SPONSORS
PARTNERS
Brands Primed And Ready To Convert Rugby World Cup 2015 Into Sponsorship Success Story
From September 18 to October 31, England will play host to the Rugby World Cup 2015, the most significant sporting event to be held on home soil since the London 2012 Olympics. With analysts predicting that RWC 2015 will also be the biggest Rugby World Cup ever, the event is expected to generate up to £2.2 billion of output into the economy. All told, 41,000 jobs will be supported and 11 host cities will benefit economically as 20 national teams compete in 48 matches. The RWC is also certain to be a major television event, with domestic coverage provided by free to air commercial broadcaster ITV. RWC is also forecast to reach a total global audience of around 4 billion.
According to the RWC’s organiser World Rugby, “Rugby World Cup 2015 is on track to be the best-attended, most-viewed, most-socially engaged and most competitive Rugby World Cup to date and the commercial success of the 2015 edition, coupled with New Zealand 2011, is enabling World Rugby to invest more than £340 million in the development of rugby from the playground to the podium across 120 nations.”
Not surprisingly, the event has also proved appealing to brands, with some of the world’s biggest companies getting involved either as partners of the event, partners of competing teams or broadcast sponsors. An added attraction to these companies is that the sport is particularly popular among the upmarket ABC1 demo. Here we look at some of the key players, outlining what they have said so far about their plans for activation.
RWC Worldwide Partners: The Big Six
DHL: Global delivery and logistics firm DHL has operations in over 220 countries and territories. Its association with rugby covers everything from the Rugby World Cup, through to grassroots initiatives, where it supports community clubs and children's rugby clinics as far afield as Ghana and Fiji.
For RWC 2015, DHL kicked off its activities by sending a single rugby ball off on a journey through 45 countries. Starting in South Africa, the ball travelled up through Africa and will reach Twickenham in time for the opening game. DHL has also been presenting the Rugby World Cup Webb Ellis Trophy Tour alongside Land Rover. When the Trophy arrived in the UK, DHL organised an event in partnership with Brand Brewery. The event was attended by 100 staff and customers as well as Grant Fox and Lawrence Dallaglio. Brand Brewery filmed and photographed the event to create assets for promotional use. Currently running is a ‘Great Is In The Detail’ competition offering signed rugby balls, signed polo shirts and RWC tickets.
Emirates: The UAE-based airline first sponsored the Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2007 in France as a Tournament Sponsor, and then became a Worldwide Partner for RWC 2011 in New Zealand. In the most recent cycle of negotiations, it signed up as a Worldwide Partner for both the RWC 2015 and 2019 tournaments, to be held in England and Japan respectively. Emirates’ commitment to rugby also includes title sponsorship of the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens and the Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens (both part of the HSBC Sevens World Series circuit). The company also has a partnership with USA Rugby and the World Rugby's elite panel of referees – who always take to the field for international games in ‘Fly Emirates’ kit.
In terms of RWC 2015 activation, June saw Emirates launch its Find A Flag promotion. Open to 14-16 year-olds, the competition gives 80 young rugby fans the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime experience of leading a team out of the tunnel at one of the Rugby World Cup 2015 matches. Laurie Berryman, Emirates UK VP, said: “As an Official Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2015, Emirates is proud to be connecting passionate rugby fans from across the world in the home of the sport this autumn. The Find the Flag competition will give the local fans in the host cities the chance to celebrate rugby coming home and connect them to the sport with a truly unforgettable experience.” The promotion was launched by stars such as Wales and Gloucester player James Hook.
Heineken: Heineken has a long association with the Rugby World Cup, having supported South Africa 1995, Australia 2003, France 2007 and New Zealand 2011 as well as the latest event. It has also built up a lot of kudos within the sport as sponsor of the Heineken Cup (since 1995) and many IRB Rugby 7's tournaments. Rugby has continued to be a key part of the brand’s marketing activities despite an overhaul in the brand’s positioning which took place around five years ago. The reason for this is that Heineken wants to be associated with RWC characteristics like respect, pride, passion and internationalism and to be able to offer consumers “world-class experiences”.
The company kicked off its RWC 2015 activation in June with a competition that offers 48 fans the chance to open a match with an official coin toss. It also announced plans for RWC-related limited edition products and a multimedia ad campaign that will break in August. This will feature rugby legends Jonah Lomu and John Smit. In terms of online activation, the company has signed up Will Carling, Matt Dawson, Scott Quinnell, Rocky Elsom and Shane Horgan, to take part in a pundit panel called the Heineken Rugby Studio. There will also be live events.
Commenting on the coin toss promotion, David Lette, Heineken brand director, said: “With this exclusive opportunity before every match, Heineken is proud to open Rugby World Cup 2015. We are proud to be rewarding passionate fans around the world with this VIP experience to get closer to the action.”
Land Rover: Building on the success of Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand, Land Rover says it is “proud and excited to be a Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2015 in England, a Tournament which is the pinnacle of the global game”. Explaining the rationale for the partnership it says rugby and Land Rover have “many shared values – integrity, courage, pride, composure, capability – values required to create great competitive rugby and world-class all-terrain vehicles. Land Rover celebrates those who embrace life’s challenges and RWC offers world-class teams the biggest challenge in the game.”
As part of its commitment, Land Rover is providing a fleet of the vehicles for the Tournament Organisers. As mentioned above, it is also co-presenting the Webb Ellis Cup Trophy Tour. It kicked this off by floating a giant rugby ball along the Thames that contained a bespoke RWC Land Rover Defender. The Defender is the vehicle being used for the UK and Ireland Trophy Tour and contains a tailor-made trophy display cabinet.
Like its fellow sponsors, Land Rover has a long-standing association with rugby that supports all levels of the game. High-profile elements of its strategy include sponsorship of the British & Irish Lions and a partnership with Lawrence Dallaglio.
MasterCard: MasterCard is “the preferred card and official payment system of Rugby World Cup 2015. As part of its support for the event it has signed up ambassadors such as England Captain Chris Robshaw, New Zealand’s Dan Carter and France’s Sebastien Chabal. This is the second RWC the brand has been involved with, after it partnered New Zealand 2011.
In terms of its sponsorship activation it has linked RWC 2015 to its long-running Priceless strategy. MasterCard holders stand the chance of winning “Priceless Experiences” such as presenting the Man of the Match award and stadium tours. People who pay for their tickets with MasterCard will also benefit by having the 2% credit card transaction fee removed. Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing officer at MasterCard, said: “Rugby fans are extremely passionate about their sport, and through Priceless Surprises and Priceless London, our goal is to enable the best experiences for Rugby fans everywhere who are planning their travel to this must-see event.” Also watch out for the 50 Days Of Crazy consumer campaign, coming soon.
Societe Generale: The French financial services group serves 32 million customers worldwide. Its relationship with rugby started at the grassroots level 1987 and has since developed into a fully-fledged international partnership. A supporter of the RWC for the last four editions, Societe Generale says the sport’s values go hand in hand with its own values, as reflected in the Group’s “Building Team Spirit Together” corporate signature. The company began its RWC 2015 activation last autumn with an ad campaign promoting the relationship. Commenting, Ian Fisher, UK Group Chief Country Officer, said:
“Our Worldwide Partnership with RWC 2015 is a great opportunity to raise the profile of Societe Generale internationally as the bank which supports rugby and its strong values of team spirit and commitment. Nurturing long-term client relationships across the world is in our DNA, and with only one year until kick-off, both Societe Generale and 20 of the world’s best rugby teams are building team spirit together and look forward to sharing moments of emotion with fans.”
Activation was stepped up in May with high-profile events in the UK and France. This included a tour of 12 cities in France based around a unique digital experience and activities with brand ambassador Jonny Wilkinson. Not to be overlooked is the brand’s relationship with the French national team that dates back 28 years. It also supports 450 regional and local clubs across France and is a Top 14 Championships partner.
The bank is in no doubt that rugby has had a positive impact on its brand, which indexes strongly against measures such as trustworthiness, team spirit, fair play and internationalism. For more on the bank’s rugby track record go here: http://www.societegenerale.co.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/groupe_uk/PDF/Press_pack_Rugby_World_Cup_2015.pdf.
RWC Official Sponsors
There are other sponsorship tiers beneath the six RWC worldwide partners, including official sponsors of the event. Companies signed up to support RWC 2015 so far include Canon, Canterbury, Clifford Chance, Coca-Cola, Dove Men+Care, Duracell, ESP, EY, Gilbert, Toshiba and William Grant & Sons (whose brands include Grant’s, Piper-Heidsieck, Glenfiddich, Hendrick’s, Sailor Jerry and Zubrowka).
Dove Men+Care signed up as an official RWC partner in June 2015, but its activation around rugby actually started last year ahead of the autumn internationals. As a sponsor of the various home international teams (England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland), it pulled in leading players such as Sam Warburton and Owen Farrell for an online ad in which they read an adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling poem If (created by Fast Track for the sports marketing agency Essentially). It also launched #scrumtogether, which champions the dedication of players through online activity on YouTube and social media.
Coca-Cola has been involved the RWC for two decades, and has also sponsored numerous grass roots rugby initiatives around the world. One of its biggest moves ahead of the event was to sign up Irish legend Brian O’Driscoll as one of its ambassadors. Paul Dwan, General Manager of the Coca-Cola team for Rugby World Cup 2015, says: “Rugby World Cup 2015 looks set to be the biggest ever; we’re delighted to be a part of it to celebrate the excitement and passion the tournament will generate. The game enjoys fantastic support and we hope that through our sponsorship we can bring rugby to an even wider audience.”
National Team Sponsors
While the teams battle it out for supremacy on the field of play, they also have a wide array of sponsors and partners slugging it out for the best possible profile in the commercial arena. Team sponsors will not get as much exposure as RWC 2015 partners, but it would be a major surprise if a few of them didn’t manage to pull off some kind of marketing coup during the event.
England: Sponsors include O2, QBE, Canterbury, Greene King IPA, Lucozade Sport, Dove Men+Care and MaxiNutrition. O2 has been a supporter of English rugby at both elite and grassroots level for around 20 years. According to Marketing Week it aims to create “unique digital experiences” in the build up to the 2015 World Cup as it “seeks to boost customer loyalty and differentiate itself in the intensely competitive UK 4G mobile operator market”. O2 has identified 2015 as being a lynchpin year in its support for the sport and has been placing a lot of emphasis on patriotism via its #WearTheRose campaign. Expect an acceleration of activity from O2 in the coming weeks.
Scotland: Sponsors include BT, RBS, Macron, Viagogo, Vitality, Caledonia Best, Guinness, Ginger Grouse, AG Barr, Peter Vardy, Dove Men+Care, Lucozade, House of Fraser and Gullivers. BT is the team’s biggest backer. In April 2015, it signed up as principal sponsor for the next three years, a deal that means BT will be on the Scotland national team’s shirts (as well as on the women’s team’s shirts and other age categories). It has also done a deal with governing body Scottish Rugby that involved the national stadium being renamed as BT Murrayfield. BT’s other commitments to Scottish rugby include shirt sponsorship deals with Scotland's two professional clubs, Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors. BT replaces RBS as shirt sponsor though the latter will stay involved as ‘official banking partner’.
Wales: Sponsors include Under Armour, Admiral, Dove Men+Care, Heineken, Guinness, Vitality, Gullivers and Brains, a previous winner at the UK Sponsorship Awards. Brains ran a clever online viral commercial during RWC 2011 and can be expected to do something similar in the next month or two.
Ireland: Sponsors include 3, Canterbury, Guinness, Ulster Bank, Aviva, VW, Paddy Power, AON, Sony Mobile and Dove Men+Care. Recent additions include Sony Mobile and Canterbury, which came in as kit sponsor in 2014. 3’s involvement came about after the company acquired O2 in January 2015 for £10 billion. The O2 brand had been a long-term partner of the Irish national team prior to that. With 3 also sponsoring Irish national football, there is likely to be a review/rationalisation of the situation some time in 2016.
France: Sponsors include GMF, Société Générale, Adidas, Orange, BMW, France Télévision, Air France, Orangina, Schweppes, RATP , Gilbert, Neptune, Eurest, Delpeyrat and Star Trac. Orange used to be much more high-profile in the sport and was a Rugby World Cup sponsor at the 2007 event.
Australia: Sponsors include Qantas, ASICS, Accenture, Samsung, HSBC, BMW, Dove Men+Care, Taylors and Hahn Superdry35. BMW is a recent addition, joining up with the Wallabies in April 2015. BMW Group Australia’s general manager, marketing, Stuart Jaffray, said: “BMW Australia’s partnership with the Wallabies cements our position as a true automotive partner of the sport, now in four countries around the world. And the synergy between the two organisations is fantastic - combining passion and performance both on and off the field.”
New Zealand: All-Blacks sponsors include adidas, AIG, Steinlager, Air New Zealand, ASB, Coca Cola, Jockey, Ford, Sanitarium and Unilever. The All-Blacks line up of partners reflects the fact that its brand transcends the sport of rugby, in the way Brazil does with football (even when not playing that well). The big news with the ABs was when it agreed to allow US insurance group AIG become shirt sponsor in a deal that runs from 2012-2018. This was only the second time it had ever allowed this kind of arrangement (after Steinlager in the ‘90s). Note however that the only sponsor logos allowed on shirts during the World Cup itself are sportswear logos. Other shirt sponsors are only allowed to appear on training shirts.
South Africa: Sponsors include ABSA, BMW, ASICS, South African Airways, Vodacom, Energade, Shield, Castle, Samsung and Tsogo Sun. South Africa is a key part of ASICS’ move into rugby, under a six-year deal that started in 2013. ASICS also extended its partnership with the Wallabies in the same year.
ITV Broadcast Sponsors: In April, Land Rover and SSE were named as joint sponsors of ITV's coverage of the Rugby World Cup. Fully integrated packages include sponsorship of coverage across ITV’s broadcast, online and mobile as well as integration in the new Rugby World Cup app. Laura Schwab, marketing director Jaguar Land Rover UK, said: “As a Worldwide Partner of RWC 2015, Land Rover is planning a major campaign to celebrate our heritage in rugby, especially at grassroots level. We will be using the ITV partnership to reach out and involve grassroots clubs from the UK and around the world.”
Other Sponsors that might be prominent around RWC 2015 are RBS, sponsor of the Six Nations; Guinness, sponsor of the Pro12 club competition and the Autumn Series; and HSBC, backer of the Sevens World Series and the British and Irish Lions. While none of these brands have RWC rights, their heritage in the sport may provide a platform for them to gain exposure, most likely through TV and online advertising campaigns.
Further Useful Reading:
