‘The platform the Red Roses deserved’: Inside O2’s biggest women’s rugby campaign yet 

The majority (62%) of Rugby Union fans can’t name a single player in the Red Roses squad. 

This is the challenge O2 is tackling with ‘England, meet England’, described as its most “powerful” women’s rugby campaign yet in support of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup. 

The telecoms business has partnered with England Rugby since 1995 – when O2 was known as Cellnet – making this year the 30th anniversary of the partnership. A lot has changed for women’s rugby since O2 signed its first deal. 

It was only in 2019 every member of the England Women’s rugby team received full-time contracts, making the Red Roses the first team in the world to be fully professional.

Now there’s hope women’s rugby will benefit from a World Cup on home soil in England, similar to the boost the Lionesses experienced following their Euros 2022 victory.  

“We made a decision some time ago to really push pay parity for men and women, and to give them equal voice and equal support,” explains brand and advertising director at Virgin Media O2, Rachel Swift.  

Grassroots to Red Roses: Clinique on taking its women’s rugby partnership to the ‘next level’

This is the first time the brand has invested equally in the women’s team, something that has been worked on behind the scenes for many years.

“We’re investing exactly the same as we would in the men’s tournament, so we feel like we’ve got a really strong position to be able to talk authentically about the role that we play within their team,” she says. 

“It was really important for us that we gave the Red Roses the platform that they deserved.”

Swift points out they’re the most successful rugby team in the country “full stop”.  

Developed in collaboration with VCCP, the brand film sees the players getting ready in their changing room, before jumping out of a plane and sky diving into the Allianz Twickenham stadium. The creative frames the team as “powerful and strong”, emphasising their stature, physical ability and sporting skill. 

The campaign is backed by a content series with British comedian Asim Chaudhry, best known for playing Chabuddy G on BBC series People Just Do Nothing. He takes on the role of “self-appointed PR guru” to try promote the team, who are always one step ahead.

O2 wanted to push out an above the line campaign to “demonstrate” the investment the brand is making in women’s rugby, as well as its “pride and commitment” to the team. 

“That’s always been the sponsorship strategy of O2. We sponsor teams, not tournaments,” says Swift.  

Measuring impact

The telecoms giant has been working with the Women’s Sport Trust and the Rugby Football Union on a long-term study into the visibility of the Red Roses.

“We’re going to use this data and insight to help close rugby’s gender awareness gap and drive record attendance to the Red Roses matches,” says Swift.

Since the research began in 2023, there’s been a 14% growth in awareness of the Red Roses, 57% growth in social media followers and record-breaking attendance figures at games. The Women’s Rugby World Cup final in Twickenham has already sold out.  

These are key KPIs for O2, alongside metrics such as engagement with O2 Priority and how the campaign is resonating with customers.  

“[It’s about] delivering the right outcomes for Priority and for rugby, and women’s sport in general,” says Swift.  

She believes brands play a “really critical role” in growing women’s sport and O2’s investment in women’s rugby signifies the commercial impact for the brand. 

“When we were thinking about the role that we can play, it’s largely a support role in making sure that they [the athletes] are being elevated,” she says.  

That said, O2 engages in this activity because it sees a “great return on investment”.

“We don’t do it in a purely altruistic way. We’re a business, so what we do needs to be effective,” Swift adds. 

She urges brands working within women’s sport to consider the role they can play in support. Female athletes are often trolled online and working out how the business could play a role in standing up against this hate “was really important” to Swift.  

“Brands can help change culture. They can help change national opinion,” she adds. “Brands have got a great opportunity to show up in these spaces and support really strong causes that are meaningful to their customers.”  

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September marks a year since Swift returned to Virgin Media O2, following four years at Tesco Mobile as its chief customer officer, previously CMO.  

“When I joined, I had quite a clear ambition for the brand as we moved through into 2025 and beyond, and that was to become the most culturally relevant brand in the UK,” she says.  

Exploring how O2 could utilise its extensive sponsorship assets to connect with customers was a top priority.

“We are operating in a highly competitive, commoditised market where we’re fighting for every customer,” she adds.  

In March, the brand launched long-term platform ‘Essential for Living’ to build on its role in connecting people and revisits O2’s founding message from 2002. While still “early days”, the business is already seeing some “green shoots” in terms of performance, awareness and brand consideration, says Swift, as well as engagement and trust.

“[The platform is] really connecting with people on an emotional level, which we know is really critical if we want customers to bond with us and stay longer with us, and spend more of their hard-earned money with us and expand into new categories,” she adds.