star of mainstream sport is a great candidate to help convey the Paralympic Games’ message.

Signing up the much-loved Beckham is unlikely to be a step in the wrong direction for any brand, but it’s what Sainsbury’s did with him that made this use of an ambassador so successful. The ABCDE model tells us that content is a vital part of excellent sponsorship, and the combination of a fascinating insight into blind football, combined with the allure of Beckham’s talent and good looks (sorry!) makes for compelling viewing. Football is the best loved sport in the UK, and so provides a good route into the discovery of Paralympic activities for those with little prior knowledge.

The last time blind football caught the public’s attention to such an extent was probably when Paddy Power released this controversial advert in 2010 and Sainsbury’s approach to blind football, naturally, could not be more different. It evokes the skill required for the sport, provoking exactly those feelings of inspiration and patriotism that the best sponsorships should.

The 1 Million Kids challenge is an ambitious programme to promote Paralympic sport to the mainstream, and using Beckham as its Paralympic Games ambassador shows that Sainsbury’s is serious about trying to make this happen.

Sainsbury’s core asset might be the London 2012 Paralympic Games, but by creating content that combines this sponsorship with a superstar ambassador from outside the Paralympic world, they are truly maximising its impact.

By Jessica Enoch on January 25th, 2012

Tags: Celebrity, Content, David Beckham, Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympics, Synergy Loves

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On a very rainy Thursday in January, Synergy launched RBS RugbyForce at Twickenham Stadium with ambassador Tom Wood and NatWest RugbyForce at Waunarlwydd RFC in Wales with George North.

RugbyForce is a nationwide community volunteer programme which helps local rugby clubs improve their facilities and safeguard their long-term future. Last year the programme helped more than 400 clubs in the UK and Ireland and it is testament to the initiative’s development that RugbyForce now exists across all four Home Union territories – Ulster Bank RugbyForce in Ireland, NatWest RugbyForce in Wales, and RBS RugbyForce in England and Scotland.

Our role was to maximise PR exposure from the launches in order to drive more clubs to sign up for the programme before registration closes at the end of March. At Twickenham we were also launching a special initiative giving English clubs, who sign up before England’s RBS 6 Nations games at Twickenham, the chance to have their names printed on the steps of the famous stadium.

The ambassadors were chosen to demonstrate the link between grassroots and elite rugby, emphasising RBS Group’s commitment to the sport at all levels. Both took every opportunity to explain to the media that they were promoting RugbyForce and delivered all our key messages about the importance of the programme and the fantastic impact it has on local rugby clubs.

At Twickenham, Tom Wood spoke to a number of different media, including an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph and a live appearance on TalkSport, as well as branded pieces in the Birimingham Post and Sunday Mercury, and a host of other online and radio interviews. The campaign was launched with the names of three lucky clubs, and representatives from each were at Twickenham to provide further online media content and enable us to target local press from across the country.

Tom Wood and the lucky club members

Meanwhile in Cardiff, Waunarlwydd RFC turned out in force to see George North, with around 100 kids and 60 adults attending. Media interviews went ahead with Swansea Sound radio, Scarlett FM radio, the Press Association, the South Wales Evening Post, the Daily Express, Rugby World and BBC Wales Radio & TV.

With the aim to raise exposure of the programme and ultimately drive registration, the day was a great success, generating significant coverage that really delivered on the RugbyForce messages.

All in all it was a hectic and sodden, but ultimately incredibly successful day in both England and Wales, showcasing the RBS Group’s commitment to community rugby. The day drove coverage that will encourage clubs to register and help them to help themselves become more sustainable businesses through the RugbyForce programme.  For more information go to www.rbs.com/rugbyforce.

By Jessica Enoch on January 25th, 2012

Tags: Celebrity, community, Default, PR, Public relations, RBS 6 Nations, Rugby

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