How we ran the marketing function for RugbyPass and drove a 24% uplift in acquisition volume
A bit about RugbyPass
RugbyPass is the premier online destination for global rugby fans, offering a live streaming rugby service that extends to 35+ territories, including Asia, Australia and Europe, along with a wide array of original video content, news, analysis, stats and a world-first rugby player and team rankings system, the RugbyPass Index.
Why did we enter the frame?
Having recently been acquired by Sky New Zealand, RugbyPass had ambitious growth plans needing a fully operational digital marketing capability across data, technology and marketing. With a deep expertise in monetising and growing OTT streaming platforms, In Digital were brought in as a performance partner to build this internal capability and to develop and execute a tailored digital strategy.
Audience marketing
As a single-sport business operating globally with a highly specific target audience, our goal was to deliver a marketing strategy to be able to find and communicate with the right audience at scale.
To achieve this we needed to put in place the data, analytics, marketing and ad technology to enable this approach whilst focussing on delivering an immediate step-change in digital marketing performance.
Strategy
Starting with strategy we analysed past performance at RugbyPass as well as the global digital rugby audience to establish key segments of rugby fans across “audience corridors” to target fans with the content they wanted, how they wanted it, wherever in the world they might be.
Media
Performance media is at the heart of the solution we’ve offered:
- We developed a paid media strategy to deliver an overall Audience Marketing approach.
- We delivered an innovative creative approach optimised for digital channels and giving fans an experience of what rugby streaming can offer.
- Our team managed key channels including: PPC, Paid Social, Native ads and Programmatic Display
Data & tech
To deliver effective audience marketing you need accurate & accessible data, and the platforms to activate and leverage that data to deliver a great customer experience. We supported in the following areas to build the capability to enable growth in digital:
- Supplier selection for a single customer view and data management platform
- Performance reporting across the customer lifecycle
- Setup of key ad technology platforms
Team
Acting as interim head of marketing and providing a team of media and analytics specialists, we provided an energised and effective solution to immediately establish a subscription marketing operation and allow RugbyPass to deliver a fully updated strategic and tactical approach in 3 months to maximise performance in a fast approaching seasonal peak.
The results
24%
Increase in subscriber acquisition
156%
Increase in paid search subscriptions
336%
Growth in subscription traffic