Whybin paints it black for World Cup

By SIMON HENDERY

The campaign: In its quest to produce an eye-catching campaign for All Black sponsor adidas in Rugby World Cup year, advertising agency Whybin TBWA turned to sister agency 180/TBWA in Europe.

180s Amsterdam-based art director Stuart Brown had come up with an interesting concept: get an international rugby player covered in paint to crash into a tackle bag wrapped in an artist's canvas.

The resulting "impact" art work gives the viewer, as Brown puts it: a life-size impression of "what it would feel like if you could stand in between Martin Johnston and Tana Umaga as they tackled each other".

The execution: Whybin TBWA decided to take the concept a step further. To mark the All Blacks' challenge for the Rugby World Cup it set up a 35m-long canvas at the Devonport Naval Base to stamp out the entire 30-man All Blacks squad as well as using individual player images across a range of mediums.

Impact: The Art of Rugby campaign's massive canvas has been displayed at Auckland Airport.

A selection of individual canvases are on show in the interactive adidas Rugby Rig that is travelling around New Zealand in the lead up to the cup.

The results: While it is too early to measure the success of the campaign, Brown says its strength is that it has been developed around a unique medium reflecting the international perception that the All Blacks lead the world in innovation.

The lessons: "Consumers are so switched on now to messages they receive from advertising that you need to find ways that are a little bit less traditional and a little bit more engaging," says Brown. "And I think this certainly does that. It's quite unique - We try to do communication which isn't traditional advertising."