In July 2008 we were asked by Harlequins Rugby Club to create a brand for what would be the biggest event in their calendar.
Their idea back then was to stage a match just after Boxing Day which would take place at the country’s largest rugby stadium, Twickenham. Instead of their usual crowd of 13,000 at their home ground they would have to attract a crowd of 50,000. (Twickenham actually holds over 80,000 but due to the lack of public transport over Christmas they were not allowed to sell more than 50,000 tickets).
So the challenge was to put together a campaign that would sell four times more tickets than was usual for a club match.
Their idea back then was to stage a match just after Boxing Day which would take place at the country’s largest rugby stadium, Twickenham. Instead of their usual crowd of 13,000 at their home ground they would have to attract a crowd of 50,000. (Twickenham actually holds over 80,000 but due to the lack of public transport over Christmas they were not allowed to sell more than 50,000 tickets).
So the challenge was to put together a campaign that would sell four times more tickets than was usual for a club match.
A big challenge calls for big thinking, and big thinking led to the big
brand. So it was that Minale Tattersfield created the Big Game brand
as well as all the promotional material. The event was highly successful
with all tickets sold. Its success led in 2009 to Big Game 2 and Minale Tattersfield was tasked with producing an even bigger campaign with promotional material including a short film, posters for buses and train stations, newspaper advertisements, leaflets etc. This time the authorities relented and allowed 80,000 tickets to be sold so the challenge had got bigger. The campaign obviously hit the mark because virtually all 80,000 tickets were sold.
Now in the run up to the end of 2010 the Big Game is still going strong. Big Game 3 is being promoted throughout London and another full house is expected. The original Minale Tattersfield promotional material is being updated for this year’s campaign. Although the updating is not being carried out by Minale Tattersfield, the brand template has already been clearly established. The look and feel, brand values, colour palette, layout and photographic style have been set out so precisely that it is easy for the club to now insert the latest details.
The Minale Tattersfield ethos is to build brands on firm foundations.
The foundation is to understand fully the client’s objectives, the customer motivation and the competitive set. So the customer motivation was all about getting out after the Christmas blowout to something that could be enjoyed by all the family that would be different and special. The big idea to communicate this was the idea of a Hollywood blockbuster or epic.
We think the Big Game will run and run.
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