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Case Study

UK Rugby Sevens

Creating a nationwide Print Magazine, Branded Content and Online TV show 

My Role and Responsibilities

Founder, Editor & Creative Lead

Creative Direction
Design Direction
Production Oversight
Editorial & Copy Lead

Date: 2010 - 2014
Agency: Pitch Creative Media

Brief

From time spent playing Pro rugby as a younger man in England, I found there was a huge gap in the market for information and journalism within rugby in the UK. I wanted to bring news, excitement and action to the masses and help highlight what was actually happening in the UK - from grassroots to professional, both the men's game and the women’s.

Challenge

Creating publications from scratch is tough. And building a trusted sports brand takes time. Fortunately I was able to use my knowledge of the game, contacts at the top of the rugby world and my history in design and art direction to create a solution.

Idea

Pre content and the social media first era of marketing and journalism, print was still a thing. So I decided to make a super high end, almost fashion esq publication that represented rugby at every level around the UK but was noticable and stood out in an otherwise saturated sports journalism marketplace. It was informative, stylish, fun and insightful showing the UK scene for what it was and being extremely 'pro' rugby to help grow the game at all levels. This was the one core goal.

UK Rugby Sevens Magazine was born. A print issue going out to all the major tournaments, sports shops and outlets around the UK. Originally as a free magazine funded by sponsorship - until we moved to a subscription model.

As the era of content and social media took over print - we moved to an online TV format on Youtube and Instagram, crafting bite size and highlights content from the seasonal events.
We also built a club and tournament finder on our website to allow people to find a team or club to be part of at grassroots level.

We featured the biggest names in the UK sport and the magazine and show was extremely well received.

Expression

Brand Strategy, Tagline, Logo and Brand creation, Film, Print, OOH, Digital Focused Content, Photography, Design, Tone Of Voice.

Result

We became the go to source in the UK for Rugby Sevens.

Averaging 300,000 monthly hits on our site in season.
We printed 30,000 magazines per issue with 5 issues per season.

Our YouTube views for the time were well above average for any UK sporting show.

Magazine Covers - 2014 The Annual

Magazine Covers - 2013 - Front & Back Design

Magazine Covers - 2012

Magazine Covers - 2011

The Magazine

Website and Branding

UK Rugby Sevens TV 

UKR7S TV Episodes (Selection)

We created YouTube TV Episodes that followed the circuit in the UK and the Major International Tournaments. This was a Magazine style TV show covering gameplay, interviews, games and fun from the world of Sevens Rugby:

More than anything; I loved every minute of building this company and brand at a time where it was not as easy as it is now to have a presence and build recognition in a niche market.

I spent 5 years crafting creative work and content for a world I had grown up in and cared about deeply, a world that needed development and growth to move forward. I worked with some of the biggest names in Rugby, and some of the biggest brands associated with the game. All on the side of keeping a career in the creative world, and fitting in some professional rugby.

Needless to say - it was tough exhausting. But I learnt so much in these earlier years.