With the Women’s Rugby World Cup in full swing, we’re taking a look at one of rugby’s most ambitious marketing strategies. For the past four years, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) has been on a plan to increase participation in women’s rugby. In the next two years, it hopes to have increased player participation by 150% and to have increased the reach of grassroots, national and international rugby for women and girls. But how?
We’re taking a deep dive into the marketing plan for the RFU’s Every Rose strategy.
What is the Every Rose strategy?
The RFU’s Every Rose strategy is a six year plan which started in 2021 with the aim of accelerating the growth of women and girl’s rugby at all levels. Between 2021 and 2027, it hopes to produce long-term value for the game where 100,000 women and girls are playing rugby. Its ambitions also include the Red Roses having played in two Rugby World Cups (which is a target it’s in the process of achieving), for Twickenham to host a full capacity women’s match and for the RFU to make profit from the games which can be reinvested into growing rugby programmes at a grassroots level.
The strategy has four pillars:
- Increase participation
- Improve performance
- Boost visibility
- Make the women’s game commercially viable
Targeting a 150% participation increase
This is not the first time that the RFU has set out targets to increase viewership and players within the women’s game. But it might just be the most drastic. Two previous strategies have proven fruitful. By the end of 2017, there were 25,000 registered female players. 2021, despite the challenges of the pandemic, ended with 40,000 registered female players. The RFU is now on a mission to increase that by 10,000 every year until 2027.
100,000 players is a stark increase from the 180 active clubs that were present in 1994. In 2021, 130 more clubs were founded to bring rugby to women and girls within England, which resulted in a total of 565 new teams. During this time, more Premier 15s and Red Roses matches were broadcast on major streaming services, including the BBC.
So, while an increase of 60,000 players might seem like a lot, it’s absolutely within the RFU’s reach. In its Action Plan, the RFU states:
“The previous two Action Plans have provided focus and targeted deliverables over an eight-year period. It is now time to capitalise on progress made and use four focus areas to create optimum opportunity and growth.”
How are the RFU marketing women’s rugby?
Within its strategy, the RFU’s pillars of visibility and commercial viability are the two which drive its marketing plan. To increase the visibility of the game and make a profit from it, the RFU commits to:
- Increase the broadcasting and streaming of the women’s games
- Increase following by developing a tailored women’s content plan
- Develop world-leading campaigns
- Identify key audience segments and interests to tailor marketing towards them
- Create an integrated comms and PR strategy to promote attendance to more women’s games
- Develop a partner-funded marketing pot
- Increase revenue from broadcast and sponsorship
Some of the most recent work done for the strategy was carried out by England Rugby with their ‘For The Girls’ campaign. It flips the script on rugby just being for boys and taps into the social and emotional benefits of team sports for girls. The campaign is rooted in tangible action and provides more than just words but claims to also create a movement.
In England Rugby’s press release about the campaign, it said:
“The campaign celebrates the Red Roses legacy, their position as the world’s number one team, and their power to inspire every woman and girl who finds strength in their journey – including the young girls who will dream of taking their place in years to come.
“It honours strength, sisterhood, and solidarity… The tagline comes straight from inside the squad. ‘For the Girls’ proudly shines a light on the male allies – the dads, brothers, coaches, and fans – who’ve championed women’s rugby from day one. Their support matters and their stories are part of this too.”
With this campaign and others like it, the union hopes to create role models and see success in the game much like the Lionesses have, growing in popularity over recent years.
As marketers, we can learn from the RFU’s approach. By identifying our goals, we can be targeted with our strategy. Creating a structured and holistic marketing plan that uses data to tap into our audience and turn them into loyal followers will not only increase retention but improve brand reputation which, in turn, will bring new fans in years to come.
We’re rooting for the success of the RFU’s Every Rose strategy and we’re with the Red Roses every pass, try and conversion throughout the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.
