Monday 29 February 2016

Find Your Club: England Rugby

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"Everyone is welcome". That is the message that England Rugby want to communicate as they attempt to encourage more people to take up the contact sport.

These HD, digital ads can be seen all over London's underground and railways stations. In a similar vein to the 'This Girl Can", "Like a Girl", and "Let Go" campaigns we saw last year, this campaign is about empowerment. The only difference being, it is also aimed at men. 

This campaign wants to remove the idea that only certain people play rugby.  They want people of different shapes, sizes, sexes ethnicities, backgrounds, disabilities and beliefs to feel that they too can play the sport. 



Even some the country's lending rugby players are taking part to emphasis this message. For example, England fly half, George Ford, illustrates that in spite of not fitting the stereotypical rugby physic, he is still able to be one of best players in the country. 

It is all about removing the barriers to entry that exist in our minds. "I am not big enough", " I am not manly enough", " I have never played it before".  And this campaign uses humour to make light of some of this so called "imperfections" or "disadvantages". 

Taglines like " I ignored people who I said couldn't play. Being deaf helped",  displays a "So what!?" kind of attitude. This is done to help reduce anxieties people may have about something that in the past has prevented them from playing the sport. 

The execution of the campaign is also note worthy. The use of HD images which shows every frown line, blemish and spot is done purposefully. Firstly, it helps us believe that the message it truly authentic and real. Secondly, by showing the subjects flaws re- emphasises that their is no ideal , perfect rugby player. They are just like you and me, normal.

My only slight criticism is that the campaign features a lot of people that look like they have played the sport for a while, particularly in terms of their build. Other than that it is a really good campaign.













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