“Tinker Taylor approached our brief with bags of enthusiasm and creativity which made us feel comfortable straight away, as we knew they would do a great job with the project. And that they have.”
Rugby Football Union
Rugby Football Union: Injured Players Foundation Documentary
We were approached by the RFU’s Injured Players Foundation to help raise the profile of England Rugby’s Official Charity and ultimately to increase donations.
RFU IPF wanted to showcase their beneficiaries’ stories to current and potential new supporters through inspiring and engaging video content.
We were commissioned by the Rugby Football Union Injured Players Foundation (RFU IPF) to produce video content initially for a fundraising event at Twickenham, with the primary objective of motivating high net worth individuals to donate money.
The videos created would then be used for the next 3-5 years at other events and on social channels again to encourage people to get involved and raise money.
Our Creative Director, Sam Taylor, is a huge rugby union fan. She knew that in order to speak to the hearts and minds of rugby fans, our films would need to embody the ‘rugby family’ spirit, so unique to the sport.
It’s a sport where anyone who plays or supports the game, from coaches to volunteers; rugby parents to medical support staff, all take care of each other and it is this sense of family and togetherness, along with rugby’s core values of teamwork and respect that Sam felt we needed to convey.
Philip Catt - IPF, Events & Fundraising Manager
The RFU IPF provide immediate and lifelong support to rugby players who, while playing rugby in England at any level and at any age, sustain a catastrophic spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury which has resulted in permanent disability.
They’re a vital part of the Rugby Family, and although not many will know that they exist, as their work is behind the scenes, they are there as a safety net for all players at any age or ability, both male and female, young and old, anywhere in England.
In these videos, we wanted to balance the narrative between the players personal story and the support they have received from the charity since their injury.
The video content needed to be emotive and endearing, so those watching immediately felt empathy and respect for our three individuals. Once we have that, we have an audience who will want to be part of the story.
Our three videos focussed on three brilliant young men; Tom, Ben and KJ.
There was a balance to be struck between representing our individuals involved as strong and inspiring, whilst also showing how tough it can be, and how the charity’s support was vital and invaluable.
In addition to interviewing the three rugby players we interviewed family members, who gave a loved ones perspective on how the RFU IPF helped. It is pretty powerful stuff.
We dedicated one filming day for each persons story, shooting at at least two different locations, so it was full on! However the variety of footage leads to a more visually appealing and engaging video, which is ultimately more effective.
We filmed on Sony FS7s and decided to shoot handheld.
This was unusual for us, as we usually like to work with tripods or rigs, but we felt that by shooting handheld we created something that had a less formal, more authentic, slightly raw feel.
We felt that this approach worked, considering the horrific injuries our contributors sustained and the depth of feeling we wished to portray and evoke in our audience.
We ensured that the post production process was a collaborative process with our Director, editor and the team at the RFU IPF, so that the finished videos worked both on a story telling level and on an educational level.
“We’re over the moon with the end result which really captures the emotion of the stories and allows us to showcase our beneficiaries’ stories to current and potential new supporters, as well as to better convey the charity’s work to new audiences. Thank you TINKER TAYLOR.”
Philip Catt - IPF, Events & Fundraising Manager
The Video Results
The videos shown were a huge success, not only in telling the stories of the three individuals, but in also conveying the RFU IPF’s work.
As well as gaining great feedback from the organisation and their current and potential new supporters, some of the fantastic results of the video marketing strategy, from being shown online on social media, to being played at events, have been documented below.
Over £30,000 raised at fundraising dinner featuring these videos.
Over 24,000 views online across social channels for just one of the videos to date.
Shown in front of 82,000 supporters at Twickenham.
