A sample of taxi drivers were dressed in full Rugby kit and their cabs carried advertising inside and out. News-stand vendors and window cleaners were dressed similarly. Downtown, people would see a ‘Cathay Rugby player’, bringing to life the ‘Have you got Rugby on your mind?’ campaign and infecting the locals as people broke from their everyday routines to double-take and smile at a ‘Cathay Rugby Player’. Locals then had Rugby on their minds!

We incorporated a truly local element of Hong Kong life into the campaign making the Rugby and Cathay Pacific synonymous. Millward Brown reported Cathay Pacific’s sponsorship had 34% unaided brand recall while other sponsors scored 3%-9%. The “Rugby” taxi drivers achieved 21% recall and the tactic received widespread editorial coverage.