Sports sponsors live in a very, VERY crowded place. Uniforms are covered in logos, none more than those of the cricketers at the BBL.
Clemenger BBDO Sydney found a new, innovative – and slightly humorous – way for Rexona to stand out.
Pitvertising. Clemenger placed the Rexona Clinical logo with its iconic tick on the underarms of cricket umpires’ uniforms during the 2020-21 BBL.
Unlike a standard sponsorship, Pitvertising meant the logo was only revealed during dramatic, high-stress BBL moments when the umpires raised their arms, making the message Rexona Clinical Protection keeps you cool under pressure impossible to miss. And with BBL series viewership topping 42 million, the Rexona Clinical logo was seen more than one billion times, revealed every time a wicket was taken, six hit, or powerplay or power surge called.
The concept took the world by storm, with the initial announcement generating global media buzz including more than 55 million impressions. Pitvertising became an international sensation featured in news, blogs and radio shows around the globe. Then the success of the idea spread beyond cricket, with other sporting codes looking to leverage similar sponsorship opportunities.
Pitvertising was supported by an above the line campaign featuring 30- and 15-second TVCs for Rexona Clinical Protection deodorant with the tagline, “three times the protection for those high pressure moments”.
The creative was designed to draw a parallel between Rexona Clinical’s ability to keep you cool under pressure and the umpire’s ability to keep their cool in high-pressure moments. It put a new spin on giving the boss ‘the finger’ when an under-pressure staffer umpiring the annual office cricket match raises his arm to give the boss a leg before wicket call.
In addition to the TVCs, the campaign featured Channel 7 and Fox Sports wicket replay integration, as well as stadium activations and in-store promotions.
“Rexona Clinical has a long history of aligning with professional sport, and we have been proud to see our innovative partnership come to life across the BBL season. The sponsorship idea created by Clemenger hit the spot and the supporting campaign leveraged its success to demonstrate our role in high pressure moments,” stated Scott Mingl, marketing director – deodorant ANZ, Unilever.
Clemenger BBDO Sydney executive creative director, Brendan Willenberg, added, “Creating both the BBL pitvertising opportunity for Rexona Clinical and supporting the sponsorship with a campaign that playfully showed how non-sporting pros could benefit from Rexona Clinical in high pressure moments too was an achievement we are all super proud of.”
Credits:
Client: Unilever
Marketing Director – Deodorant ANZ: Scott Mingl
Brand Lead Rexona ANZ: Oliver Penn
Creative Agency: Clemenger BBDO Sydney
Executive Creative Directors: Brendan Willenberg & Darren Wright
Creatives: Smaran Jworchan, Rowan Foxcroft, Ian Broekhuizen & Malcolm Caldwell
Senior Account Director: Smaran Jworchan
Planner: Vince Usher.
Production: Generator United
Producer: Darren Bailey
Production Company: Scoundrel
Director: Matt Weston
Co-Founder & Executive Producer: Adrian Shapiro
Executive Producer: Kate Gooden
Producer: Max Horn
DOP: Kieran Fowler
Media: PHD Content
