With a world wide theme of fancy dress and party, the HSBC IRB Sevens World Series travels around the globe annually, with eight tournaments featuring up to sixteen international teams, stretching from Las Vegas to Hong Kong. Landing in George for the South African leg of the World Series, teams and spectators soon realised that the atmosphere in George would not be for the faint hearted.
34Sport utilised ambient media to amplify the traditional media billboards, stadium branding, street pole flags and posters already on show in George, to really awaken the town to the theme of "Push the Tempo" - the campaign tagline in play for the South African leg of the World Series.
Sexy hitchhiker girls, dressed in fancy dress costumes, caused a stir at various intersections in and around the town in the week leading up to the Emirates Airlines SA Sevens. Holding hitchhiker signboards with the Push The Tempo campaign logo, as well as the distance in kilometers to the stadium, the girls were not only the talk of the town, but also received great coverage on SuperSport in the build up to the tournament. Who wouldn't want to be part of the action if Santa's little helper, a naughty nurse and sexy french maid were hitching their way to the rugby?
At George airport, the baggage carousels were draped with vintage suitcases stuffed with fancy dress paraphernalia, signaling to visitors that they have touched down in the party town! Giant sunglasses, feather boas, glitzy headgear and masks bursting out of old fashioned worn suitcases had travelers buzzing with excitement and chatter. Push The Tempo dancing girls welcomed scores of travelers in the arrival hall as flights carrying groups of visitors landed in the Garden Route town on the Thursday prior to the tournament kick-off.
The tone was set for a heart stopping atmosphere and the South African leg of the 2010/2011 HSBC IRB World Sevens Series did not disappoint. Despite inclement weather, fans arrived dressed for the occasion, and partied from the first match till long after the last ball was kicked into touch - proving that Sevens Rugby is certainly not for the faint-hearted!
