Rugby World Cup in NZ 2011 The Challenge: • Sell 1.35 million tickets (NZ$ 268.5 million) • Target 85% of total capacity • 11 x 2005 British & Irish Lions tour • 70% sold to domestic audience • Target 95,000 international visitors • No customer data from RWC 2007 • No international marketing budget Here is the Case Study of how they succeeded, presented by Clare Wolfensohn at the 2012 Ticketng Professionals Conference.

1. MAKING RUGBY SOCIAL
Photo: Getty Images
@clarewolfensohn

2. Photo: Julien Behal PA
OVERVIEW
• Ticketing challenge
• Social media approach
• Key lessons
• Future opportunities

3. The Challenge
• Sell 1.35 million tickets (NZ$ 268.5 million)
• Target 85% of total capacity
• 11 x 2005 British & Irish Lions tour
• 70% sold to domestic audience
• Target 95,000 international visitors
• No customer data from RWC 2007
• No international marketing budget
Photo: Getty Images

4. The Solution
• Multi-platform global online community
• Social media strategy aligned with ticket sales
• International brand awareness
• Online customer service
Photo: Getty Images

5. Photo: RNZ 2011
The Results
• Largest online community for an international
sports event to date
• Reached ticket sales target with 2 matches to go
• 99% of ticket applications received electronically
• Facebook was the # 1 traffic driver to ticket
website outside search engines

6. STATS
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• 17 million unique users to the website
• 3.5 million downloads of the official app
• 1.46 million Facebook page ‘likes’
• 114,000 Twitter followers
• 250,000 photo views on Flickr
• 4.5 million video views via official YouTube page
• Over 4.1 million tweets during the tournament
Photo: Localise.co.nz

7. SOCIAL MEDIA APPROACH
Phase 1: Building community
Phase 2: Engagement
Phase 3: Ticket sales
Phase 4: Tournament time
Phase 5: Legacy
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Photo: Getty Images

8. PHASE 1:
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Photo: Getty Images

9. MULTI_PLATFORM
Facebook.com/rugbyworldcup
YouTube.com/rugbyworldcup
Twitter.com/rugbyworldcup
Flickr.com/rugbyworldcup
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Photo: Getty Images

10. CONSISTENT BRANDING
Photo: Getty Images

11. 11
INTERNAL PROMOTION
Photo: Getty Images

12. Facebook ads
• Tap into multiple audience groups
• Experiment with targeted ads
• Utilise reach blocks
• Cost effective: Sticky + Viral
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Photo: Getty Images

13. 13
Reach Block
Reach Block
ADVERTISING IMPACT
Photo: Getty Images

14. 14
FACEBOOK AUDIENCE

15. PHASE 2:
ENGAGEMENT
Photo: Getty Images

16. Target engagement
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Credit: Brian Carter
(May 17, 2011)
Photo: Getty Images

17. EMPHASIS ON ENGAGEMENT
• Ask questions and invite feedback
• Encourage questions/discussion
• Promote interaction between fans
• Understand your audience and what they want
• Be authentic and avoid spin
• Balance commercial goals with long term fans
Photo: Getty Images

18. Content planning
• News (qualification, tickets, volunteers)
• Video and photos
• Trivia and polls
• Discussion board
• Facebook only offers, sponsor promos
 Multiple audiences, multiple interests
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Photo: Getty Images

19. Online/Offline
• Partnership with TVNZ Breakfast
• Invited fans via social media
• Photos on Flickr (tagging, sharing)
• Weekly video highlights on YouTube
• 27 towns in 30 days (July 2011)
• 20,000 visitors
• Over 40,000 image views
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Photo: RNZ 2011

20. Measurement
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Ticket design
sneak peak
Video + Focus on
Wellington
Video
Fan Focus
Video
Fan Focus
One million fans
Photo: Dave Lintott / Photosport

21. Phase 3:
TICKET SALES
Photo: Northland Regional Council

22. SOCIAL MEDIA APPS
• Reinforced key ticket sales phases
• Created interest, awareness and virality
• Sales messages integrated with engagement
• The World’s Biggest Scrum
• Fan Personality Test
• Spot the Ball

26. EMAIL
• Remains crucial part of marketing mix
• Ticketing database of over 160,000 fans
• EDM at every point in process
• Pre-sales, announcements, follow up
• Targeted offers (by region, by team)
• Crisis management via email and social
Photo: Getty Images

27. CHRISTCHURCH
• September 22, 2010 a 7.5 magnitude earthquake
hit the city of Christchurch
• Infrastructure damage had significant impact on
hosting RWC 2011
• Important to keep customers updated at every
step to avoid misinformation and show concern
• Customers informed at the same time as the
media via email and social media
Photo: Otago Daily Times

28. CUSTOMER SERVICE
• Create opportunities
for dialogue
• Opportunity for
customers who are
experiencing the same
issues to connect
• Community helps
each other
Photo: Getty Images

29. RESULTS
• Recouped majority of lost sales
• A smooth customer experience
• Very positive feedback
• Went beyond the pure ticketing relationship
• Keeping Christchurch involved
Photo: Getty Images

30. Crisis 2.0
• Monitored social and traditional media
• Responded to every query
• Keep customers informed e.g. Christchurch
• Real time response
• Your story, your words, your message
• Clears misconceptions and shows you care
• Create opportunities for dialogue
• Allows you to prioritise issues
Photo: Getty Images

31. PHASE 4:
TOURNAMENT TIME
Photo: Anthony Au-Yeung / Photosport

32. • Team of four (NZ/UK)
• Provided 24 hour coverage + publishing
• Integrated with editorial news service
• Tailored publication via Facebook
• Daily video package via YouTube + website
• Live updates via Twitter
• Daily photo galleries
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Tournament CONTENT
Photo: Getty Images

33. Real time coverage

34. MOBILE
Photo: Getty Images

35. Mobile
• iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows 7 + iPad,
RIM Playbook
• Over 3.5 million app downloads and 350 million
page views
• Page impressions via mobile outnumbered
website 3:1
Photo: Getty Images

36. KUDOS
• Largest online community for an international
sports event to date
• Ranked 40th top sports property for social media
audience size (sportsfangraph.com)
• Selected as a Best Practice case study by
Facebook international in 2010
• Joint winner of “Best Event” in the SportBusiness
Digital Sports Awards 2011
Photo: Getty Images

37. PHASE 5:
LEGACY
Photo: Billy Stickland / NPHO

38. ENGLAND 2015
• Transfer ownership to England 2015/RWCL
• Branding update across all sites
• Maintain and grow existing fan base
• Four year build up to next tournament
• New audience towards RWC 2019 in Japan
• Next generation of rugby fans
Photo: Ella Brockelsby / Photosport

39. LESSONS FROM RWC 2011
• Have a long term vision
• Understand your audience
• Create engaging and varied content
• Cater for multiple audiences
• Value customer service
• Integrate and cross promote
• Don’t ignore mobile and email
Photo: Getty Images

40. TICKETING opportunities
• Integration with call centre/helpdesk
• Dynamic ticket pricing based on demand
• Increased knowledge of preferences of fans
• Tap into friend data
• Integration with other events
• Updates about events in an area
Photo: ABOVE Ground