The brief was straightforward. Communicate O2’s continued sponsorship of the England Rugby Team and support existing activity at Twickenham Stadium. Our response was much more ambitious.

We wanted to give thousands of O2 customers priority access to Six Nations games themselves. Even though they were already sold out.

We achieved the seemingly impossible by turning a telecom company into a live 3D sports broadcaster in just 6 weeks. Creating a race for the world’s first live 3D sports broadcast and generating an enormous amount of PR in the process. Broadcasting in 3D required a totally separate transmission. Our own cameras, commentators, director, graphics and outside broadcast truck had to be installed and tested.

We had to set up a satellite network and decoding technology at 40 cinemas. And turn every one into a mini-stadium, with free beer for customers, an inspiring film, 3D glasses and, of course, St Georges flags.

The plan started from an exploration of the technology to see whether a live sports broadcast could be achieved on this scale and at so many locations. (This was a world-first for the size of the broadcast).

When the tests had been successfully completed, we started to create an online and offline noise. Through a targeted email campaign; a dedicated 3D rugby website; and a promotional film on O2’s Priority site – blueroom. We then sent out press releases to the marketing media, and seeded rugby websites.

Once the campaign was underway, we created a real-time Twitter feed of audience reactions to their first-ever 3D rugby game, and filmed fans’ reactions to upload to our website and YouTube.

The results? Beyond all expectations.

Email: open rates 50% above Priority Ticketing norm; 150% increase on average click-through rate. blueroom, 3D rugby: over 150k unique page views; 210% increase in overall traffic to blueroom.

blueroom, overall: 200% uplift in users registering interest in rugby. 248% registration increase; 441% preference update increase. 5.23% average churn (normally 10.54%) and £4.10 increased average spend for customers who’ve given preferences.

Sales: cinemas sold out to O2 customers (some within 40 minutes). 20,000 fans enjoyed big-screen 3D rugby for the first time.

Coverage: Twitter, national and international press and TV, giving £2.4 million media equivalent.