O2 spotlights England men's and women's teams in 'Wear the Rose' Six Nations push
O2 has unveiled the latest iteration of its longstanding 'Wear the Rose' campaign, which looks to boost national support for the men's and women's England rugby teams following on from the first Six Nations games at the weekend (1 February).
The creative features an equal split of rugby players from the men's side and the women's Red Roses
The creative features an equal split of rugby players from the men's side and the women's Red Roses. Talent including Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Kyle Sinckler, Lydia Thompson, Sarah Bern and Zoe Harrison feature in the ads, which will run throughout England during the championship.
The campaign builds on O2’s 'Wear the Rose' movement and follows on from the recent successes of both teams. While their male counterparts succumbed to France on Sunday (2 February) the national women's team got off to a promising start with a 19-13 victory.
O2 hopes the work will inspire fans of all ages and backgrounds to come together and support the players, as well as highlighting the perks it offers to fans including early bird access to big game tickets. As lead partner for England Rugby, it will also be pushing its grassroots rugby programme, O2 Touch, which has seen the brand build a community of 32,000 players enjoying the sport across 500 centres nationwide.
To celebrate the Six Nations, O2 has also brought on board rugby legend James Haskell to host its Inside Line show alongside Vernon Kay, offering fans behind the scenes access to the training camps available live on England Rugby’s Facebook page each week. The first episode will go live this evening.
Gareth Griffiths, head of sponsorship at O2, said: “We’ve been side by side with England Rugby for 25 years and we’re proud to continue our unwavering support and love for the game with more experiences than ever in Priority for O2 customers.
"With our new campaign we hope to excite fans, whether they’re new to the sport or a lifelong supporter, to get together and Wear the Rose.”
During the Rugby World Cup in 2019, hosted in Japan, O2 portrayed the English men's side (or ‘knights’) as samurai warriors with the traditional armour modified to reflect the England rugby shirt.
Six Nations sponsor Guinness has written a love letter to the championships for 2020, underlining the power of sport in bringing the nation together.
