World Rugby Appoints Fifty Digital To Manage Social Media For RWC 2019

World Rugby has appointed Fifty Digital to manage creative, social media and content for Rugby World Cup 2019 after a competitive pitch process.

The Rugby World Cup 2019 edition will be the first to be held in Asia. This brief is part of World Rugby’s wider objectives of growing the game globally and attracting a new generation of young fans to the sport, as well as reaching non-traditional audiences.

One of the core elements of the deliverables is to ensure rugby’s unique values, tone of voice and the spirit of rugby are translated across all social channels, content and campaigns, with tailored relevance to each country or region.

This will be achieved through a smart, flexible, localised and engaging social content strategy supported by powerful visuals across multiple digital platforms, which resonate with the target audience.

The Rugby World Cup kicks-off on 20 September with 20 nations competing for the William Webb Ellis Cup in Japan.

James Campbell, Co-Founder of Fifty Digital said: “It’s a great privilege to be working on such a massive event with World Rugby. The brief is right up our street and we know our big event experience in digital and social will shine through.

The last Rugby World Cup put on a great show, but we hope to go bigger and better this time around with digital and social forming a huge part of it. Four years is a very long time in the social media world, so expect lots of innovative ideas and content that certainly won’t have been seen at a Rugby World Cup before!”

Nick Jackman, Co-Founder of Fifty Digital said: “The Rugby World Cup is an iconic sporting event which brings people together across the world through the spirit of rugby. We’re all massive rugby fans so are excited, delighted and honoured to be working with World Rugby to help deliver another outstanding tournament. We see huge opportunities to use the action in Japan to reach and engage new fans through best-in-class content, to help rugby expand its footprint in the world’s sporting landscape. We want to open rugby up to a new audience and show them what they’ve been missing. The Rugby World Cup is only into its ninth edition but is already the third biggest sporting event after the Olympics and FIFA World Cup, so the future is bright, and we can’t wait to get started!”

Marissa Pace, Chief Marketing Officer, World Rugby, said: “We chose Fifty Digital after an extensive pitch process primarily because of their knowledge, passion and expertise in sport, but also their acute understanding of how we’re looking to grow the rugby audience. They completely understand rugby as a sport, but also the importance of engaging our global audience. From the seasoned fan to the curious spectator, our content is planned to engage new and loyal audiences and part of a wider plan to grow all our digital platforms in the coming year.

Combined with our own content team, we believe Fifty will help us amplify rugby globally and to lay the foundations for a surge in interest and growth among our key target audience during Rugby World Cup. This is going to be a very special event and one we’re looking forward to sharing with them.”