ABOUT

Concept:

The French may be chic, but they’re certainly not punk rock. That is what they love about us and what they miss from our shores.

With the Rugby World Cup coming up, instead of showing the gentlemanly spirit the French would expect from us in such a setting, we wanted to celebrate what sets us apart.

Execution:

In 1823 when the inventor of rugby, William Webb-Ellis, decided to pick up a football and run with it, he encapsulated the UK’s unique spirit: a nation of rule-benders who defy the status quo.

To celebrate this audacious sportsman, we enlisted a modern day Webb Ellis to run a huge 281 miles to Paris to take his place at the start of the World Cup starting at its birthplace: the playing fields of Rugby School. The campaign included a series of immersive pop-up experiences across three cities in France to give people a taste of the UK’s modern and innovative culture.

Results:

We drove the intended perception change, but also drove the desired consideration change and intention to visit. When we asked a representative sample their reaction to the campaign, 82% said they’d be more likely to visit the UK, and they were 81% more likely to agree that we offer surprising experiences, and 77% to search for information on the UK. Online reach hit 86 million.