Halifax RLFC needed to attract a new, younger audience if it was going to stay relevant in Rugby League heartland. It is a club steeped in tradition but it needed to do something to get back onto the pedestal where it used to be.
So we helped to rebrand the club into Halifax Panthers.
The first step of the rebrand was a teaser campaign of “panther sightings” and partnered with sponsors, The Piece Hall and Dean Clough Mills to release them on their social media, utilising their audiences to spread the word.
The reaction to the sightings went beyond anything we had hoped for. It went from the local press to BBC Radio Leeds to National Press in the space of just a few days.
Social Media reaction was just as exciting, with residents split between knowing it was a spoof and others who were saying it was genuine and sharing their own experiences of the Halifax Big Cat. Someone even started a Twitter feed of potential sightings.
After a week of “sightings”, we came clean and launched the new team name and logo.
The film was shot during the second Covid lockdown, in one of the worst hit areas of the country and by pulling favours from all across the industry. It was truly a feat of collaboration and ingenuity by everyone involved.
Credits
Client: Snowflake Media and Halifax Panthers RLFC
Director: Ross Taylor and Bullion Productions
Special Effects: The Big Picture Company
Voiceover: Tom Oldham at Another Tongue