LORD’S

England v Bangladesh Test Match The business challenge
On paper, the England v Bangladesh Test Match was set to be a walkover for England, so Lord’s couldn’t rely on filling the ground with the usual English cricket fans. So we needed to target Bangladeshis instead.

The solution
Research amongst London Bangladeshis uncovered a key barrier to attendance: Bangladeshis feel Lord’s is removed from them – geographically and socially. Our communications strategy was therefore simple. If Bangladeshis won’t come to Lord’s, then Lord’s must go to the Bangladeshis! This led to a plan of activity centred in East London aimed at making Lord’s accessible to Bangladeshis. The Bangladeshi national team is called ‘The Tigers', so we decided to tap into their national pride and get them to show their support for ‘The Tigers’ by – literally – roaring for them. We set up a “Roar Booth” in Whitechapel, where fans could roar into camera and also purchase tickets. People were pushed to the booth via highly targeted local media. We then amplified the effect by emailing each participant a link to their roar on YouTube, so they could send it to friends and family.

Results
72,279 tickets sold, resulting in revenue in excess of £750k and a very healthy ROI of 6:1. Awarded DMA Silver 2010.