O2's rousing campaign to make the Red Roses household names

Long-time partner of England Rugby, O2, launches its most powerful women’s rugby campaign to date: ‘England, meet England’. Created by the brand’s long-standing creative agency of record VCCP, the bold and uplifting campaign is designed to boost support and awareness of the Red Roses, making them famous in the hearts and minds of the nation.

Despite being the most successful rugby team England has ever produced, a staggering 62% of Rugby Union fans still can’t name a single Red Rose. O2’s latest work aims to change that, shining a national spotlight on the World Number One team as they charge headfirst into a home World Cup, riding high on the momentum of a Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam and the support of a growing fan base.

Academy Films and director Marcus Söderlund worked with VCCP’s global content studio Girl&Bear to create the hero film ‘Dive’. Set to the soundtrack ‘Weightless’ by Romy, the spot opens with the Red Roses in what looks like their changing room. In an unexpected twist, rather than getting ready for a game, we see them put on helmets before running and jumping out of the back of a plane, skydiving as a united team. We see the Roses in formation, forming a circle in the air, joining hands in a unified movement before releasing their parachutes and descending into a packed Allianz Stadium in Twickenham. They land and take their place, shoulder to shoulder, ready to take on their opponents. The film acts as a powerful metaphor for the team’s unstoppable rise: it’s a rallying cry for a team ready to claim their moment - calling on their country to get behind them.

The campaign reframes the Red Roses not just as elite athletes, but as national heroes, and is a key part of O2’s continued commitment to parity in rugby, marking the brand putting equal amounts into its sponsorship of both the men’s and women’s teams. The work also follows O2’s partnership with Women’s Sports Trust (WST), which aims to increase visibility of the Red Roses and help promote women’s rugby more broadly. Together with the RFU, O2 has played a pivotal role in closing the gender awareness gap that WST’s research highlighted, and elevating the Red Roses to unprecedented visibility, resulting in a 14% growth in awareness, 57% growth in social media followers, and a record-breaking women’s rugby crowd of 58,000 fans at the Women’s Guinness Six Nations 2023 Grand Slam decider.

Out of home executions, shot by Michelle Watt, range from impactful 96-sheet team shots with the core campaign line, to smaller group and solo player portraits - boldly positioning each Red Rose as a player the nation should know. Social and reactive content will celebrate player moments and squad milestones as the tournament progresses.

Running from today, ‘England, meet England’ will roll out across TV, video on demand, online, out-of-home, PR, experiential and a social-first campaign that goes beyond match-day coverage to showcase the individual personalities and unique skills of the squad.

To shine a light on the characters behind the team, O2 have also teamed up with renowned hypeman and promoter, Chabuddy G (played by British Comedian, Asim Chaudhry), hiring him as the Red Roses new PR Manager. Created by O2’s sponsorship agency, MSQ Sport + Entertainment, the mockumentary social series, will bring out the players' personalities as they entertain the self-professed PR Guru, AKA Cha-rugby G’s crash course in questionable PR stunts, wacky celebrations, and tips for ‘going viral’.

Rachel Swift, Brand and Advertising Director at Virgin Media O2, said: "This year O2 and England Rugby are celebrating 30 years of partnership, and with the Red Roses dominating women’s rugby, and the upcoming Rugby World Cup on home turf, now more than ever we want to help connect fans to the team and grow the women’s game.

“The Red Roses are England’s most decorated rugby team - and yet they’re not yet front of mind. With ‘England, meet England’, we’re giving them the epic entrance to the tournament they’ve earned and calling on the nation to get behind them and Wear the Rose. With the Women’s Rugby World Cup just around the corner, we’re spotlighting the Red Roses’ incredible talent and we’re proud to be behind them every step of the way."

Nikki Lindman, Creative Director at VCCP, added: "We’re incredibly proud to be part of this moment for the Red Roses. They’re on an incredible winning streak, but somehow still under the radar. This campaign is a proper introduction - confident, powerful, and full of heart. We wanted to make something that felt as big as the stage they’re about to step onto. Hopefully it gives people goosebumps… and makes them proud to cheer them on.”

The integrated campaign was created by VCCP, Virgin Media O2’s creative agency of record since 2002, when the agency was founded. Media planning and buying was driven by MG OMD, MSQ Sport + Entertainment led on partnership management, experiential activations, and PR was managed by Virgin Media O2, with a supporting earned media campaign created and led by W Communications. The PR activity embodies ‘England, meet England’, providing fans across the UK with the opportunity to get behind their national team and share their own message of support for inclusion in a first-of-its-kind AI powered team talk. Each message will be collated using an advanced AI technology system and transformed into a single, unified track, creating a rallying cry that captures the collective ‘voice’ of the nation. The final track will be shared with the Red Roses during the tournament, enabling supporters to not only be heard as they cheer the team on, but to be part of England’s Rugby World Cup story.

For the first time, O2 is also an official partner of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, which will see O2 customers enjoy exclusive access to tickets for all 32 matches and unforgettable experiences via Priority, O2’s award winning customer reward programme. O2 will also set the stage for six-weeks of entertaining action with an unmissable opening show performance from acclaimed singer-songwriter Anne-Marie ahead of the first match of the tournament at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland on Friday, 22 August.  Additionally, ten stores across Host Cities will be updating the O2 logo on the front of each store, replacing the ‘O’ with the Rugby Rose with staff and colleagues wearing England Rugby shirts in-store.

CAMPAIGN CREDITS 

CLIENTS: O2

DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS AND SPONSORSHIP: Gareth Griffiths

MARKETING DIRECTOR: Simon Valcarcel

HEAD OF ADVERTISING AND CAMPAIGNS: Johnny Winn 

HEAD OF SPORT: Marie Houlgate 

SENIOR CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Nina Dubravec 

CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Iona Murray-Spink

PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER - SPORT: Jamie Brown 

SENIOR CONSULTANT - SPORT: Jessica White

PR & SOCIAL: Olivia McKee, Chloe Rainford & Sophie Hack 

ADVERTISING AGENCY: VCCP

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: David Masterman 

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Nikki Lindman 

CREATIVES: Jake Wiseman & James Ginn 

MANAGING PARTNER: Olivia Packshaw

BUSINESS DIRECTOR: Alexandra Gluck

SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Kate Jackson

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER: Jamie Glazer 

DEPUTY CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER: Clare Hutchinson 

PLANNING DIRECTOR: Lotte Jones 

PLANNER: Liberty Covill 

PRODUCTION: Girl&Bear

SENIOR INTEGRATED CREATIVE PRODUCER: Pip Seymour-Judd

AGENCY TV PRODUCER: Ed Thorn 

DIGITAL AGENCY: Bernadette

CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND HEAD OF 3D: Jon Bancroft

ASSOCIATE PROJECT DIRECTOR: Luke Dougherty

PROJECT MANAGER: Nayef (Nay) Hassan

INTERACTIVE DESIGNERS: Štěpán Sebastián Hlouch, Linas Jovaisas, Nik Karpov

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Academy Films 

DIRECTOR: Marcus Söderland 

1ST AD: James Sharpe

DOP: Barry Ackroyd

SKY DIVING CAM OPERATOR: Chris Cookie

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Ben Ansell

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:Darapen Vongsa-Nga

PRODUCER: Dulcie Kellett

EDITORS: TRIM EDITING

EDITOR: Tom Grove Carter

EXEC PRODUCER: Pia Ebrill

BROADCAST AFFAIRS MANAGER: Katie Singer 

PLANNING AND BUYING AGENCY: MG OMD

MEDIA CLIENT BUSINESS DIRECTOR: Hollie Hambilton

CLIENT ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Nadia Murrell 

STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Gareth White 

PLANNING DIRECTOR: Will Maclure 

DIGITAL ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Miranda Roberts

SPONSORSHIP AGENCY: MSQ Sport and Entertainment 

FOUNDING PARTNER: Jamie Wynne-Morgan 

STRATEGY PARTNER: Georgia Bridgwood 

MANAGING PARTNER: Kim Broadbent 

CREATIVE PARTNER: Seth Jones 

SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: George Williams 

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER: Ade Ojigbo

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Abby Ward

SENIOR CREATIVE: Issie Mandry 

SENIOR DESIGNER: Seb Bailey 

SENIOR PRODUCER: Hannah Lane 

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michelle Watt

1st ASSISTANT: Daniel Cochran

2nd ASSISTANT: Robin Bernstein

LIGHTING TECH: Sean Morrow

DIGI TECH: Laimonas Stasiulis

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Ester Viana

SET DESIGNER: Andrew Clarkson 

SET ASSISTANT: Kenechi Carmel

SET ASSISTANT: Harry Ezzat

STYLIST: Amy Thompson

SPARK: Toby Norman

RUNNER: Alishia Shaw

RUNNER: Ollie Wood

RUNNER: Rowan Hutchings

RUNNER: Hope Worley

HMUA: ℅ Untitled Artists

MEDIC: Reema Shah

POST PRODUCTION COMPANY: Rascal Studio 

POST PRODUCER: Ellie Thwaites and Lisa Fox

POST SUPERVISOR: Kalle Lundberg

COLOURIST: James Bamford

LEAD COMPOSITOR & ONLINE: Paul Wilmot

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jen Le Noury 

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Noemi Seminara

DESIGN AND ARTWORK: Girl&Bear

DESIGN DIRECTOR: Lee Bodell

STUDIO MANAGER: James Perry

SENIOR CREATIVE ARTWORKER: Toby Kadir

RESOURCE MANAGER: Yasmine Moridi

AUDIO POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: 750 MPH

SOUND ENGINEER: Sam Ashwell 

PRODUCER: Olivia Ray and Carla Thomas  

MUSIC SUPERVISION: Twelve Decibels - Daniel Payne