The Campaign

‘Catch a Million’ was a PR campaign that brought together cricket, New Zealand’s favourite summer pastime, and TUI, the nation’s favourite beer in a way that created unparalleled levels of participation, brand recognition and media attention. Having just signed on to become the official beer sponsor of New Zealand Cricket, TUI needed to leverage the value of the investment through PR and drive brand recognition and also generate widespread crowd participation throughout the entirety of the cricket match and right across the 12 match series. The idea: Catch a clean one-handed ‘six’* at the cricket match while wearing an official TUI orange T-shirt to win a share of over $1m. Each catch was worth $100,000 (Total pool $1.2m - one catch per match). A targeted, in depth pre-seeding strategy ensured top-tier media including broadcast commentators and journalists were fully immersed in the idea. T-shirts were available for sale in a variety of ways and delivered to key sporting media and influencers. The campaign was front-page news, featured in NZ’s prime-time current affairs show and ESPN’s ‘Plays of the week’. Media mapped out the best spots to catch. Game attendance rose 54%. Stadiums turned TUI orange with 1 in 4 adults wearing a T-shirt to the game. Sporting commentators around the world started talking more about what was happening in the crowd than the action on the field. Global media coverage delivered 120 impressions.

The Brief

Use PR to leverage the value of the cricket sponsorship. Get a broader group of Kiwi men and women engaging with cricket, create a talking point of the series and ultimately reward people for participating. Become the most talked about activation of the summer, generate interest in the cricket series, ensure there was exposure for the promotion. Drive mass participation in stadium and with cricket fans outside the game for the entirety of the match and the full summer series of games between New Zealand, India and the West Indies. Drive volume consumption of TUI.

Results

1 in 4 adults wore TUI T-Shirt at games. 6m+ impressions on Tui Facebook page during campaign. 10.3m media impressions in NZ. 120m globally. Frontpage NZ Herald. Full-page feature on best places to catch. National primetime current affairs show “Campbell Live” catching segment. National breakfast programme interviewed winners. Sports show “Crowd Goes Wild” interviewed players for catching tips. Global coverage - Sky Sports Australia, FOX News, The Daily Mail, ESPN feature “Plays of the Week” (2nd time NZ sport featured). Gate numbers up 54% after first catch. Hamilton (city where catches taken) renamed “catch capital” of NZ. TUI eclipsed all other sponsors and became NZ cricket’s exemplary promotion model. Drove growth from average of +5.1% to +12.2% for Dec/Jan periods - campaign period. Auckland region delivered >30% growth with Auckland City growing +78%. TUI sales and volume share at best level in 2 years as a result of the campaign.

Execution

The campaign ran from 26 December 2013 to 31 January 2014 across the New Zealand summer cricket series of 12 matches between New Zealand, the West Indies and India in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown, Hamilton, Napier and Nelson. TUI orange T-Shirts were delivered to key sporting media and influencers, made available instore with purchase, sold on premises, at matches and on the TUI website www.tui.co.nz. An extensive pre-seeding phase was conducted through one to ones with key journalists, sports commentators and influencers to create knowledge and excitement, with particular focus on SkySports. We developed a media release and press kit which was delivered to an extensive media list on the announcement date and fed the media with stories, interviews and content throughout the duration of campaign to sustain interest. In the final match, we decided to pique interest even further by adding a second $100,000 catch to the prize pool.

The Situation

TUI is New Zealand’s favourite beer brand, but not the most consumed. They wanted to extend its awareness through sponsorship to a broader consumer group beyond the traditional target – NZ men aged between 23 and 29. Cricket is a game close to the heart of Kiwis and is a summer social institution for families and friends, not just ‘hardcore’ cricket fans. ‘Catch a Million’ was created to leverage the value of their cricket sponsorship through PR, drive brand awareness, volume consumption and create a meaningful way for fans to interact with both the brand and the game.

The Strategy

Stage 1: Pre-seeding:To key sports media, commentators and influencers, targeted one to one strategy to fully immerse them in concept, excite and inform on terms and conditions and help communicate the idea to the public. Stage 2: Official announcement: To media and consumers. Stage 3: The first catch: Media interest grew exponentially after the first catch. We helped amplify this interest by facilitating interviews with the lucky catcher, seeding the catch video and photographs. Stage 4: Sustaining the conversation: To keep momentum throughout the campaign we supplied additional content to media including catch reels, footage of the near misses and tips on best spots to catch. Stage 5: Upping the ante: To ensure interest right up until the final match, we decided to increase the excitement by adding a second $100,000 catch to the final game. This drove even greater media interest around the final match.