We've all criticised the promotion at various times, with fans apparently not knowing games are on in their city.
Complaints typically go like this
"I haven't seen any advertising, except for a few token billboards and emails and TV ads and newspaper articles"
So what are they meant to do? If RL fans are intent on living in a bubble and deliberately ignoring anything except their own team, how do you reach them?
There are 2 parts of marketing and promotion, awareness and engagement. IMO we have done a poor job at both. Sure most RL fans have probably heard at some point that there is a World Cup happening but is that enough to get people to come along?
When I talk to my friends who are all league fans there seems to be little awareness about who is playing and when and where they're playing. Part of it is general disinterest and part of it is the lack of promotion. Sure at some point they've heard about it but that's not enough.
That's where engagement comes in. SOO is the biggest sporting event in Australia basically. Everyone knows when it's on and it's guaranteed to pull monster ratings and crowds. Yet it gets a 12 month running promotion in essence and the big marketing starts ramping up as much as 4-5 months in advance. That's because you need to keep fans engaged and reminding them about events.
These matches are involving teams NRL fans don't typically follow so you need to give them a reason to go. Just hearing that a match is being played isn't enough. Where are the TV ads and the big promotions? Why aren't we showcasing some of the incredible stuff on display particularly from the pacific island teams? You need to make this feel like an event and simply put that's not what the RLWC feels like.
Add to that the poor scheduling, expensive tickets for good seats, the weird ticketing system where seats are randomly taken on and off sale and the overall lack of interest in International league because we never actually play any and not you've got a stew going.
The RLWC is an event trying to establish itself, it's not the NRL GF where everyone will watch regardless. We need more promotion and marketing to engage the fan base. This is where a little involvement from the NRL would be wonderful but because 9 and fox didn't get he rights the NRL coverage all but shafted the RLWC. The hands off approach from the NRL didn't help either.
