In September 2016 we worked alongside the IRFU and Aldi to officially launch the Aldi Play Rugby program by hosting an event attended by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the Aldi Play Rugby Ambassador Paul O’Connell.

In order to continue to promote the initiative after the launch, we activated at many large scale events to encourage kids to take part and for parents to get information to help their school register for the program. For this, we created and managed a bespoke build to replicate a miniature rugby pitch to include goals, nets, pitch lines, post pads, flood lights and branded hoarding. As well as the bespoke build, we included some additional engagement pieces for attendees that included a speed reaction board, a pass-through target and also a kicking radar game. We ran multiple activations nationwide including at the Womens Rugby World Cup in both Belfast and Dublin, The National Ploughing Championships 2016 & 2017 and also at Aviva Stadium for 6 Nations and November International games.

As the activations grew we wanted to encourage kids to sample some Aldi produce as well as testing their skills. In order to do so, Grooveyard developed the concept of ‘Get Your Nibbles’. The simple mechanic allowed kids to take an Aldi branded cup and fill it up with a mixture of Aldi’s snack range including nuts, popcorn and drinks. This gave Aldi a good brand presence throughout each event as the kids brought the snacks with them in to the match/around the event grounds etc.

To encourage more schools to sign up for the brand activation, Aldi hosted a number of mini rugby festivals in clubs in all 4 provinces with a National Final held in Aviva Stadium in April 2017. 350 kids from each province took part in the provincial festivals with all kids being invited to the National Final. Grooveyard created branded merchandise which was sent out to all provinces in advance and developed branding which could be adapted for multiple venues.