Ode to Hiraeth
International rugby was back for the Autumn 2020 Nations Cup, but the home of Welsh rugby – the Principality Stadium – was closed to both players and fans, having been turned into a 2,000-bed field hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our client, the Principality Building Society (PBS), is the UK’s 6th largest building society owned by and run for the benefit of its 500,000 members. PBS has partnered with the Welsh Rugby Union for more than 15 years to support rugby at all levels across Wales and secured the naming rights to Principality Stadium in 2016. But with no rugby games taking place PBS was unable to activate its sponsorship on the ground.
Corporate Video Production
Media Planning & Buying
Responding to the restrictions, we needed to work closely with PBS’ appointed sports marketing agency to develop a campaign that captured the mood of the nation and build on the awareness of the link between the Stadium and the building society.
Collectively, we managed to turn this unique challenge into an opportunity to capitalise on fans’ passion for the game and the team whether cheering them on from sofa or stadium.
Following a PBS social appeal we commissioned Welsh poet Eurig Salisbury to write an ode to reflect the feelings of the Welsh fans. The final poem was voiced by Welsh icon Cerys Matthews in a TV commercial produced by us, along with supporting video content across social and digital channels.
We executed a multi-channel media campaign to drive brand and sponsorship awareness across TV, VOD, outdoor, radio, print and digital channels. The commercial was launched during the ad break of ITV’s ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’ and played during all the live Wales games on S4C which gained incredible viewing figures and included an epic 90” hero film.
- Awareness of Principality’s sponsorship exceeded pre-Covid levels and in north Wales increased by 20%
- 1.5M social impressions
- 7% uplift in consideration
- All media channels selected for this campaign over-delivered on the estimated impacts and impressions
- We also created and distributed 1,000 branded ‘fan packs’ across Wales to thank them for their campaign submissions and to bring that Stadium atmosphere we were all missing so much into their homes.
