The
2023 Rugby World Cup is all the rage right now.
Everyone is taking part in one way or another. Whether you are putting in your
Superbru picks, wearing your
team's colours, or just having a
massive braai for the game, you
are taking part.
Some people were counting down the minutes — making
every ad, billboard or post they saw leading up to the tournament
extra exciting and special. In 2023, the marketing was on the ball.
Hit pause and get comfortable because media update's Alrika Möller is replaying the marketing highlights of the 2023 Rugby World Cup buildup.
Use familiar faces
This is a
marketing tactic that is
very well known. Every marketer in the world understands the concept of
using a celebrity to promote a product, brand or event. For 2023, the Rugby World Cup provided a
masterclass on a classic marketing play.
The official
Scottish Rugby marketing team
scored big time when they used famous actor and
Scottish stud Gerard Butler to promote their national team and the
World Cup in general.
This campaign is
extra clever due to the fact that Butler
is not exactly a rugby player. It may seem like a weird choice at first … until you stop to think about it.
Using Butler meant that viewers who aren't
the biggest rugby fans would still
watch and enjoy the ads and, ultimately, get excited about the Rugby World Cup.
It opened up a whole
new audience they might not have otherwise reached.
Play into the FOMO
For those who don't know,
FOMO stands for
Fear Of Missing Out — and let me tell you,
the fear is real. Fomo is a
big deal, and many people suffer from it constantly. So,
why not use it to your advantage?
Castle Lager released a
Limited Edition beer for the World Cup. The beer does not only have
special packaging referencing the years the Springboks won the
Webb Ellis Cup, but it also has a
whole new taste.
The recipe for this limited-time-only beer includes Hobbs from every country South Africa won the World Cup in. If that doesn't get the
Bok fans interested, I don't know
what will.
People are super excited to purchase the special World Cup beer and give it a taste before it sells out or — worse —
disappears altogether. That is the
power of FOMO and
limited-time offers.
People are so
afraid of missing out on something new or something cool that they will be more likely to buy it without a second thought.
Lean into nostalgia
Over the last few years,
nostalgia has grown in popularity as a marketing tactic. Ever since the big
Covid situation of 2020, everyone loves
looking back at the past — and rugby fans are no different.
The official Rugby World Cup
Instagram and
TikTok accounts played into the nostalgia concept and
posted videos of previous World Cup matches going back all the way to 1991. These videos were little
pre-game appetisers to get people wanting more —
more rugby.
As the big kickoff got closer, the videos got more and more
exciting, getting fans and followers to sit on the edge of their seats and hoping to see more
great tries and tackles.
The
nostalgia made people excited without having to think of new content to post. It was a
win-win situation for the Rugby World Cup Instagram account and its followers.
The nostalgic videos and posts brought back
positive memories of previous World Cup matches and the thrill of watching them live. That positive feeling now latches on to the excitement for the 2023 World Cup, and you have a winner.
Support everyone
One thing about a World Cup that can sometimes make things a bit difficult is that there are
20 teams competing for the title, and every team has its own
die-hard fans.
You might think that it is
impossible to appeal to all the fans of all the teams, but it turns out that it's
easier than we thought.
The
Radio Times magazine decided to
remain impartial and support not just one
but all the teams playing in the World Cup by releasing
20 different versions of a TV guide magazine. Every version contained images and artwork for that team, as well as a
match guide of when each team will be playing and who they are up against.
No matter what team you support in the World Cup,
there is one for you, and if you decide to remain
on the fence, you can collect them all.
This is exceptionally smart as every fan felt seen, and
every team felt special as they all got their own issue of the magazine. The
Radio Times found a way to market and
reach different people from different countries
all at the same time.
Genius!
Tackle emotions
When most of us think of
rugby emotions, it is often intense emotions of
high tackles and
scrums that come to mind. Very few of us think of
heartwarming, tear-jerking emotions …
until now.DSTV
did not hold back with its marketing campaign for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. It got
every member of the Springbok team to sit in front of a camera and name the people they were playing for the World Cup.
Some mention their schools, family members and places they grew up, while others named lost loved ones, past Springboks and South African heroes.
The full ad is over four minutes long — and every second is
sweet and emotional. The ad was also broken up into smaller parts and aired on DSTV as a way to promote the games and get South African supporters to
rally behind their team.
The ad has everyone
shedding a tear as it creates an
emotional connection with the team and the World Cup as a whole. It
gets people invested, which encourages them to watch the matches on DSTV in order to
support the Springbok team.
No matter
who you are or
what country you support this World Cup, marketing truly has
something for everyone.
What is your favourite 2023 Rugby World Cup marketing moment? Let us know in the comments section below.
*Image courtesy of Unsplash