Synergy, working as part of a cross agency team, has developed a rugby campaign this autumn to activate the GUINNESS brand’s rugby partnerships with the RFU, WRU, Scottish Rugby and the IRFU. Synergy contracted GUINNESS rugby ambassadors Lewis Moody, Lee Byrne and Sean Lamont (alongside Irish winger Tommy Bowe) to create an integrated campaign across TV, print, digital and PR targeting international rugby fans.

The ambassadors featured in print ads showing them flying the GUINNESS flag and giving their all for their country, in doing so proving that they themselves are made of more. Point-of-sale creative was rolled out in pubs and supermarkets across the country offering fans the chance to win tickets to the RBS 6 Nations (of which GUINNESS are Official Beer Partner).

Synergy secured national and regional press, broadcast and online coverage across England, Scotland and Wales through interviews with the players. Dynamic action shots of the players accompanied the interviews linking their national flag with the flag featuring in the TV ad campaign and reinforcing the brand’s support of the home nations.

To get fans closer to the action, we sponsored the Lewis Moody app to deliver an exclusive blog. GUINNESS fans who left messages of support for both Lewis and Lee on the brands Facebook page had the chance to receive personalised messages back from the players.

For those fans that haven’t been able to follow their team out to New Zealand, our man “Hutch” has been supplying a weekly video diary of his travels and meeting the home nations’ supporters.

To engage fans offline we took England pace man Ugo Monye to Asda in Gloucester to meet fans and staff at the supermarket, allowing them to have their photo taken with the rugby star and take part in the GUINNESS Rugby Reflex game.

Finally, the campaign’s TV ad, directed by Oscar winner Tom Hooper and produced by ad agency AMV, sees our intrepid hero overcome an army to prove that he and his team are made of more. Check it out below.

By Caroline Ayling on October 13th, 2011

Tags: Advertising, Alcohol, Facebook, Food & Drink, Guinness, PR, Public relations, RBS 6 Nations, Rugby, Synergy, YouTube

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How often do you hear the words ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’? It can be a bit of a cliché but in fact there are certain things that really are once in a lifetime…

This month Synergy has been working with clients GUINNESS and Betfair to offer rugby and football fans a dream come true scenario, the chance to play on the hallowed turf at Twickenham and Old Trafford.

GUINNESS, through their community programme Club Together, gave Birmingham Barbarians the chance of a lifetime to play on the pitch at Twickenham ahead of this year’s Aviva Premiership Final. Synergy was responsible for building a dream day the entire squad would never forget. Their day began with England coaches Brian Smith and Mike Ford putting the team through their paces in a dedicated training and warm-up session in Richmond. It was on to Twickenham and from two England coaches to the next as Graham Rowntree greeted  the team bus. The teams walked through the Lion Gates and into the changing rooms where Graham lead a rousing team talk. Then it was through the infamous Twickenham tunnel and onto a pitch in perfect condition for the pros – Birmingham Barbarians were ready for the rugby match of a lifetime. Thirty minutes later the final score was a 5-5 draw. The lads came running off the field pumped full of adrenalin and buzzing after playing at the 80,000 capacity stadium knowing that an hour later the Premiership Final showdown would be kicking off.

As Birmingham Barbarians departed Twickenham it was onto Old Trafford for Synergy to create the ultimate experience for any football fan. With 16,069,210 Facebook likes to date Manchester United has one of the largest global fans bases of any football team and as official betting partner of the club, Betfair had invited 32 very special VIP guests from across Europe and the UK to enjoy the ultimate Theatre of Dreams experience…

Our guests were collected by a chauffeur driven car upon arrival into Manchester, and dropped off at the 5* hotel the Radisson Edwardian for lunch and the chance to meet their fellow team mates. Betfair’s guests donned their training kit and head to Manchester United’s exclusive training facility, Carrington, where the world class Manchester United Soccer Schools coaches and Manchester United legends, Brian McClair, Gary Pallister, Clayton Blackmore and Andy Ritchie where waiting to greet them and test their skills.

Following a solid three hour training session the teams were picked and team managers Brian McClair and Gary Pallister were ready to go head-to-head at Old Trafford the following day. With a big match ahead it was back to the hotel where guests would find their very own personalised 2011/12 season’s kit in their rooms, literally hot off the press as the kit had only launched the day beforehand!

Match day…with their new kit in tow Betfair’s guests were escorted to Manchester United’s home changing room where United legends and the Premier League trophy were awaiting their arrival. After an eagerly anticipated photo opportunity the teams lined up with team managers in the tunnel. As the Champions League music echoed through the tunnel our excited and nervous guests were lead through the Red Devils tunnel – an experience to never forget.

A full 90 minutes on the pitch at Old Trafford and a 9 – 4 victory for Gary Pallister’s away team over Brian McClair’s home side saw the teams exhausted but buzzing from the experience. After some down time for the guests there was one last surprise in store, dinner at Old Trafford overlooking the pitch hosted by none other than footballing legend Denis Law.

So there you have it, two of sports ultimate experiences delivered with every detail planned to the minute by Synergy’s experiential team. If anyone asks you ‘Do you know anyone who can make dreams come true?’ you know where to look…

By Georgina Taylor on June 17th, 2011

Tags: Communications, Consultancy, Default, Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Public relations, Rugby, Sponsorship, Synergy, Synopsis

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GUINNESS, the Official Beer of the RBS 6 Nations, hosted an internal rugby bonanza at the Sainsbury’s head offices in Holborn last month, as part of their RBS 6 Nations activation in Sainsbury’s stores up and down the country.

As with all businesses, relationships and communication are key to success and the GUINNESS team at Diageo wanted to find a creative way to strengthen one such relationship: with retailer Sainsbury’s.

GUINNESS’ sponsorship of the RBS 6 Nations was the perfect opportunity to boost credibility within Sainsbury’s, strengthen relationships, engage with all 1000+ Sainsbury’s employees and of course shout about GUINNESS being the ‘Official Beer of the RBS 6 Nations Championship’.

We were tasked with creating an event that would highlight the in-store activation and also demonstrate GUINNESS’ rugby pedigree whist engaging the Sainsbury’s staff.

So how did we rise to the challenge?

Well, we started off by pulling a couple of GUINNESS rugby favourites out of retirement, added an ambassador player appearance and pulled in a few RBS 6 Nations friends, for the party. The entertainment included GUINNESS branded Rugby Reflex and Powerpass games and the offer of a personal message to everyone at Sainsbury’s from GUINNESS ambassador, England’s Lewis Moody. The RBS Six Nations Trophy was also in attendance and we even brought in former England Captain Martin Corry to get involved.

A few highlights:

- Sainsbury’s Chairman David Tyler enjoyed the event, having his picture taken with the Martin and the trophy whilst also having a rather extensive go on the Powerpass game!

- Martin came third (!) in the Powerpass game. By the end he was taking off his suit jacket & his cufflinks, rolling up his sleeves, running up… and yet still did not manage to top the leader board…

- Over 160 people took part in the activities

- 200+ photographs were taken of Sainsbury’s staff with either the Trophy and/or Martin Corry

- Passersby on the street even tried to come in to see what was going on!

The event proved to be a successful way to increase awareness of the GUINNESS sponsorship and an alternative way to delight one of Diageo’s key customers – a simple and easy way to engage a brand with a key audience quickly, efficiently and cost effectively.

So in the style of Gordon Ramsey – GUINNESS happy, Sainsbury’s happy, Synergy happy…Done!

By Jonathan Gale on March 2nd, 2011

Tags: Alcohol, Guinness, RBS 6 Nations, Rugby, Sponsorship, Sport, Synergy

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Life as a PR can put you in some fairly bizarre situations, but frankly yesterday topped it all.  Along with many other PR agencies across the land, we were racking our brains for an attention grabbing, media friendly angle to maximise the PR’s dream annual event – April Fool’s Day.

So to celebrate April Fool’s Day and promote the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP we created and ran a spoof story about a rugby star releasing his very own Eau d’ rugby aftershave.  Ugo Monye, England’s sharp shooter was the man chosen to front the campaign which I’m sure he will regret in the changing rooms on Saturday, when his teammates rib him mercilessly.

The story went that Ugo was creating an aftershave that captured the essence of rugby with hints of sweat, aromas of deep heat, bouquets of mud and of course a drop of the black stuff.  This delectable aroma was set to be stocked in all the big department stores and samples given out to rugby fans at the Guinness Premiership Final on buying a pint of Guinness.

All that was left to do was set up a photo shoot with the customary test tubes, lab coats and bunsen burners…..

In the mire of spoof stories Metro ran the piece today which hopefully you all read on your way in to work this morning and believed ….Happy April Fool’s Day.

By Simon Roche on April 1st, 2010

Tags: Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Rugby

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Today I find myself feeling especially Irish, buoyed by the news that one of my favourite books, Round Ireland with a Fridge, has been made into a feature film with the author Tony Hawks in the main starring role. This is especially excellent having developed a teenage crush on the main character when I first read the book: India, November 2006 (I was not a teenager then, just the crush was).

I won’t tell you what happens in the book – needless to say it involves a fridge and Ireland.

But I can say this. I recommend the book highly especially if you find yourself relaxing on some faraway beach as I was in Kerala way back when. If the book doesn’t make you laugh out loud at least once then take a deep look at yourself. And again. And try and locate a sense of fun.

What is less funny is that currently, the team who created the film, don’t know if it will ever be seen by a wide audience. Which would be no less than a tragedy.

Incase you’re not familiar with the art of movie distribution, here’s a very quick lesson – and special thanks to Jeff at HowStuffWorks for the inspiration behind this list:

1. Someone has an idea for a movie – writes outline, uses it to try & get interest in the idea.
2. A studio or independent investor decides to purchase rights to the film.
3. Screenwriter, producer, director, cast, crew come together – to help make the film.
4. The film is completed and sent to the studio.
5. The studio makes a licensing agreement with a distribution company.
6. The distribution company determines how many copies to make.
7. The distribution company shows the movie to prospective buyers representing the theaters.
8. The buyers negotiate on which movies they wish to lease.
9. The theater shows the movie for a specified number of weeks.
10. You & I buy a ticket and watch the movie. And eat popcorn loudly if you’re one of those annoying cinema go-ers (I am not). Infact, don’t get me started on anti-social foods that are sold in movie houses…

Simple. In theory at least.

Obviously a lot of people in the world have ideas for movies (step 1) but few of them make it all the way seamlessly from 1-10.  The film industry is ruthless.  Money, more often than not, outweighs the creative process. The studios won’t commit without the big Hollywood names attached, the names won’t sign until the money is secured. Funding makes the movie world go round. Not excellent.

So the Round Ireland with A Fridge team, it appears, find themselves stuck at step 5,6 & 7 with no official distribution yet in place. Steps 8,9 and 10 probably seem somewhere over the rainbow right now.

Hawks (not to be confused with Tony Hawk, the pro American skateboarder), ever the quirky comedian, has instead opted to turn his back against the traditional model and is taking the film-making road less travelled. Planning to go on the road with the fridge and visit film festivals (“to see which doors open”), he plans to generate buzz around the film until it has a life of its own. And with the potential force that can be harnessed today using social media, digital PR and internet campaigners – power to the people – everyone loves an underdog (think Rage Against the Machine making Christmas Number one back in December, the successful digital campaign to get Cadbury to bring back the previously extinct Wispa bar…), I am confident he will succeed.

Whatever the movie release strategy that is ultimately deployed this autumn, watch this space. It almost certainly won’t be with a mainstream distributor. And it’ll likely be quirky, entertaining and highly innovative.

Back to today, happy St Patrick’s Day.

I’m off to have a pint of Guinness. And in true Irish fridge fashion, perhaps a second – “one for the road” whilst (and if you’ve read the book, you’ll get the reference here) being careful to avoid, in Tony’s words, ”granting the road too much respect”…

By Stephanie Branston on March 17th, 2010

Tags: Alcohol, Digital marketing, Film, Guinness, Public relations, Social Media

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Where better to kick start any celebration than at a showcase event watched live by 80,000 and 445,000 on TV?

2009 marks 250 years of GUINNESS® brewing heritage and this year the Synergy team were tasked with bringing the anniversary celebrations to life at the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Final.

The GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Final is the culmination of nine months of hard fought rugby on the pitch and even harder fought supporting off the pitch as fans follow their teams across the country come wind, rain, snow or sun. This year was no different with the top four teams taking it right down to the wire to win a spot to run out on the hallowed turf at Twickenham.

Behind the scenes, the planning which goes into organising the world’s largest rugby premiership match is no mean feat and to add to all the excitement of the rugby, the Synergy team were challenged to develop an engaging integrated PR and experiential campaign.

With a number of key considerations, including promoting the 250 celebrations, the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Final and the core brand message – Bring It To Life – our ‘Raise a Pint to Arthur Guinness’ campaign worked across multiple platforms.

The activity encouraged players and fans to change their middle name to Arthur Guinness. Players from the two finalist teams, Mike Catt (London Irish) and Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers) lead the way by undertaking the name change by deed poll and by doing so, GUINNESS made a donation to the PRA Benevolent Fund. Interviews and photography with the two iconic players promoted the 250 message and increased the media coverage in the week running up to the Final.

Mike Arthur Guinness Catt and Martin Arthur Guinness Corry

 

This experience was bought to life for the fans in the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP village at Twickenham where over 200 rugby die-hards adopted the new middle name and for their troubles they were rewarded with a free pint of the black stuff!

I now pronounce you John 'Arthur Guinness' Brown

 

 

Although the fans watching from their sofas weren’t able to join in the name-changing fun, the 250 message was brought to life with new post pads and dynamic LED boards. It was a hard fought game but when the final whistle blew Leicester came out victorious and it was up to Club Captain Martin ‘Arthur Guinness’ Corry to lift the Trophy for the Tigers.

Martin Arthur Guinness Corry lifts the Guinness Premiership trophy

 

 

Keep an eye out for more Guinness 250 celebrations later in the year!

By Caroline Ayling on May 28th, 2009

Tags: Brand marketing, Event management consultants, Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Public relations, Synergy

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Imagine the prospect of a rugby training session with a coach who is feared by players for his army style drills and envied by other coaches for the results he yields from his team. Guinness Club Together, a grassroots rugby initiative, gave one lucky club the chance to be put through their paces in a unique training session, tailored specifically for the club, by the Wales Defence Coach Shaun Edwards.

Shaun gave up his only day off this year, in his busy schedule training the Welsh National Squad and the Wasps Guinness Premiership team, to head to Nottingham Casuals RFC, currently 5^th in Midlands 4 (East – North), for a once in a lifetime training session.

Oli Mott, winner of the Guinness Club Together competition, claimed he’d never seen so many players turn up for mid-week training and with such excitement and enthusiasm – they were even all on time! Shaun lived up to his trade-mark terrifying approach and took no pity on the Nottingham Casuals Team, undertaking a series of training drills and practices, which would have put a professional player through their paces. Shaun showed his true passion for the development of rugby by spending time with the club coaches as well as with the players. Judging by all the exhausted faces at the end I think it’s safe to say they had never experienced anything like it.

Despite Shaun’s gruelling schedule, he found time to share a pint of ‘the black stuff’ with the team after the training session, along with sharing some amusing anecdotes of life off the pitch in the professional game. The hard work and sweat truly paid off as the Nottingham Casuals won their next match 81-0! Shaun Edwards obviously left a lasting impression and turned out to be not so intimidating as originally thought.

To round up the 2008-9 rugby season Guinness Club Together is offering one member club the chance to play on the hallowed turf at Twickenham on the day of the Guinness Premiership Final. To enter visit www.guinness-clubtogether.com.

By Georgina Taylor on March 25th, 2009

Tags: Alcohol, community, Event management service, grass roots sport, Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Rugby

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December saw James Haskell of London Wasps and Steve Borthwick of Saracens switch the pitch for the pool by playing a game of rugby in the underwater tank at Pinewood Studios. Submerging themselves in 1.2 millions litres of water, the England duo were promoting the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Drinkaware Weekend and highlighting the importance of staying refreshed by drinking water in-between alcoholic beverages. 

Have a look at the behind-the-scenes footage to see how the players avoided sinking in their size thirteens:

By Nick Stocker on January 6th, 2009

Tags: Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Public relations, Rugby

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Congratulations to the Guinness team who picked up their fourth award last night for the title sponsorship of rugby’s Guinness Premiership. The sponsorship, managed on behalf of Guinness by Synergy, won the Rugby Business Award for Rugby Sponsor of the Year (over $500k).

The judges particularly commended the ground breaking work on the Guinness Club Together campaign across 2007/8. Synergy manages all aspects of the sponsorship from strategic consulting to experiential events and PR.

By Dominic Curran on November 18th, 2008

Tags: Experiential marketing, Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Public relations, Rugby, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Synergy

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20 men in a room hugging was the scene last Wednesday night at Harlequins at the Guinness Club Together, ‘Rugby Essentials’, event. Guinness Club Together is a grassroots initiative developed to work with rugby clubs. It is free to join and in exchange for collecting and sending in Guinness keg caps, clubs are able to redeem a host of prizes, merchandise and other sought after items from the online catalogue.

The events are being hosted by Guinness Premiership referees, players and coaches demonstrating training techniques, warm-up drills as well as offering advice on the new and controversial Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) . Wayne Barnes, a Guinness Premiership referee, provided an interactive session on the ELVs. Clubs have now been playing the new laws for a few months and this gave them a chance to discuss how they are being interpreted by both the players and referees. It was the coaching portion of the evening that prompted a group of fully grown men to get up and hug each other as Colin Osborne, the Quins coach, demonstrated the wrestling techniques that the squad use to warm up.  The events have been kept small and intimate to ensure that the attendees get an opportunity to interact and really get what they want out of the session.

I am a rugby fan but last week some of the jargon really took it to the next level and I did wonder at times had it been in a foreign language I might have had more chance of interpreting it! It was really great to see the audience so fully engaged and, at times, mesmerised.

The purpose of the ‘Rugby Essentials’ events is for Guinness to target the core rugby audience and club opinion formers and to engage them in their passion giving them a valuable rugby insight that they can take back to their respective clubs. This is a really great way for Guinness to offer a unique brand experience whilst spreading the wealth of its Premiership sponsorship assets.

The Guinness Club Together Rugby Essential events are travelling around the UK in the next month:

Newcastle Falcons – 29^th October (18.00 – 21.00)
Sale Sharks – 5^th November (18.00 – 21.00)
Northampton Saints – 12^th November (18.00 – 21.00)
Saracens – 19^th November (18.00 – 21.00) 

I would love to be a fly on the flood lights when the guests from last week go back to their clubs and attempt to cajole the players into a bit of a wrestle!

By Lisa Parfitt on October 29th, 2008

Tags: Brand marketing, Experiential marketing, grass roots sport, Guinness, Guinness Premiership, Rugby

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