The Power of State of Origin

State of Origin is a religion on the Eastern seaboard, and for those outside of Queensland and New South Wales, it can be difficult to grasp its importance.

Since its inception in 1980, the battleground of Origin has become the birthplace of rugby league legends. Names like Mal Meninga, Andrew Johns, Jonathan Thurston and many others have become immortalised in Origin folklore. Their moments of triumph and despair seared into the memories of millions alongside the iconic commentary of Ray Warren.

Year on year, the prime-time spectacle of Origin garners millions of television viewers nationwide over the best of 3 series, making it an advertiser's dream. But the pulling power of Origin doesn’t stop once the whistle blows and the stadium lights go out.

State of Origin stars carry the weight of their respective states on their backs, leading fans to impart a high level of trust, credibility and investment in both their performance and persona both off and on the field. Alongside this, the large media coverage and screen time surrounding the series allows the unique personalities of the stars to shine, providing brands with the ability to align their image with the characteristics of chosen players to achieve fun, engaging and authentic campaigns. For example, the quickest, the toughest and the funniest players on the field could be utilised to highlight brand points of difference such as speed, reliability and entertainment.

With the State of Origin renowned for only showcasing the best players that the country has to offer, the competition's athletes are quick to achieve an icon-like status, helping to place a substantial level of weight and influence behind the messages that said stars go on to promote. And with credibility of this scale, there's no wonder why so many powerhouse brands are quick to leverage this through brand deals and partnerships.

Furthermore, the combination of viewership and market relevance that these athletes are able to reach often results in them amassing a large an engaged audience via their social media channels, making them a clear pathway for brands to increase their awareness within that audience segment in an authentic and powerful way.

The ability to leverage the annual hype of a State of Origin series, and the power and influence of its stars of both today and yesteryear presents a unique opportunity for brands looking to tap into the Queensland and NSW markets.

A brilliant example of this comes from Melbourne based hair growth specialists, ‘Gro’. With a focus on NSW and Queensland, Gro were looking for a star with male pattern baldness aged 25-50 who was willing to be the face of their business, undergo a hair transplant procedure and produce a content series to follow their journey. The team at Gro settled on rugby dual-code and Origin legend Mat Rogers to be their brand ambassador due to his visibility across a wide range of supporters, his passion about breaking down the stigma of hair loss and hair transplant procedures, and his prior experience of working in front of the camera. The resulting series of content gained a lot of traction and resulted in a sharp uptick in calls, bookings, and revenue for Gro.

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