Leeds Rhinos has launched a new advertising campaign which places fans central to the teams’ success at the start of the new 2016 Rugby Super League season.
While rugby marketing has traditionally focussed on the strength, speed, sporting ability and the general muddiness of the players to entice the fans to purchase tickets to see their favourite team, Leeds Rhinos has taken a more fan-centred approach, after engaging Leeds based Yorkshire marketing agency, Brass to develop the advertising concept for the club.
Brass developed a campaign to appeal to current and potential fans, following a Facebook competition in December 2015, offering current members the chance to be photographed next to their heroes. A diverse selection of members, including women, children, and those with disabilities, were subsequently photographed in a series of strong images alongside Leeds Rhinos players such as Danny McGuire, Keith Galloway, Kallum Watkins, and Adam Cuthbertson.
Head of Marketing at Leeds Rhinos, Abigail Furniss said “The ‘Play Your Part’ campaign is all about putting the fans in the limelight. Traditionally our campaigns feature players but fans play such an important part in the clubs success and we wanted to reflect this in our marketing campaigns. We are really proud of their passion and commitment and it was great to be able to thank some of them with the opportunity to meet players and experience being part of a photoshoot. Our new campaign portrays Rugby League as the inclusive sport that it is, with fans of all ages, genders and from all backgrounds.”
Commenting on the new campaign, Dave Lambert, creative director at Brass, said: “At Brass, we pride ourselves on being a customer-centric agency, delivering strong creative executions that are strategically driven. Our new membership campaign for Leeds Rhinos comes from the insight that Rugby League fans are as big a part of the game as the players themselves and that when they wear the shirt they’re part of the team. They may not score the tries, but they’re a massive part of the game.”
The new Leeds Rhinos campaign went live on 21st January 2016, and can be seen across online and offline marketing channels.
