Much to my delight the URC (United Rugby Championships) has started up again with the South African sides coming out of the starting blocks in scintillating form.
At this stage of the competition last year, I think we had won a handful of games if we were lucky, and our brothers up north were questioning our inclusion in the competition. Fast forward to this year and our teams have not only excelled but also brought back faithful fans to once empty stadiums. These wins have not only been at home but also abroad which bodes well for the remainder of the season.
As an avid Lions supporter, I cannot tell you how proud I am of my team, as a young, vastly inexperienced team who have lost a number of players to other teams, we have won three games in a row on tour. I know its early days still and the season is long, but it certainly warms the heart.
Friday night’s game versus Edenborough at the DAM Health Stadium, was another nail biter and a game the Lions should have lost on paper with a side full of internationals throwing the proverbial sink at them. In the game I noticed the Edenborough team were all playing with different colour socks, something I had only seen in the Barbarians games.
The game was billed as ‘Club Appreciation Night’ where the players were encouraged to express their gratitude to their grassroots clubs and schools where they first learnt the basics and developed their trade, getting back to basics, which I thought was an amazing acknowledgement. This was the brainchild of the media manager Stuart Rutherford with a little help from the Barbarians Rugby Club that do something very similar.
The Barbarians Rugby Club established by William Percy Carpmael in 1876, was a dream to spread good fellowship amongst rugby players worldwide showcasing FLAIR, COURAGE, SPIRIT and Passion. Players from around the world are invited to play for this prestigious team against the best international teams and with their scintillating approach to the game have won respect and support from avid rugby fans around the world.
Earlier I spoke to the ethos of the Barbarians around FLAIR, COURAGE, SPIRIT and PASSION and I think about the current media and marketing arena we play in. Personally, I feel we have lost the plot and have complicated our lives tremendously.
In an ever-competitive segment exacerbated by Covid-19 we find ourselves swept along in the media and marketing frenzy where presentations and documents are filled with words like lead generation, social commerce, supply chains, depressed economies, media wealth gaps and the sorts, and we seem to have lost the true essence of what we do and why we got into the industry in the first place.
Originally it was to showcase brands at its most basic level driving loyalty, using creative thinking end execution to drive the engagement of the brand. Internally, experimental and pioneering cultures foster and amazing relationship between client and agencies and ultimately produce work we can be proud of and still sell product and services. With focus is being diluted we are fading into normality where grey is perceived as a colour.
As consumers are at the centre of everything we do, let’s create work on brands that inspires, just like the running rugby we have come to expect from the Barbarians. Let’s get back to basics and pay homage to all the great work that has been done in the past.
Jedd Cokayne is business unit director at The MediaShop.
