For years New Zealand’s small towns have been losing people to bigger cities Auckland and Wellington, leaving a devastating impact on local economies. Businesses were struggling due to spending going to big cities and the rise of online shopping.

As for the country’s love of rugby it’s difficult to convey exactly what rugby means to New Zealanders; it’s more a religion than it is a sport…and former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw is a god. When Richie retired in 2015, the nation was devastated. But as much as rugby brings New Zealanders together, it also divides them. The Maori have a phrase – tangata whenua – which means ‘people of the land’ –an influence that explains the fierce town rivalries that exist from the top of the North Island to the tip of the South Island.

For 10 weeks, we monitored real-time tapping and social media data of 66 New Zealand towns. This allowed us to follow inter-town banter and respond with real-time communications to fuel fierce local rivalries. During the campaign, we created over 400 pieces of town-targeted social creative, including geo-targeting, leader boards and personalised shout-outs from Richie himself (on YouTube and Facebook), making tapping the talk of the town…in every town. When Queenstown emerged victorious, the game was broadcast nationwide on Facebook Live to 480,000 people. To New Zealanders there’s nothing more Priceless than bringing their living legend Richie McCaw out of retirement and into their town.

Richie’s team won the game 11-10 in a thrilling overtime victory, but that was far from the only fantastic result.