Vodafone
Origin Stories
Activating Vodafone’s rugby partnerships with authentic rugby storytelling from the brightest talents in the women’s game.
Strategy. Campaign. Video. Words. Pictures.
The objective
Vodafone are long-term supporters of women’s rugby, and Sporting Eric was tasked with delivering deeper engagement and bringing the individual personalities of the players to the fore.
What we did
Origin Stories presented these players as everyday heroes with epic stories to tell. Told across multiple formats, the campaign revealed why these athletes are truly remarkable through their individual back stories. Truly multi-format, we used our Rugby Journal ecosystem to share the story, telling it both in rich 3,000-word-long print articles (later released on therugbyjournal.com), but also in short punchy reels across Instagram. While ensuring we relayed their rugby ‘superpowers’, we delivered the context of their rise to engage with the audience beyond the sport. One example was Gwenllian Pyrs, a sheepdog trialist from North Wales, who once competed in One Man and His Dog with her beloved collie, Dot, before moving to the 'big city' to chase her rugby dream. Others included teenage taekwondo world champion (and daughter of Dr Who actor) Gwennan Hopkins and farmers’ daughter Pip Hendy.
The reel…
The print…
The online…
The results…
The campaign took Silver for Best Partnership at the International Content Marketing Awards, with the judges commenting: “No doubt of its editorial excellence - strong visuals and creativity - really nice storytelling in both written and video content.”
Each element of content would engage, Gwennan Hopkins’ reel gained over half a million views and 10k likes, with the article enjoying tens of thousands of views and a page viewing time of 5min 34secs. It also had an impact on Gwennan, with her story clearly inspiring others. “I had so many friends, family and rugby teammates get in touch with so many questions,” she said. “Both me and my family have been approached by young girls and their families, facing the decision of whether to play for Wales or England after reading the article. It’s a really humbling position to be in and grateful to be able to help other girls, all because of the Rugby Journal.”
Want your brand to make a meaningful impact in women’s rugby?
Get in touch with Sporting Eric and email alex@sportingeric.com
