Rugby Promotion and Marketting

[Gnostic]

Please, Please somebody with some connections to the ARU get them to sit with these ads on auto repeat until it gets through their thick skulls that this is what Rugby promotional media can be like.

The cringe worthy stuff we were served up this with the Link/Blades "He's in" series just don't cut it in any way.

http://www.therugbyblog.com/guinness-releases-series-of-spine-tingling-rugby-ads

Can I just say that Rugby still hasn't replaced Bill McLaren and probably never will. He will forever remain the voice of Rugby for me.

 

[Brendan Hume]

Absolutely loved the Wilkinson ad. To see how much the game means to the community was fantastic.

 

[something]

From an advertising man's point of view, these are great for community insight (as mentioned above). Aus rugby marketing team needs a re-vamp in every facet. They can draw inspiration from a variety of sporting ads, not just rugby ads. There are countless sporting campaigns throughout history that are incredibly uplifting and spine tingling, with my favourite being basketball ones.

this is my fave

this is a new one with lebron that has achieved 3mil hits in 6 days.

It would be seriously easy to create something special with all the legendary stories. It would also be easy to create something cheap as well, given the ARU's financial state. It's ridiculous how outdated they are in their approach to advertising.

 

[Brendan Hume]

Also agree with you on the current ads. Hooper getting his hair cut? Geez. Its my biggest current gripe with the ARU, how the history, legacy and resources are so poorly utilised in promoting the sport. 91 and 99RWC, 03 RWC Final, dominance of the Aus team through the late 90's early 00's, Grand Slam tour '84, reclaiming the Bledisloe 79. All of these things as well as the literally thousands of stories from Grass Roots clubs around the country are the sort of thing that capture the imagination. It breaks my heart to hear that former Wallabies aren't given tickets to tests - there's probably only a couple of hundred blokes still around - give 'em a ticket and use their presence to sell the game to the punters - have former players talking to people about their experiences, have them visit clubs and give talks. Reward some of the grass roots volunteers - throw them a ticket to a test match, invite them to a training session, write an article about someone's story. All of these things can be done for free, or close to it, and it can inspire people. We need more coaches, we need more referees, we need more players, we need more viewers. As broke as the ARU are, they are appalling at using the resources that they do have.

 

[something]

One of my favourite Rugby videos, and the thing that introduced me to GaGR. How hard would it be to get fans to create video using ARU footage? Turn it into a competition for a few free tickets. They would literally get hours of unique and interesting footage from across Australia for next to nothing.

 

[Brendan Hume]

Here's a clip that was shot for ABC Open at our club of our Club Captain at the time, Phil...

https://open.abc.net.au/explore/20405

 

[Brendan Hume]

Great one Something! Funny, we're basically having the same ideas, but the ARU have us watching Squeaky Moore going through customs...

 

[Brendan Hume]

The Samsung ad for the U8's game is a ripper...

 

[Aussie D]

My local rugby union has been MIA on the promotion front the past couple of weeks. In quick succession we've had Ourimbah junior Adam Ashley-Cooper earn his 100th test cap, no mention in the local rag or as far as I'm aware on local tv or radio. Then this past weekend Avoca junior Matt Hodgson was named Wallaby captain for the Barbarians game. Again no media mentions locally. Surely, two events of this magnitude need to be shouted from the rooftops to let kids know that they have a pathway with rugby and it doesn't have to be through private schools.

 

[something]

here is another unreal sporting ad that they could draw some inspiration from.

 

[something]

the 'meet the super humans' ad aided in highest paralympic viewing numbers ever. if wallabies could create something for the rwc that appealed to the masses & gave viewers goosebumps, im sure viewing rates would increase, and with that $$

 

[Quick Hands]

Also agree with you on the current ads. Hooper getting his hair cut? Geez. Its my biggest current gripe with the ARU, how the history, legacy and resources are so poorly utilised in promoting the sport. 91 and 99RWC, 03 RWC Final, dominance of the Aus team through the late 90's early 00's, Grand Slam tour '84, reclaiming the Bledisloe 79. All of these things as well as the literally thousands of stories from Grass Roots clubs around the country are the sort of thing that capture the imagination. It breaks my heart to hear that former Wallabies aren't given tickets to tests - there's probably only a couple of hundred blokes still around - give 'em a ticket and use their presence to sell the game to the punters - have former players talking to people about their experiences, have them visit clubs and give talks. Reward some of the grass roots volunteers - throw them a ticket to a test match, invite them to a training session, write an article about someone's story. All of these things can be done for free, or close to it, and it can inspire people. We need more coaches, we need more referees, we need more players, we need more viewers. As broke as the ARU are, they are appalling at using the resources that they do have.

Remember the ad with the butterflies? Or the give the old razzle dazzle one?

The ARU have a long, long history of hopless promotional campaigns.

 

[Aussie D]

Since professionalism all of the ads have been aimed at "selling" the Wallabies rather than the game. I remember in the early 90s the ad campaign "What do you want to be?" and the whole "running game" song. the Wallabies were used to promote the game and get kids involved. IMHO it comes down to your personal preference of what you believe the Wallabies are about. Do they exist for entertainment value? Or do the Wallabies exist to promote the game of rugby through kids taking up the sport? Or is it a little bit of A and a bit of B?

 

[Quick Hands]

Since professionalism all of the ads have been aimed at "selling" the Wallabies rather than the game. I remember in the early 90s the ad campaign "What do you want to be?" and the whole "running game" song. the Wallabies were used to promote the game and get kids involved. IMHO it comes down to your personal preference of what you believe the Wallabies are about. Do they exist for entertainment value? Or do the Wallabies exist to promote the game of rugby through kids taking up the sport? Or is it a little bit of A and a bit of B?

First of all the ads have to be appealing to the viewer - whether they are a rusted on rugby nut, someone who knows nothing of the game or those in between. You can't sell anything unless you grab people's attention to let them know what you've got. Some of the previous ads appealed to no-one (unless you were a lepidopterist or a fan of vaudeville). Then you have to get across the message - this is what's good about the game. Plenty of great tries, high-leaping lineouts, tackles etc. Done right, as you say, you can promote the game as a spectacle/entertainment and promote participation.

We've got something that is really good, but we're doing a lousy job at telling people about it.