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Johnathan Thurston and Jessica Mauboy ... launch the 2013 NRL season. Source: Gregg Porteous / News Limited
Has rugby league ever looked as fast and infectiously fun as it does in the NRL's new ad?
Easily league's best campaign in years, Jessica Mauboy is an inspired choice as the face of the game.
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It might not be 100% perfect, but the advertisement ticks plenty of boxes:
It's Young
The message is clear: rugby league's got a fresh, fun new feeling.
From playful playground stacks-ons to astonishing parkour-style flips, the enthusiasm of young fans is central to all the action.
The seamless chip-and-chase sequences are a nice bridge between the game's grassroots and its elite competition.
Clever and convincing, these dynamic segues breathe life into the stock sports montage.
Compare all this bright, sunny optimism with Bon Jovi's belated 'Our House' battle cry.
The Bon Jovi campaign cast rugby league as a code locked in defence of its home turf.
The subtext was of a sport under siege, paranoid of being pushed out of its own backyard.
Thankfully the new ad has shed the insecurity.
From the playground to schoolyard to stadium, rugby league is confidently presented as a game that is growing.
It's Feminine
The growth in female support for rugby league following the Tina Turner campaign has become sports marketing folklore.
Wisely the 2013 ad follows this formula, presenting girls and women of various ages participating in a game that is safe and inclusive.
Rugby league die-hards love singing from the hymn book of hurt.
Blood and thunder hits have been the game's bedrock image for decades.
Some may feel threatened by any softening of the game's macho mythology, but the NRL must broaden its base if it's serious about becoming the keeper of the country's number one code.
It has a Face
Jessica Mauboy's the perfect fit for the NRL's newly invigorated image.
From 'Idol' to video clips with Snoop Dogg to an acting career that could go anywhere (her debut film 'The Sapphires' opens in the US this March), Mauboy's star is on the rise. She balances RnB glitz with an authentic love of the game that's grounded in family.
Importantly, she's actually present in the advertisement, unlike Bon Jovi who felt like Photoshopped ring-ins.
Their appearance was limited to stock concert footage that could have been licensed by any product.
You never felt they were living in the message. Mauboy promises to be a true year-round ambassador rather than a celebrity gun for hire.
And she can spiral pass a Steeden.
It's Parochial
In an ingenious twist fans are able to edit the ad online so that it showcases their favourite teams and players.
It's a neat piece of interactivity that will keep the ad rolling in between commercial breaks.
More importantly, it turns fans into flag bearers of the 'That's My Team' message, which becomes more impassioned and authentic when coming straight from the supporters.
But is it the Greatest?
For mine the weakest part of the campaign is the 'Greatest Game of All' tagline.
No doubt it resonates with rusted on code warriors.
But it smacks more of grandstanding than a strategic positioning statement.
Everyone expects brands to boast that they're the best.
The claims only really cut through when they're backed by a position – a simple, self-evident idea they own in the public's mind.
The FFA has a position – they are 'Football', the most played game in the world. The AFL has a position – they are 'Australia's Game'.
What mental real estate does the NRL convincingly own?
On paper, 'Simply the Best' might also sound like a boast.
But the song was so stirring, and Tina's delivery so emphatic that you couldn't help but be pulled in by it.
It was an intoxicating, big-screen vision that looked a million bucks. In an era when no code had an unshakable national footprint, 'Simply the Best' suggested that the NSWRL might just have the star power to become Australia's first big league.
Is it an Anthem?
While it might be familiar as a recent chart sample, 'Something's Got a Hold On Me' doesn't grab me as a potential rugby league anthem.
It suit's Mauboy's vocal talents, but will league fans be humming it in years to come?
Let's not forget it took time for Tina Turner and rugby league to hit gold. Before 'Simply the Best', Turner's 'What You Get is What You See' was the game's soundtrack.
Hopefully Mauboy and the NRL can find the song that indelibly defines the game into the future.
Maybe that song is… 'Simply the Best'? Creatives always want to be the ones to strike lightning.
Administrators always want to stamp a sport with their own legacy. The temptation is to constantly tinker with marketing rather than lock onto something that's a proven winner.
Tell me Jessica Mauboy belting out rugby league's greatest ever anthem at this year's Grand Final wouldn't bring the house down?
All up though, this is an energetic campaign that should give the NRL plenty of spring into season 2013.
It shows that you don't need a long, plodding, half-paced pre-season comp to get people excited for round one.
Anthony Costa is a sports branding expert who writes on the subject for www.sportsbusinessinsider.com.au where this piece also appears. Follow him on twitter @Costasports.
