At Royal London, we’re a mutual on a mission to support our customers and wider society. Being customer-owned, we’re naturally purpose-driven, committed to making long-term positive change to society.
A shift of business objectives from brand awareness to actively demonstrating our Purpose and values as a mutual required a new sponsorship. When exploring partnering with the British & Irish Lions, we asked “why isn’t there a Lions Women’s Team?” and committed to level the playing field for women’s rugby by becoming the Founding Partner. This groundbreaking partnership sees us investing in women’s elite player and coach development through to grassroots rugby in the lead up to the inaugural tour in 2027. We’re putting our money where our mouth is.
Our 2024 activation focused on announcing our three partnership pillars; Becoming Founding Partner of the inaugural Lions Women’s Team; Investing £3 million in elite player and coach pathways; and creating the Championing Women and Girls’ grassroots rugby award and £10,000 grants. With a moderate budget and the desire to stand out, we had be innovative. We tested new creative routes, media formats, tapped into the Lions, Home Unions and rugby press, and launched Royal London’s first TikTok account.
Our Founding Partner announcement knocked it out the park, achieving 62.7 million media and 32 million PR impressions, and 123 clubs applied for our grassroots grant. More importantly, by September 2024 Brand Love amongst customers increased from 65.9% to 74% and Brand Affinity amongst UK consumer rugby fans increased from 36.5% to 44.2%.
