- Who is the client? What do they do?
Hurricanes, a Rugby Union team.
The Canes were formed in 1996, and from their very first Super Rugby match, the team has built a reputation for fast, exciting rugby and homegrown talent. To add to that, there is their passionate fan base that spans across regions!
- What was the main problem? What was holding them back? Why wasn’t the old approach working?
Most rugby franchises, like the Canes, have a huge social following (about half a million across TikTok and Instagram), which is a digital asset.
Last year, they had 8 million impressions, but less than 5% were monetised. (There could have been 5 grand from just 1 Facebook post!) But they didn’t have a commercial partner to sponsor them.
- What was at stake if they didn’t fix it?
With a hardcore fanbase, big sports brands and franchises should be able to sell all their assets for revenue growth.
- What insight changed the direction?
Checking the impressions the franchise is/was getting and understanding what someone would pay to sponsor it. In short, what do we actually need to do to turn these into assets?
(Cue CPM – the amount an advertiser pays a website per 1000 visitors who see its ads.)
5. What steps did the team take?
- We interviewed several people, from the coaches to the CEO, to the general manager, to the ground membership staff.
- We analysed digital IP that could be sold to partners.
- We also found out that they weren’t advertising to get sponsors, either. So we set up ads to attract commercial partners.
- We improved their CRM to better capture lead data, too.
6. How was the communication with sponsors?
Traditionally, sponsors want to be visible on team jerseys. Trying to convince them of digital partnerships was the main focus. Our pitch was that they would get a more targeted approach towards their audience.
Selling digital packages to people who wanted to be on TV was not the right fit for us either.
- What tools/creative elements were key?
Meta Business Suite, Google Impressions, total search traffic, Salesforce
- How did you test/tweak/adapt along the way?
Talking to commercial partners and testing different offers.
- What specific metrics improved?
There was a 5.51x return on investment for every dollar spent!
The GM of the Hurricanes, Dave Hutchens, said this about working with K&J Growth.
“It’s been clear from the outset they are really invested in the success of our business, offering value and expertise well outside of what we deemed the original scope of work to be. Most importantly though, they cut through the bullshit, and are genuinely great people to work with.”
10. What would you do differently next time?
Co-design and test the digital package with commercial partners.
Prof Panoho in session: If you go to America and you attend a baseball game, they have monetised everything from walking in to walking out of the stadium. Sports franchises in ANZ, with large social media followings, should also monetise.
So, study the comparative markets and then see where we’re falling short.
