Canterbury Campaign Invades Twickenham

Canterbury has launched its Spring/Summer 2014 sport casual campaign – ‘Republic of Rugby’, focusing on the passion of the rugby with the tag line ‘Live The Game’.

To increase awareness and engagement of the campaign, Canterbury teamed up with brand experience agency Flourish and built an ultimate ‘Republic of Rugby’ fan experience in Twickenham’s West Fan Village during the RBS 6 Nations.

The Republic of Rugby experience has been designed to emulate a typical rugby clubhouse and fans entering the Republic of Rugby were able to join in with a host of activities including a legacy wall full of fun facts and memorabilia from the history of rugby and Canterbury, play a game of table rugby or select a rugby anthem from the jukebox. 

There was also a Republic of Rugby honours board where fans could write the name of their rugby club.

To increase awareness and engagement on social media, Canterbury encouraged fans to share their Republic of Rugby experience using the hashtag #RepublicOfRugby. 

Fans were also given the chance to win £500 of Republic of Rugby stash from the Canterbury sport casual range by declaring what ‘Rugby Is…’ to them on branded whiteboards and posing for the Republic of Rugby photographer. Using interactive touch screen tablets fans were then able to email their photo to themselves automatically entering them in to the prize draw.

Canterbury brand ambassador Will Greenwood also paid a visit to the Republic of Rugby, posing for photos with fans and signing his team, Preston Grasshoppers, on the honours board.

Chris Stephenson, Canterbury CEO said: ‘We are rugby, it is what we do. We wanted to create an experience where rugby fans, no matter what nation they support, feel included and part of something special; the Republic of Rugby does just that. It was really great to see fans engaging with the brand and enjoying themselves during the RBS 6 Nations.’

Harry Osborne, Flourish’s creative lead on the project, commented: ‘This campaign focuses on Canterbury’s new casuals collection, not the team kits, and as such it was important to focus the activity very much on a rugby message rather than an England message. We wanted to get to the heart of the fans’ love of rugby with a number of shareable interactions, but also by creating an environment that really is the ultimate clubhouse in every detail; somewhere for the fans to truly call home.’