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The cup continues to runneth over as FCB and Prime beat out fierce rugby ad competition

Not surprisingly, given the local rags were pretty much dominated by rugby in recent weeks—in both an editorial and advertising sense—three rugby-themed ads from Prime, Specsavers and Barkers were given a celebratory bum pat by the judges of the October round of the Newspaper Ad of the Month Awards.  

FCB took out the win for Prime TV’s Stadium ad, which aimed to promote the fact that the final was also being shown on Sky’s free to air channel (and was reminiscent of 2011’s stadium of four million campaign). Judges Paul White (AUT), Rod Prosser (JWT) and Danny Brown (Federation) said: “This is a great simple idea with good use of colour. You see the ad, and instantly understand it. Well done – the nation was watching.”

Barkers and Specsavers both received highly commended nods. There was no winner last month, although the rugby-theme was also evident there, with Steinlager’s print ad focused on Dave Gallagher receiving a highly commended 

Barkers, a fully paid-up member of the All Blacks sponsors club for the past six years, started its campaign before the RWC started. Riffing on the fact that the English invented rugby and New Zealand soon started beating them at it, Barkers talks about how Savile Row has been the destination for fine suits for over 200 years, but now has some Antipodean competition on its hands after the creation of its Made to Measure suiting service. Although it, like the campaigns of some other sponsors such as Powerade (which only managed a 33 percent strike rate) and Air New Zealand, suffers from the ‘damn it, the guy we got to be in our ads didn’t make it into the squad’ effect. 

As it said on the website: “With two iconic New Zealand brands collaborating in their areas of expertise, something undeniably great has been born. When we see the team in black, standing tall and proud in their tailored formalwear, ready to take on the world, we too hold our heads high, and feel a swell of pride. The old-timers of Savile Row are undoubtedly feeling a shortening in their measuring tapes. With our mastery of men’s formalwear and their athletic prowess, we’ve made the innovation of the British our own. Their game is our game.”

Specsavers also got in on the rugby act, with another clever creative execution of the long-running brand platform ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’. 

  • Check out the StopPress rundowns on almost all of the recent rugby-themed ads here and here

Credits for Prime

Agency: FCB
Regional ECD: James Mok
ECD: Tony Clewett
Creative lead: Kelly Lovelock
Senior Copywriter: Rob Banks
Senior Art Director: David Reid
Head of Design: Nick Smith
Senior Designer: Nick McFarlane
Group Account Director: Toby Sellers
Account Director: Hannah Downes
Account Manager: Laura Little
Studio: Chloe Baxter
Media Manager: Hilary Barrett
Media Planner/Buyer: Guy Taylor

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