Cricket Australia has released a new campaign honing in on the “human side of the game” following a tumultuous year for the sport.
Speaking to AdNews, Cricket Australia executive GM events and leagues Anthony Everard says while the ball tampering scandal in Cape Town was a part of the conversation while developing its summer marketing strategy, it wasn't the sole basis for the new campaign.
The Cape Town ball tampering scandal, which saw Australian Test captain and vice captain Steve Smith and David Warner banned from the game for 12 months, gripped the nation in March this year and left the reputation of the game in tatters.
For the early part of the year, Cricket Australia has been in recovery mode, drumming up new sponsors, putting forward a new image and securing broadcast partners in Seven and Foxtel.
The latest campaign, 'It's your game' by M&C Saatchi Melbourne, demonstrates a side of cricket viewers may have forgotten.
The 20-part content series shows players from across the men's game connecting with fans young and old, and sees famous faces such as Nathan 'Garry' Lyon riding scooters and Australian national team coach and cricket legend Justin Langer going on bush walks with fans
Everard says the campaign is focused on promoting the concept of “unity among fans and players”, after research conducted by Cricket Australia revealed many fans of the game were interested in the off-field personas of the players.
“In many respects it was about trying to connect everyday Australian's and members of the Australian men's cricket team in an authentic way,” he says.
“It's about making sure we acknowledged the fact that cricket holds a privileged position in Australian society and it really is a big part of our identity.”
Everard says the organisation reached out to hundreds of thousands of cricket fans as part of the campaign and asked them to share their unique experiences, as well as their thoughts on the game.
He argues that while there were negative perceptions and issues the came alongside of the Cape Town controversy, it was important for Cricket Australian to remain focused on the long-game and not get caught up in short-term events.
“We want to be able to play the long game here and not get bogged down or focus too heavily on one event that happened in a moment in time,” Everard says.
“These campaigns need to be timeless in a sense that they need to have longevity well beyond this summer.”
According to Cricket Australia the national team is more popular than ever, based on a certain set of metrics in terms of attendances and TV ratings, something it expects to carry over into summer.
Everard says while there is still a lot of different messaging about the game in the market, with Seven and Fox pushing the concept of “a new era in cricket”, Cricket Australia will remain focused on reconnecting the grassroots element of the sport and pushing for a stronger narrative around fan engagement.
“We have two new broadcast partners in Fox and Seven, they are running with their own narrative that it's a new era for cricket in Australia and that's great, however, we will stick to the purpose that we have identified and that is unifying fans,” he says.
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