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Rugby continues to dominate campaigns

Published by

VCCP London

England rugby partner O2 has unveiled its first ever animated campaign, which sees the England Rugby Team turned in to giants through the power of support. Created by VCCP London ahead of the biggest tournament in English Rugby history, the animation marks the latest stage of O2’s Wear the Rose campaign. Directed by award-winning Blink director, illustrator and animator Elliot Dear, the film follows the England Rugby team as they are transformed into formidable, yet friendly, giants by the nation’s support. Over twelve months in the making, and featuring over 6,500 hand-drawn and hand-coloured character frames and 74 hand-painted backgrounds, the distinctly Roald Dhalesque (specifically the BFG) 2D animation was created by 30 animators - headed up by world renowned lead animator Dominic Carola - who worked 18,420 hours in total to create the 2 spot.

England rugby partner O2 has unveiled its first ever animated campaign, which sees the England Rugby Team turned in to giants

The animated film will debut during the first episode of Gogglebox tonight (September 11), introduced by the show’s narrator Caroline Aherne. At the same time the animation will be shown as a roadblock across other digital TV channels including BT Sport, Gold, Dave, All4, Film4, More4 and E4. The two minute film will also be shown across all cinemas in England. The creative will feature across online, out-of-home and print advertising up and down the country. This includes all major print titles and premium spots such as Waterloo Motion, Ocean’s full motion Grid screens and a unique Oxford Circus underground tunnel wrap. As part of a TV first the creative will appear as an exclusive advert on the bus shelter in Coronation Street for six weeks. O2 store fronts across England will also be transformed as rugby fever takes over the nation.

O2 has also made an Avatar Creator where the public can play with face shape, hair styles and even the size of their nose and eyes to create an England Rugby-inspired avatar

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For those who want to emulate their heroes and see what they too can look like animated, O2 has also made an Avatar Creator where the public can play with face shape, hair styles and even the size of their nose and eyes to create an England Rugby-inspired avatar to use across their social media channels as the ultimate symbol of support for the England team. O2’s Wear the Rose campaign calls on the country to make the team feel like giants through the power of support. Other activities across the summer have so far included the O2 Touch Tour which travelled the country throughout June and July, the launch of a 50,000 Official England shirt giveaway through Priority last month and the recent rebranding of all O2 stores to “Wear the Rose.”

Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK. He knows almost nothing about rugby, but he’s all for agencies doing something genuinely imaginative with sports advertising, which is often not a thousand miles away from… this:-

WE ARE Pi

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The Thames has a rich recent history (just this year in fact) when it comes to advertising. From the Jaguar high wire stunt in March (which saw the luxury automobile manufacturers perform the world’s longest hire wire water crossing with a car) to the Airbnb floating house launched by TBWA\London in May.  American sports clothing company Under Armour is the latest company to jump on the bandwagon by kicking off its nationwide Armour campaign sending a 30m long vessel made up of eight shipping containers down the Thames emblazoned with their logo and six of the world’s leading rugby stars. Designed and created by WE ARE Pi and running across retail, social, digital and out-of-home channels, the integrated campaign highlights the performance products that unite some of the world’s top rugby players.

Under Armour is the latest company end a piece of advertising down the River Thames with the first part of its nationwide Armour campaign

The vessel transported a huge image of Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) players Jamie Roberts and Leigh Halfpenny, accompanied by fellow Home Nations representatives James Haskell (England), Jordi Murphy (Ireland), Drew Mitchell (Australia) and Canadian Jamie Cudmore. All of the powerful images featured on the vessel were shot by famed French photographer Denis Rouvre. As it passed down the Thames and under Tower Bridge, the mural (which originally showed the players in country colours) was ‘ripped’ to reveal the Armour base layer. The creative demonstrates Under Armour's commitment to making all athletes better, regardless of nation or team represented, which sets it apart from the recent campaign for Lucozade Sports from Grey London, which had completely the opposite message.

Designed and created by WE ARE Pi, the integrated campaign highlights the performance products that unite some of the world’s top rugby players

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Under Armour Director of Marketing EMEA, Christopher Carroll, said: "We partner with the World’s top talent in rugby and our mission is to provide our athletes with cutting edge gear to help them train and perform at their best." WE ARE Pi creative Partner Barney Hobson added: “With this campaign we set out to demonstrate that underneath all of the hype is the hard work and dedication of the athletes, and no matter what team you play for, underneath it all is Under Armour.” WE ARE Pi founder Alex Bennett Grant also added: “Under Armour is the world’s most exciting brand right now. We can’t wait to elevate the brand in Europe, telling its premium performance story.”

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Posted by: Benjamin Hiorns
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