Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

The Mitsubishi Estate Group is an official sponsor of the Rugby World Cup 2019 to be held in Japan. However, the sport was not creating the excitement it deserved in the country. That’s where we launched an art project to convey the appeal of rugby to a wider base, in the run-up to the tournament. At first, rugby and art may seem to be totally unrelated. Leveraging an insight into the Japanese national character, we created a new combination of art and rugby, which was able to reach people who previously had little to no interest in the sport.

Background

In September, 2019, the Rugby World Cup will be held in Japan for the first time ever. At the 2015 England tournament, Japan’s team showed great progress with their valiant effort, which led many to believe the sport would gain popularity in the country. But alas, this did not turn out to be the case. Japan’s pro rugby league match average attendance is less than one-third that of other sports like pro baseball and soccer. The Rugby World Cup 2019 Japan tournament was coming up just around the corner. It was a tough state of affairs for rugby, which seemed unable to maintain a steady level of popularity.

Describe the creative idea

To get people excited for rugby, we needed to convey its appeal to those with no connection or knowledge of the sport. We explored ways to associate it with a completely different category. The biggest key to the project was the discovery that many of Japan’s artists and creators used to participate in the rugby clubs of their alma mater. We gathered 15 people from an array of musicians, architects, visual artists, and designers who used to be involved in rugby clubs, forming a kind of all-Japan art-world rugby team. We decided to have each of the artists create works based on the theme of the rugby ball, and hold an exhibition fusing rugby and art. They would each create original works making the best of their unique abilities and signature styles, completing what would be called an art scrum.

Describe the strategy

The Japanese attend exhibitions more than any other nation in the world. In 2018, the number one exhibition in terms of attendance had about 680,000 visitors. Relative to the yearly total of 450,000 people who attend all rugby matches in Japan, that one exhibition alone received 1.5 times more visitors. By employing the framework of an art exhibition, we could approach the artists’ existing fans, as well as a broader range of people who may not have had a prior interest in rugby. We met the challenge of tying together the seemingly unrelated worlds of art and rugby by leveraging insights regarding the Japanese national character, in a strategy focused on reaching far beyond existing rugby fans.

Describe the execution

The exhibition would tour major cities and regions where rugby matches are held. We focused on rolling out the exhibition in various established tourist spots like museums and commercial facilities, while gaining attention from a wide range of age groups. Each of the 15 artworks were made to fit in encased units, allowing the exhibition to nimbly tour from location to location throughout the country until the end of the Rugby World Cup Japan Tournament.

Describe the outcome

The unique and novel idea of combining rugby with an art exhibition, naturally brought many people to stop and take a look. When the exhibition was held in Tokyo’s Marunouchi alone, it received 250,000 visitors in just five days. At an eleven day exhibition held in Yokohama, and an eight day exhibition in Osaka, an additional 95,000 and 700,000 came into contact with the works, respectively. Furthermore, it was covered by a full range of media like newspaper, on the web, and so forth, as well as spreading on social media. There have been numerous inquiries from museums across Japan to host the Art Scrum exhibition, and we look forward to visiting more locations in the country.