In a competitive category characterised by inertia and competitive pricing, growth for Vodafone is most efficiently delivered when brand consideration is strong. For three years now, Vodafone’s sponsorship has managed to embed itself in the Irish rugby narrative amongst fans and players alike, broadening the support base for Irish rugby. Its ‘Team Of Us’ campaign has increased consideration for Vodafone – it’s been consistently 10% points higher amongst those aware of the sponsorship than those who aren’t.
But the Rugby World Cup presented a new challenge for Vodafone with sponsors logo not appearing on the jersey and the games taking place in Japan- a different, more digital engagement strategy was required. The creative solution was “Everyone In” – a clarion call for Irish support at home and abroad to create the biggest Team Of Us ever for the Rugby World Cup. To maximise reach we created two TVCs – one to own the conversation early on and one to add fresh momentum closer to kick off.
The first TVC featured people from all walks of life in Ireland pledging support for the Irish team. The players then echoed and amplified this call on social. The second TVC featured the team and their fans pledging that same level of support, this time from Japan.
To deepen engagement we wanted a tangible and technological symbol of support from all over Ireland that could travel with the team. We combined what makes us all unique (our fingerprint), and what brings us all together (rugby) to create ‘Ireland’s Ball’. Using Vodafone’s network and a tailor-made app, we collected digital fingerprints from 32 people, one from each county to make a rugby ball unlike any other.
