Since its partnership with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) began in 2021, IG has been on a mission to use its sponsorship to make the brand more familiar and accessible to traders, investors and fans of English cricket.
A home Ashes series in 2023 provided a unique opportunity to take the partnership to the next level – delivering a campaign that would not only drive deeper engagement with the England Cricket audience but support the brand’s ambition to invest in the future of the game and address genuine needs at a grassroots level.
In partnership with the ECB, Net Gains was a commitment to invest in new public net facilities in six locations across the country via the IG Net Gains fund. To drive genuine engagement with the campaign, IG put fans right at the heart of the activation, enabling matchday goers at every men’s Ashes Test Match to help build up the fund by stepping into the ‘IG Net Gains Arena’ – a cricket simulator equipped with cutting-edge augmented reality technology.
A fully integrated marketing and communications campaign across earned, owned and paid media channels was developed to support and amplify awareness of the experiential activation and tap into the editorial conversation around the Ashes summer, resulting in tangible uplift across brand engagement, familiarity and consideration. With the Net Gains Fund already standing at £300,000, IG is now primed to enter a new season, which will see these funds invested right back into the heart of the domestic game.
