Melbourne Storm has kicked off their season-long marketing and brand campaign, Ride the Storm, which celebrates the NRL club’s fulltime return to its home base and the exciting journey to come in 2022.
The campaign was launched at URBN Surf, with Storm stars Harry Grant, Tyran Wishart, Trent Loiero and Club legend Billy Slater leading the announcement.
Created in collaboration with brand consultancy SouthSouthWest, the campaign is an invitation for all to join the fold and Ride the Storm in the 2022 NRL season.
“You're not just coming to a game; you’re jumping on board with the Storm Family - our players, our staff, our members, our fans and our corporate partners,” said Tayah Bot, General Manager of Marketing, Digital and Data.
“For two years the majority of our members and fans have been riding their own personal storm, with many missing out on games and seeing their favourite players at AAMI Park.
“Following your favourite sporting team can always be a journey and the last two years have been tough to say the least.
“We engaged with SouthSouthWest to bring to life a fresh new campaign that encourages coming together for a new year of footy.
“We took inspiration from blockbuster movie aesthetics and our own city of Melbourne, to create a campaign that showcases the grit, attitude, and passion the Storm is known for.
Ultimately, Ride the Storm is a call to action for members and fans. It means whatever you can do to support the Club. Whether that’s coming to an AAMI Park game, watching from home, buying a jersey or sharing your purple pride, it all matters.
Tayah Bot General Manager of Marketing, Digital and Data
“We’re really excited to have fans and members back to continue the journey and Ride the Storm with us in the 2022 season.”
Utilising classic Club branding elements, the campaign adapts them to new forms such as tram wraps, band style posters and leisure apparel. Along with bold patterns and text, it works to create a striking campaign that’s fresh, yet inexplicably cohesive with the Melbourne Storm.
Ben Birchall, Director of Brand Voice at SouthSouthWest, shared his thoughts on what ‘Ride the Storm’ is and how it came to be.
“This was a very exciting project.” Birchall said.
“Storm had built some equity in the sporting community by offering free memberships and giving back to the Melbourne sporting communities. It was a really amazing moment to draft on the equity that Storm created and to bring that hope and excitement back for 2022.”
“We just had to reflect that and add some language that could become an ownable rallying cry.”
Ride the Storm was not about creating something that didn’t exist before. [Storm] already had some exciting players, game style, fans and electric game day, it was about bringing all that together and saying ‘This thing is happening - don’t miss out. 2022 is gonna be huge.’
Ben Birchall Director of Brand Voice, SouthSouthWest
“The measure of success isn’t how good it looks or how flashy it looks; it’s how it’s used by the supporters and by the club.”
Collaborating for the first time, the campaign came together over six months with the teams working hard to find the perfect representation of the Melbourne Storm as they enter the 2022 season.
“It was an incredible experience, especially with how embedded the team are. It really feels like the ethos of the club permeates from everyone within that club. It’s infectious to work with and the campaign came from that.” Birchall said on working with Storm.
The big, epic and bold season campaign will see Melbourne Storm take on the upcoming season with focus, determination and one thing in mind; to conquer.