Rugby players targeted in cinema campaign

by Danuta Kean, Media Week 22-Aug-07, 14:50

LONDON - A £1m campaign to entice former rugby players back into the game kicked off this week with a 20-second commercial screened before the Bourne Ultimatum at selected cinemas across the country.

The Go Play Rugby ad is being shown in 364 Carlton Screen Advertising cinemas across England and is expected to reach an audience of more than 1.2m. It will run until 31 August.
As part of the recruitment drive fans of the game will also get the chance to win tickets to see the Rugby World Cup free at 20 selected Odeon cinemas across the country in September and October. A longer version of the 20-second commercial will be screened at participating Odeon cinemas before each game.

The campaign, backed by Cheltenham-based agency Dair, is the biggest recruitment drive ever undertaken by the sport's UK governing body, and is aimed at attracting back former players in the 18 to 30 age group.

Seven hundred local clubs and 130 university and college teams are backing the campaign with banners, posters, beer mats and business cards directing former players interested in rejoining a club to the www.goplayrugby.com website.