All Blacks Skills - Behind the scenes
All Blacks Skills - Behind the scenes
By Kurt Bradley
Investing in epic content pays off long-term, big time. At 4AM, we’re pretty chuffed to have been recently reminded of how durable great content can be. It’s no secret that investing in epic content pays off long term, and our experience has proven this time and again.
A prime example is the hugely successful piece of commercial content we developed, shot, and post-produced way back in 2010 for Sky Television to promote their dedicated Rugby Channel. This campaign, known as ‘All Blacks Skills’, took off globally and quickly became a much-loved piece of content proudly shared.
It went massive
It wasn’t just popular—it went massive. As well as positioning Sky and The Rugby Channel as the place to go for the best rugby content, it grew both Sky and the All Blacks social channels substantially, which is a valuable long term benefit in itself. It also earned millions of dollars in media coverage. Major outlets like Sports Illustrated, The Sydney Morning Herald, and all local NZ news outlets picked it up and ran stories about it.
All this during a period when most brands with commercial connections to the All Blacks were producing rather uninspired content, despite having access to this A-list talent. Our approach was different, we used humour and showed a side of their personalities rarely seen, which paid off big time.
Behind the scenes
Fast forward to today, and the impact of that epic content is still being felt. Just a few days ago, the All Blacks themselves decided to repost our campaign, crediting Sky TV along the way. So both parties involved are still benefiting. The response was immediate and overwhelmingly positive, showing high levels of engagement once again. The ROI on this campaign is enormous, underscoring the long-term value of investing in quality. We’ve even added to this today by releasing the behind-the-scenes footage for the first time.
Epic content pays off
In a fragmented content world where there is an overwhelming amount of material we’re all trawling through, lots of average is not always better. The good stuff, the really great content, still rises above the rest and delivers lasting results. It’s worth investing in high-quality content. It might hurt a bit at first, but in the long term, it pays off.
Our team at 4AM knows epic content that actually entertains or evokes emotion, which is powerful in achieving business objectives. Our experience with the ‘All Blacks Skills’ videos is a testament to that. Investing in great content not only creates an immediate impact but also provides benefits that extend well into the future.