The Campaign

The Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is as much a party as an international sports event – and for many it’s become a tradition: See the Sevens and have a weekend of pure fun. Everyone attending the Sevens has one thing in common: the need to prepare for it. For some, it’s as simple as queuing for a ticket, while others need to plan their entire trip. But no one does more preparation than the teams, and that’s how the concept was born: “Get ready for the Sevens.” We invited people to produce videos showing how they get ready. We shortlisted the three best videos and showed them on the final day of the event. We let the 40,000-strong audience choose the winner by cheering for their favourite in a 10-minute live segment.

Success of the Campaign

The event’s tickets sold out immediately (within 2 hours in Hong Kong!). Our social-media release to the online communities was picked up in travel, mobile and advertising blogs, the most effective being Twitter – the top five tweets reached over 7,400 followers, while the Cathay Pacific Facebook page users increased by 10% and the Twitter channel exploded with a 300% increase! The competing videos amassed over 35,000 online views with 13,000 participants voting for the best videos. And in the stadium, a 40,000-strong audience cheered to a level of 104.1dB – comparable to standing next to a jackhammer! The “City Guides” iPhone application remained in the Top 50 “Most Popular Downloads” for 3 weeks running. This is the first time Cathay Pacific integrated its advertising campaign with the event itself. The campaign was so popular that even television networks like National Geographic and Cartoon Network submitted videos to compete!

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

We kicked off with a social-media blast to airline and rugby bloggers, plus email invitations to Hong Kong rugby clubs and federations in participating countries, directing them to our website. We ran commercials on TV and OOH screens, supported by print, posters, bus shelters and billboards, and we targeted key hotels and offices with newspaper drops featuring campaign half-covers. We took social media to the streets with over 130,000 postcards in F&B outlets and commercial buildings, driving everyone online. Online, consumers could watch the TVCs, and submit their own videos and rate others to win prizes. We connected a blog to the site and used video updates and blog posts to drive conversations and activities on Facebook and Twitter. Concurrently, we used the airline’s resources to promote the campaign inflight and at check-in counters worldwide, and launched a special Sevens edition of Cathay Pacific’s City Guides with full mobile versions.