Flourish delivers Republic of Rugby for Canterbury
Posted by
Leading rugby brand Canterbury teamed up with brand experience agency Flourish to build a ‘Republic of Rugby’ fan experience in Twickenham’s West Fan Village during the RBS 6 Nations.
Canterbury recently launched its Spring/Summer 2014 sport casual campaign entitled ‘Republic of Rugby’. The campaign focuses around the true passion of the iconic rugby lifestyle, creating a feeling of familiarity and sense of belonging with the tag line ‘Live The Game’.
The Republic of Rugby experience was designed to increase awareness and engagement of the campaign, emulating a typical rugby clubhouse to celebrate the game of rugby and engage fans from all nations, home or away, to be part of the Republic. Visitors to the Republic of Rugby played games of table rugby, selected rugby anthems from the jukebox and browsed a legacy wall full of fun facts and memorabilia from the history of rugby and Canterbury. There was even a Republic of Rugby honours board inviting people to write the name of their rugby club. Fans were also given the chance to win £500 of Republic of Rugby stash from the Canterbury sport casual range by declaring what ‘Rugby Is…’ to them on branded whiteboards and posing for the Republic of Rugby photographer. Each photo was instantly emailed to the participants using interactive touch screen tablets, automatically entering them in to the prize draw and providing great data capture opportunities for Canterbury.
To increase awareness and engagement on social media, Canterbury encouraged fans to share their Republic of Rugby experience using the hashtag #RepublicOfRugby.
Canterbury brand ambassador Will Greenwood also paid a visit to the Republic of Rugby, posing for photos with fans and signing his team, Preston Grasshoppers, on the honours board.
Chris Stephenson, Canterbury CEO said: “We are rugby, it is what we do. We wanted to create an experience where rugby fans, no matter what nation they support, feel included and part of something special; the Republic of Rugby does just that. It was great to see fans engaging with the brand and enjoying themselves during the RBS 6 Nations.”
Harry Osborne, Flourish’s creative lead on the project, commented: “This campaign focuses on Canterbury’s new casuals collection, not the team kits, and as such it was important to focus the activity very much on a rugby message rather than an England message. We wanted to get to the heart of the fans’ love of rugby with a number of shareable interactions, but also by creating an environment that really is the ultimate clubhouse in every detail; somewhere for the fans to truly call home.”
Following its debut on Saturday 22nd February during the England vs Ireland match, the Republic of Rugby was open for business on Sunday 9th March when England took on Wales.
The activity will also feature during the Marriott London Sevens at Twickenham in May.
