As we head into the second Bledisloe Cup match, TAB NZ and creative agency Yarn are spurring on the trans-tasman rivalry with a campaign that highlights what’s really at stake this weekend – victory on home soil.
It’s been 21 long years since the Wallabies last won a match on New Zealand soil. That match was at Carisbrook back in 2001 and a ball hasn’t been kicked in anger there for a decade. The stadium formerly known as the “House Of Pain” is now a mixture of buildings, construction site and wasteland.
“Fresh off the back of a successful Consider The Odds campaign during the Ireland tour of New Zealand, we wanted to play on that historical angle that served us well when poking fun at Ireland’s record in New Zealand prior to this tour,” says TAB NZ Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer Jodi Williams.
TAB NZ approached independent creative agency Yarn to generate talkability around the Bledisloe Cup and to continue to help the TAB NZ brand to show up differently in the public.
“Knowing that the site of the Wallabies’ last win here is being slowly bulldozed away and almost removed from existence, we knew this was the perfect spot to tell an entertaining story,” says Yarn Creative Directors, Rich Robson and Matt Sellars.
The story is centred around Wallabies fan Garry, portrayed by top Australian comedian Luke Heggie, who is back outside the stadium formerly known as Carisbrook as part of a pilgrimage he has made every year since 2001.
One of the remnants of Carisbrook – the brick turnstile entrance – makes an appearance, as does a Wallabies great who played in the infamous 2001 match, Matt Burke, who beams in on a video call to reminisce about that historic day.
“We’re excited to be collaborating with the TAB NZ team. We have a growing team here at Yarn who love getting stuck into exciting briefs like this and doing everything we can to make things happen. Like sliding into Matty Burke’s DMs!” says Yarn Managing Partner, Heath Davy.
The campaign adds another dynamic element through LUMO digital billboards, which uses real-time data from bets being made by TAB NZ customers to deliver entertaining and topical headlines.
Three jars of hallowed Carisbrook soil are also up for grabs for TAB NZ customers who back the wrong team to win Saturday’s match, while 21 Bonus Bets worth $5000 each – one bet for every year since 2001 – will be drawn after the match out of all customers who backed the winning team.
Or you can take luck into your own hands and bid for the jar of Carisbrook soil from the entertaining video, which has been listed on TradeMe with the winning bid matched in TAB Bonus Bets.
Credits
Client: TAB
CMO: Jodi Williams
Senior Lead Brand Engagement: Joan Zhang
PR manager: Matt Smith
Creative Agency: Yarn
Managing Partner: Heath Davy
Creative Partners: Rich Robson & Matt Sellars
Junior Creatives: Bayleigh Way & Alyssa Yeoman
Production Company: Reel Factory
Director: Johnny Barker
Producer: Pippa Keiller
DOP: Chris Watkins
1st AC: Brad Colman
Sound Recordist: Danny Watts
Production Manager: Raluca Cozariuc
Production Coordinator: Lisa Scott
Offline Editor: Connor Ayliffe
Grade/Online: Alex Mitchell
Sound: Radiate Sound
Media: MBM
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