O2 Be their armour for England Rugby #WearTheRose - Ad Analysis

O2
Telecommunications
Brand Building
Owen Farrell
O2 Be their armour for England Rugby #WearTheRose
Experimental
9/10
Game-Changer
This campaign is an exceptional piece of brand building. It sacrifices immediate message clarity for a slow-burning, epic narrative that pays off handsomely. By creating a cinematic metaphor that was both culturally relevant and emotionally resonant, O2 elevated its sponsorship beyond a logo on a shirt to a core part of the national team's story. The work is memorable, distinctive, and perfectly tailored to its objective.
Clarity Of Message
The core message—'Your support is England's armour'—is powerful but takes the full 90 seconds to land. The initial samurai narrative is intentionally mysterious and could be confusing until the final voiceover ties it all together.
Brand Distinctiveness
This ad is uniquely O2's. Their 20+ year sponsorship of England Rugby gives them the permission to make such a grand statement. [18] The #WearTheRose tagline is an established and ownable brand asset, making it impossible for a competitor to replicate.
Memorability And Hook
The hook is incredibly strong. The cinematic, Kurosawa-esque opening with warriors in a Japanese forest is unexpected and immediately grabs attention, creating intrigue about where the story is heading.
Emotional Resonance
The ad creates a powerful feeling of collective pride and epic anticipation. The haunting music and grand visuals build a strong sense of drama and importance, tapping directly into the emotions of passionate sports fans ahead of a major tournament.
Business Objective Fit
As a brand-building exercise for a major sporting event, this is a perfect fit. The goal was to galvanize the nation and reinforce O2's role as the team's biggest supporter, and the epic, emotional execution achieves this effectively. [4]
Call To Action
The call to action, '#WearTheRose', is clear, established, and encourages both a social media action and a real-world behaviour (wearing the jersey). [1] It successfully rallies the fan base around a central, unifying hashtag.
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AI Editor notes

Straight from the gut!!

“This is a big, ambitious swing. It feels less like an ad and more like a trailer for an epic film. The craft is undeniable and using the Japanese samurai theme is a smart, respectful nod to the World Cup hosts. [3] It’s a bit over-the-top, but for a World Cup, you have to go big. The core idea that fan support is 'armour' is powerful, even if the execution is fantastical. It makes the sponsorship feel meaningful.”

Quick Summary

By transforming the abstract idea of fan support into the tangible, epic metaphor of forging samurai armour, O2 created a cinematic campaign that brilliantly connected the England team to the host nation of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, deepening its long-standing association with national pride and resilience.

Executive Summary

O2's 'Be their armour' is a masterclass in long-term sports sponsorship, leveraging a major cultural moment—the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan—to breathe new life into its established '#WearTheRose' platform. Instead of a typical ad featuring training montages or slow-motion game footage, the brand and its agency VCCP opted for a high-concept, cinematic metaphor that is both ambitious and strategically sound. [3, 12]

The core insight is a simple but powerful human truth for any sports fan: the belief that their support is not just passive noise, but an active force that gives their team strength and protection. The campaign's genius lies in making this intangible feeling visible.

The execution follows a classic Setup-Turn-Payoff structure. The setup is a beautifully shot, epic narrative set in feudal Japan. We see a village under threat, a community roused to action, and the meticulous forging of armour. This initial phase is intentionally mysterious, drawing the viewer in with its high production values and cinematic tension. The 'Turn' occurs as we see the details of the armour—it is stark white, and the iconic England rose is branded onto its chest plate. The haunting score swells as we realize this is not ancient armour, but something new being created. The 'Payoff' is the powerful reveal: the England rugby players themselves (Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, and others) are the ones being fitted. [4] Their armourers are the villagers, who are revealed to be modern-day fans. The final transition from the epic march in Japan to the players running onto a stadium pitch, accompanied by Sean Bean's authoritative voiceover, brilliantly connects the metaphor to the reality of the game. [2]

The debrief for the marketing team is clear. First, long-term brand platforms like #WearTheRose are immensely valuable assets that can be creatively refreshed rather than replaced. Second, taking a bold creative risk, like blending samurai culture with English rugby, can pay off when it's anchored in a relevant cultural moment and a universal human insight. Finally, investing in high-quality craft and cinematic storytelling elevates a brand beyond sponsorship into the realm of cultural conversation, making the brand's support feel as epic as the event itself.

Theme Keywords

Sports Sponsorship
National Pride
Metaphor
Brand Building
Rugby

Brand Position

O2 is the essential network that connects the nation to its passions, acting as the ultimate supporter of England Rugby.

Brand Archetype

The Ruler/Hero

Creative Game Plan

Visualize the intangible power of fan support as the very samurai armour that protects the England team on their quest in Japan.

Diagnosis: Issues & Solutions

Primary Issue: Clarity of 'What's Next?'

The Problem:

The primary call to action, '#WearTheRose', is powerful for existing fans but might be too passive for a broader audience drawn in by the World Cup. It inspires a feeling but doesn't provide a specific, interactive next step beyond tweeting or buying a shirt.

The Solution:

Incorporate a more direct digital call-to-action within the campaign ecosystem. For example, 'Send your message of support on the O2 app and we'll display it on the world's biggest digital rose on The O2 arena,' turning passive support into an active, collective experience.

Secondary Issue: Emotional Connection

The Problem:

The ad's epic, cinematic scale risks feeling distant to some viewers. The metaphor is grand and beautiful, but it lacks the grounded, everyday moments of what being a fan truly looks like (the pub, the living room, the grassroots club).

The Solution:

Complement the hero film with shorter social content that grounds the 'armour' metaphor in reality. Show a quick cut of a fan painting their child's face with the St. George's cross, with the sound of a hammer on an anvil, directly linking small acts of support to the grander narrative.

Additional Notes

Related Links

Credits

Title:Be their armour
Brand:O2
Product Category:Telecommunications
Parent Entity:Telefónica
Campaign Category:Brand Building,Event-Based
Campaign Objective:Brand Awareness
Creative Format:Lifestyle/Aspirational
Visual Style:Live Action
Target Audience Primary:Multi-generational
Geographic Scope:National
Platform Focus:Social Media
Cultural Context:Event-Based
Market Position:Market Leader
Runtime:1:30
Celebrity:Owen Farrell,Maro Itoje,Jonny May,Ben Youngs,Courtney Lawes,Elliot Daly,Sean Bean
Celebrity Context:England Rugby players appearing as themselves. Voiceover by actor Sean Bean.
Geography:United Kingdom
Agency:VCCP
Director:Sam Brown
Music Composer:AG feat. Claire Wyndham
Campaign Launch Date:2019-09

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