Sine Qua Non

Six Nations Rugby and RBS emerge victorious online

Sponsorship | Sport

Ireland, England and France emerged victorious from the opening weekend of this year’s RBS sponsored Six Nations Rugby tournament, but once again it is the fans of the sport who triumph as a result of the championship’s excellent official website.

Here at Sine Qua Non, we have done a lot of research into what makes a good website, both from a brand’s perspective but also through the eyes of the fans. The RBS Six Nations site ticks all boxes.

For title sponsors RBS, who last year extended their partnership with the Six Nations championship for a further four years up to 2013, the fan-oriented site offers them a tremendous platform from which they can enhance their activation of a long-standing sponsorship.

RBS first became involved with Europe’s leading rugby tournament in 2003 and over the years the company has benefitted from a full immersion into the sport. The Six Nations is now synonymous with RBS and that level of brand recognition is something that money cannot buy.

RBS sees the Six Nations as one of the best platforms ‘to generate positive domestic and international brand association for RBS’, while using the sponsorship ‘to reward customers, attract new business, and maintain key relationships’, but their involvement transcends the straight-forward cash for logo approach. The ways in which RBS exploit the sponsorship are what makes the tie-in valuable and credible, allowing RBS to meet and exceed its objectives.

The website is a great example. Underneath the umbrella that title sponsorship affords RBS, the site is tailor-made to give the fans what they want and more. Aside from the standard information, fixture lists, player details and biographies, the site embodies everything that a 2010 fan site should be – engaging, informative, interactive, techy and emotive.

A standard ‘pay-as-you-go’ sponsorship in sport is one thing, but the way RBS has embraced its Six Nations partnership, reaching out to a willing and engaging public audience on the pitch, through TV coverage and directly to the fans through the website gives a human, sporting character to what would otherwise be an anonymous, soulless brand.

To see for yourselves just what a great fansite it is, visit www.rbs6nations.com – who knows, you might well be converted...

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