OUT FOR BLOOD

Short List
TitleOUT FOR BLOOD
BrandNRL
Product / ServiceSTATE OF ORIGIN
EntrantR/GA SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation R/GA SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Bob Mackintosh R/GA Sydney VP ECD
Craig Brooks R/GA Sydney ECD
Tim McCracken R/GA Sydney ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Rees Steel R/GA Sydney SENIOR COPYWRITER
John Jordan R/GA Sydney SENIOR ART DIRECTOR
Josh Bryer R/GA Sydney COPYWRITER
Steven Yip R/GA Sydney SENIOR DESIGNER
Andrew Gillies R/GA Sydney SENIOR DESIGNER
Joe Sanderson R/GA Sydney DESIGNER
Toby Fisher R/GA Sydney SENIOR STRATEGIST
Simone Delaney R/GA Sydney SENIOR PRODUCER
Kyle Belcher R/GA Sydney SENIOR CONTENT PRODUCER
Natalie Brend R/GA Sydney GROUP ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
Jason Wingrove R/GA Sydney Director
Esme Fisher R/GA Sydney Producer
Marnie Vaughn R/GA Sydney Producer
Joseph Wong Vandal EDITOR

The Campaign

Ahead of the State of Origin series, the NRL partnered with the Australian Red Cross to make 2018 the bloodiest competition yet. The catch? Fans needed to give the blood themselves, in a state vs state blood donation competition. OUT FOR BLOOD took the fight off the field, to see which state’s fans were most prepared to bleed for their team. We called it ‘The most feel-good hate campaign ever’. It launched with the league’s toughest legends challenging fans to donate in two TV spots and in social media. Two team-branded mobile blood donation trucks toured the states, with fans able to spitefully dedicate their blood to opposition players. The score was tallied in real time and shared via digital channels to drive participation. Social videos seeded through PR drive pledges and participation, and we pitted interstate towns against each other directly, using local PR outlets to amplify the rivalry.

Creative Execution

The Mobile Donation Clinics were launched with events in Queensland & New South Wales - inviting key news media partners for interviews with NRL talent. We launched two 15 second spots featuring veteran Origin players - each calling on their state to donate. The blood tracker featured on TV program the Footy Show, the films were posted in social channels to activate core fans, as well as engaging key influencers from the world of sport, music and pop culture to donate blood for their state and share the word across their social channels. The Blood Trucks toured thousands of kilometres across QLD & NSW over the month long run-up to the first game, with fans receiving ‘I BLED FOR NSW’ or ‘I BLED FOR QLD’ bandages, with local PR support. Digital display and OOH helped drive awareness, and in-stadium signage brought the fight to the field for live game broadcasts.

The State of Origin rivalry returned to the national conversation in a big way, with national coverage across TV, print online and social channels, and outstanding ticket sales. But most importantly we received a total of 831 pledges to donate blood (QLD: 402 NSW: 429), saving a total of 198 lives.

This campaign was executed through five core channels - PR, TVC, social content, digital display as well as a touring activation.

The six week duration of State of Origin allows New South Wales and Queensland fans to partake in ‘recreational hate’ - a passionate war of words that plays out in the media, on social media, and between friends. We wanted to amplify this rivalry and connect the fight off the field with the battle on the field. Our social listening found a discontentment with the modern State of Origin game, which fans described as ‘soft’ or ‘boring’. Identifying this misplaced nostalgia as a point of tension, we sought to turn it into something surprising, provocative but big-hearted.

Links

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