Live Trophy
Technology Transforming Sport
Rugby World Cup Japan 2019
MBD (in partnership with Futurelabs) partnered with Octagon Singapore to help bring their vision alive. For the first time ever, the brand created a live, interactive trophy that told the story of each match right after its conclusion.
Mastercard has been a Worldwide Partner of the Rugby World Cup since 2011. At the 2019 edition of the tournament, Octagon faced the unique challenge of trying to Drive Awareness & Engagement for the brand globally while showcasing Mastercard as an innovative technology brand. This all needed to be achieved at a sports tournament being played in Japan - a non-English speaking, non-traditional rugby market where the brand has a low market share.
It was critical to reach fans during their most engaged and passionate rugby moments; in-game, with a cohesive and compelling message for a diverse global audience.
Octagon decided to focus on leveraging the marquee sponsorship asset of the tournament, the Mastercard Player of the Match award. This award is presented to the best performing player of each match (48 matches) of the RWC tournament; as decided by a panel of experts appointed by World Rugby. The question was – how could we use the Mastercard POTM award to grab the attention of fans?
Every game of Rugby in the World Cup is completely unique – it has its own story of heroic comebacks, unforgettable moments, the pride of a nation. But every Player of the Match trophy is always the same. And Mastercard is all about unlocking ‘priceless’. So we created a trophy as unique as the match itself.
Mastercard created the world’s first Live Trophy featuring priceless moments of the game identified through social listening and laser engraved in seconds.
To celebrate the unique milestone of the first RWC in Japan, Mastercard paid homage to Japanese arts by crafting a trophy in an Origami form. The trophy was designed in collaboration with Professor Jun Mitani, from Tsukuba University. One of Professor Mitani’s key areas of research is Computational Origami – the use of computer design software to create complex origami designs. Mitani oversaw the design of a trophy that had a modern look and feel, whilst taking inspiration from the uniquely Japanese art form. A content piece featuring the Professor and explaining the process was launched prior to the opening match of the tournament.
We brought together rugby fans, Japanese design, game pace storytelling, and innovative technology to capture every unique rugby match of the tournament.
This project was a winner at The Drum Marketing Awards 2020.
