Be Their Armour for England Rugby | Clapboard Ad Archive

Be Their Armour

Description

O2's Be Their Armour for England Rugby #WearTheRose campaign, launched in 2019 in the United Kingdom and crafted by ad agency VCCP, masterfully leverages the power of communal support in the sports arena to foster a deep emotional connection between fans and players. This film medium campaign underscores O2’s core belief that unwavering encouragement acts as protective armour for the England Rugby team, transforming every tweet, cheer, and show of allegiance into symbolic links of chainmail that fortify the squad. Through compelling storytelling, the campaign mobilizes fans to actively engage with the team by using the hashtag #WearTheRose, positioning collective passion and vocal support as essential tools in overcoming challenges on the field. By translating fan energy into a tangible force, the campaign not only amplifies brand visibility but also reinforces O2’s commitment to community spirit and national pride during the autumn rugby season. The strategy effectively taps into sports fandom as a powerful emotional driver, encouraging participation that extends beyond passive viewership and deepens brand affinity by making supporters feel integral to the team’s success. The campaign’s single media asset succinctly embodies this message with poignant visual and narrative elements that resonate with the passionate England Rugby fanbase, successfully merging brand purpose with cultural significance in the competitive sports marketing landscape.

Credits

Client

O2

Agency

VCCP, UK

More like this

Don't Think You're Special

Launched in the United Kingdom in October 2019, the Paddy Power campaign "Don't Think You're Special" leverages the iconic presence of football managerial legend Jose Mourinho to deliver a compelling message about what it truly takes to be exceptional. Crafted by the renowned ad agency VCCP, this film medium campaign targets the gambling industry, aligning Paddy Power Games with the competitive spirit and expertise associated with Mourinho’s celebrated career. The campaign's narrative centers around Mourinho sharing insights from his extensive experience and successes, subtly positioning Paddy Power Games as a platform for those who aspire to challenge themselves and prove their skills in the gaming arena. With its sharp, motivational tone and the powerful association to a figure synonymous with winning, the campaign creates an engaging and credible appeal to the audience’s desire for achievement and mastery. The singular media asset efficiently captures viewers’ attention and directs them to try Paddy Power games via a direct link, strengthening the call to action. Delivered in English, this campaign skillfully blends celebrity endorsement with a bold statement that challenges the viewer’s sense of uniqueness, thereby enhancing the brand’s competitive edge in the gambling market while encouraging direct user participation.

This is Home - adidas, Arsenal | Clapboard Ad Archive

This is Home signals a significant creative pivot in sports marketing as adidas and Arsenal join forces with agency Iris to unveil the 2019/20 Arsenal FC home jersey through a film-led campaign that places audience aspiration and emotional identity at the centre of the brand experience. Set within the United Kingdom and targeting the passionate heart of football culture, the work uses access to Arsenal players and the backstage world of the club as a highly effective means of framing adidas Football’s championing of both elite and grassroots performance. The campaign leverages the momentum of adidas’s sponsorship portfolio — spanning icons like Messi, Pogba, and premier clubs including Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus — to reinforce the brand’s status as the innovator in football apparel, yet roots its storytelling in the specific ethos of Arsenal’s fan base, connecting the new home kit to themes of pride, belonging, and a tangible sense of place. What Clapboard’s taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#10—Associated User Imagery, the creative centers on profiles and imagery of relatable or aspirational users: Arsenal players in the liminal spaces of the club’s world and supporters in moments of communal celebration, forging identification and aspiration in equal measure. Performance is presented not as technical abstraction but as lived experience, visualizing the advantages of the new kit in ways that underscore both functionality and emotional relevance. Engagement across platforms is validated by over 1.8 million views, reflecting significant resonance with digital audiences and a campaign architecture engineered for social mobilization and sustained interest. Clapboard rates this 69/100. This campaign matters for the industry because it demonstrates how brand storytelling can transcend product promotion when it thoughtfully embodies the cultural and psychological dynamics of fandom.

Campaign Proposition

The "Be Their Armour" campaign by O2 positions the brand as a vital source of support and strength for the England Rugby team, framing fan engagement as a form of protective empowerment. The core brand proposition centers on the idea that collective support can act as a metaphorical armour, enhancing team performance and resilience. By equating every social media interaction and vocal encouragement to a tangible element of protective gear, O2 conveys its value as a facilitator of meaningful connection between fans and athletes, reinforcing the brand’s role in uniting and energizing sports communities. Strategically, the campaign taps into a deep emotional insight: fans’ desire to play an active, impactful role in their team’s success. The creative concept leverages the symbolic power of armour to transform ordinary expressions of support—tweets, cheers, shares—into an essential part of the players’ performance arsenal. This angle effectively marries digital engagement with real-world sports fandom, encouraging ongoing participation through the hashtag #WearTheRose. Targeting England Rugby supporters during the autumn season, the campaign situates O2 not merely as a telecommunications provider but as an enabler of collective strength and national pride. The timing and medium—film content paired with social amplification—serve to maximize visibility and foster a community united by shared commitment. Ultimately, the campaign drives home the notion that O2 amplifies the power of support by connecting fans and players in a tangible way that transcends conventional sponsorship.

Creative Device

FORMAT#9 SYMBOLIZE THE BENEFIT — Uses symbols or exaggerated visuals to represent the product’s positive impact. The O2 ‘Be Their Armour’ campaign most closely fits the Symbolize the Benefit format. The narrative—forging a metaphor between fan support and “armour” for England Rugby—translates the intangible emotional benefit of support into a powerful visual and symbolic concept. The description explicitly calls out each tweet and shout of support as forming “another link of chainmail” or “another piece of armour,” with the collective power of fans resulting in rugby players becoming literally stronger. This use of symbolic analogy to depict the benefit of O2 sponsorship and fan engagement (rather than showing the product or simply narrating a story) is central and most decisive, satisfying the hallmarks of FORMAT#9. ADVERTISING FORMATS EXPLAINED: https://www.clapboard.com/blog/branding-and-advertising/brand-strategy/12-advertising-creative-formats

This Is Our City - Puma, Manchester City | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

This Is Our City - Puma, Manchester City | Clapboard Ad Archive

This Is Our City is a 2019 campaign from Copa90 that strategically aligns Manchester City and Puma by embedding the football club’s new 2019/20 Home and Away kits within the cultural fabric of Manchester itself, highlighting the city’s identity, pride, and community spirit through a film that features star players Sergio Aguero and Oleksandr Zinchenko alongside local rapper Bugzy Malone and a cameo from manager Pep Guardiola. The campaign’s core creative approach centers on FORMAT#10 ASSOCIATED USER IMAGERY, presenting aspirational yet authentic lifestyle imagery that fans can relate to and emulate, eschewing traditional product demonstration or problem-solution narratives in favor of evoking a sense of belonging and shared identity that resonates with Manchester City’s diverse and passionate fanbase. This blend of sport and music leverages both the global reach of Manchester City as a Premier League powerhouse and the local cultural credibility of Bugzy Malone, making the kit launch an event that transcends football merchandise to become a statement of community and urban pride. Distribution is anchored on the official Manchester City YouTube channel, which not only hosts the campaign video but also serves as a digital hub for fans, offering exclusive access to Premier League goals, behind-the-scenes footage, and intimate player moments featuring stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, and Benjamin Mendy, thereby deepening fan engagement beyond the initial launch. Complementary social media activity across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat amplifies the campaign’s narrative, encouraging fans to immerse themselves in the city’s football culture and fostering ongoing conversation around the club’s global and local identity. By situating Puma’s brand within this narrative, Copa90 effectively elevates the kit launch beyond a commercial exercise to a cultural event that reinforces Manchester City’s legacy and connection to its supporters. Clapboard rates this campaign 63/100. This campaign matters to the sports marketing industry because it demonstrates how authentic cultural integration and multi-platform storytelling can transform a kit launch into a unifying moment that strengthens brand equity and fan loyalty.

It's A Wimbledon Thing - Wimbledon | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

It's A Wimbledon Thing - Wimbledon | Clapboard Ad Archive

It's A Wimbledon Thing from Wimbledon and McCann London marks the Championships' return in 2021 with a campaign that crystallises the tournament's role as a living piece of British sporting culture, shifting the emphasis from elite tennis spectacle to the collective rituals and personal meanings millions associate with the event. At its heart, the campaign occupies what Clapboard’s 12-format taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#10—Associated User Imagery: the work lives through vignettes of fans, families, and ordinary moments that together construct the experience of Wimbledon, from strawberries and cream on the back patio to hastily assembled office bracket pools and self-styled traditions of wearing all-white on match days. Rather than enforcing a singular narrative, the film and its digital amplification actively turn the question outward—what’s your #WimbledonThing?—inviting engagement, community, and a sense of ownership that extends well beyond the Centre Court elite. Social integration is not afterthought but central driver, with the campaign’s core call-to-action built around hashtag-powered user participation, making every expression of Wimbledon fandom, however idiosyncratic, part of the Championships’ visual vocabulary and annual lore. With over 1.5 million views and a robust level of engagement, the film proves out the appetite for work that shifts the Wimbledon brand from remote heritage asset to a flexible, emotionally accessible ritual in the UK’s recreation, leisure, and sports calendar. Tactically, the positioning is astute: as competitor slams define themselves through surface, urban energy, or open-access entertainment, Wimbledon asserts its continued relevance by reminding the market that the tournament’s traditions are sustained not by nostalgia alone, but by the living, participatory acts of its public. In focusing on the attitudes, routines, and affective signifiers of its audience, Wimbledon and McCann reinforce brand equity as something constructed through collective action, keeping the Championships culturally resonant and digitally present all year round via the wimbledon.com/mywimbledon initiative. Clapboard rates this 69/100. At a time when heritage sports brands must evolve or risk ossification, It's A Wimbledon Thing demonstrates how tactical user invitation can invigorate legacy positioning in the sports and fitness market without sacrificing the gravity of tradition.

MLB London Series: Jimmy Carr pitches baseball to the UK - MLB | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

MLB London Series: Jimmy Carr pitches baseball to the UK - MLB | Clapboard Ad Archive

MLB’s 2019 MLB London Series campaign, created by VCCP, strategically employed comedian Jimmy Carr to introduce and demystify baseball for the UK audience ahead of the landmark Mitel & MLB Present London Series 19 event, which featured the iconic Boston Red Sox versus New York Yankees clash at London Stadium. This campaign leveraged Carr’s distinctive comedic persona as a cultural conduit, translating America’s pastime into a format accessible and entertaining for British viewers, thereby overcoming the typical barriers of unfamiliarity associated with the sport outside the US. By centering the campaign on Carr’s engaging delivery and humor, MLB and VCCP crafted a narrative that sits squarely in Clapboard’s FORMAT#8 ONGOING CHARACTERS OR CELEBRITIES—using a recurring recognizable personality to drive brand recall and audience connection rather than relying on traditional storytelling or product demonstration. The campaign’s media asset, a film, was deployed across MLB’s comprehensive digital ecosystem, including YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, maximizing reach and interaction by tapping into diverse social platforms favored by the target demographic. This multi-channel approach was complemented by a social engagement strategy urging fans to follow @MLBLondonSeries and use the hashtag #LondonSeries, fostering a digital community and amplifying excitement in the lead-up to the event. The campaign’s creative execution thoughtfully balanced educational elements about baseball with humor, ensuring the sport’s rules and culture were communicated without alienating newcomers, while simultaneously generating anticipation among existing fans. This dual focus not only heightened MLB’s brand presence in an emergent market but also positioned the London Series as a must-watch summer sports spectacle, bridging American sports culture with British audiences in a culturally relevant and entertaining manner. The campaign earns 64/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. This campaign matters to the industry because it demonstrates how leveraging a culturally resonant celebrity in a foreign market can effectively translate and localize a niche sporting event, thus broadening global brand penetration while maintaining authentic engagement with new audiences.

Earn The Jersey - adidas | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Earn The Jersey - adidas | Clapboard Ad Archive

Adidas’ 2019 campaign Earn The Jersey, developed by M&C Saatchi for the Swedish Football Association, redefines national team fandom by demanding that supporters earn the right to wear the Swedish Euro 2020 jersey through a pledge embodying respect, inclusivity, loyalty, and rejection of hate. This approach transforms the jersey from a commercial product into a symbol of shared values and communal responsibility amid rising intolerance and hostility in Swedish football. The campaign’s core narrative challenges fans to commit to standing behind the team through all circumstances while actively opposing hate speech and exclusion, aligning adidas with a broader social mission that extends beyond apparel to cultural leadership within sports. By requiring fans to agree to terms that reflect these ideals before donning the jersey, the campaign leverages FORMAT#10 ASSOCIATED USER IMAGERY, spotlighting an aspirational supporter whose identity is inseparable from the ethics they uphold, not merely their consumption. This strategy taps into national pride and the emotional investment of football fans, positioning adidas as a brand that advocates for integrity and unity on and off the pitch. The campaign’s single film asset distills this message into a powerful call to action underscored by the tagline Our differences make the difference, emphasizing diversity as a source of strength for the team and its supporters. Rather than deploying traditional product-focused storytelling, Earn The Jersey opts for a value-driven narrative that challenges and elevates the role of the fan in shaping the culture of Swedish football. This is a market strategy that confronts real social issues affecting the sport, using the platform of a national team launch to foster a healthier, more respectful fan environment. Clapboard rates this campaign 69/100. Earn The Jersey matters to the industry because it demonstrates how sports marketing can transcend commercial objectives to become a catalyst for social change by embedding ethical commitments into fan identity.

It Doesn’t Matter How The Family Is, As Long As There's Love - SL Benfica | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

It Doesn’t Matter How The Family Is, As Long As There's Love - SL Benfica | Clapboard Ad Archive

SL Benfica’s 2019 campaign It Doesn’t Matter How The Family Is, As Long As There's Love, crafted by o escritório, disrupts the entrenched male-centric football culture in Portugal by centering inclusivity and family diversity within the club’s core identity. This campaign, rooted in the sports category, responds directly to the reality that 78% of Benfica’s membership was male, addressing an opportunity to broaden its fan base through the introduction of a family membership program with special conditions designed to welcome all family structures, whether traditional or non-traditional. The film medium execution eschews a conventional narrative or problem-solution structure, instead opting for a FORMAT#10 ASSOCIATED USER IMAGERY approach, visually presenting a spectrum of family configurations that reflect the contemporary social fabric and invite audiences to see themselves authentically represented within the club’s community. By foregrounding love and unity as the defining attributes of family rather than rigid norms, the campaign challenges the football industry’s typical testosterone-heavy atmosphere and creates a more inclusive environment for women and diverse supporters. The result has been a tangible shift in Benfica’s membership composition, with over 4000 family memberships added and women comprising half of the newest members, signaling a substantive cultural and commercial impact. This inclusivity narrative resonated beyond Portugal, attracting media coverage from Italy to Brazil and endorsements from influential public figures including members of the Portuguese Parliament, demonstrating the campaign’s ability to engage audiences across political and rival club lines through shared emotional appeal. Social media amplified the campaign’s reach and engagement, reinforcing SL Benfica’s positioning as a progressive force within sports marketing. The campaign earns 71/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. This campaign matters to the industry because it demonstrates how sports brands can strategically leverage inclusive storytelling to expand their fan base and reshape cultural perceptions within a traditionally exclusionary category.

Sons of Solidarity - Iceland's Soccer Team | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Sons of Solidarity - Iceland's Soccer Team | Clapboard Ad Archive

Iceland's Soccer Team’s 2018 campaign Sons of Solidarity, created by Grey, leverages the national team's iconic status to confront the pressing health challenge of Parkinson's disease in Iceland, a nation that captured global affection during Euro 2016 but also faces one of the highest Parkinson’s mortality rates worldwide. The campaign ingeniously plays on the suffix common to Icelandic male surnames, -son, and the name Parkinson, turning the team into Sons of Solidarity and uniting sport with social responsibility. Ahead of the 2018 World Cup, the players visibly embodied this solidarity by wearing jerseys emblazoned with PARKINSON instead of their own names and linking arms with Parkinson's patients during the national anthem, a powerful visual that transcended sport to humanize the disease’s impact. Beyond the emotional resonance of the stadium moment, the campaign integrated a documentary-style trailer, national TV appearances, and a dedicated microsite featuring intimate patient stories, creating a multi-layered platform for awareness and fundraising. With exclusive partnership from the Icelandic Football Association (KSÍ) and support from Iceland’s President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson alongside notable celebrities, the campaign harnessed national pride and the universal language of football to amplify its reach and encourage donations directed to a Parkinson’s care center in Iceland. This approach situates the campaign firmly within Clapboard’s FORMAT#2—Show the Problem—by spotlighting the societal issue of Parkinson’s disease and positioning the team’s solidarity as both a symbol and solution. Grey’s execution underscores the unifying power of sport as a catalyst for social change, with the national team’s involvement lending authenticity and emotional gravitas to the cause. The campaign earns 69/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. Sons of Solidarity matters because it demonstrates how sports marketing can transcend commercial objectives to become a platform for meaningful public health advocacy when aligned with genuine national identity and purpose.