As sports brands continue to embrace AI as a creative tool, Brothers & Sisters is putting the technology front and center in a new global campaign for Ultimate Sevens, the rugby sevens championship debuting this September.
Titled “Don’t Call It Rugby,” the campaign seeks to redefine perceptions of the sport by presenting Ultimate Sevens as a faster, more culturally relevant entertainment experience for a new generation of fans.
The centerpiece film features international rugby sevens stars Henry Hutchison, Maddi Levi, Thalia Costa and Manu Moreno delivering a series of provocative declarations, including, “Don’t call it rugby, when this is a whole new era,” “Don’t call it a kick-off, when it’s a show starter,” and “Don’t call it old-school, when we’re creating the next move.”
The campaign spotlights the league’s new competition format, live-event atmosphere, player personalities and commitment to complete parity between the men’s and women’s competitions. Watch below:
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Reece Littlejohn, Global Marketing Director at Ultimate Sevens, said: “‘Don’t Call It Rugby’ is more than a campaign line; it is a statement of intent for where we believe sevens can go, and will go, with the new Championship. Ultimate Sevens is here to reimagine the sport, the way it engages with new and existing fans and how it can connect with a new generation who want their live sport to feel faster, more accessible and more culturally relevant.
She added, “We want to create an experience that celebrates elite rugby sevens, and fans of the sport from across the world, while opening the door to new audiences through entertainment, storytelling and moments that live beyond the pitch.”
Matt Charlton, CEO at Brothers & Sisters, added, “We are lucky enough to have some of the best and most creative AI-enabled storytellers in the world in the agency, and we have used these skills to tell a fresh and disruptive story in sport that is breaking free into a new era where sport and entertainment are the same thing”
Brothers & Sisters, which won the account without a formal pitch in April, created the campaign through its in-house AI studio, combining live-action footage of the athletes with AI-generated environments that stretch the speed, movement and visual language of the sport.
Produced in English, French and Spanish, the campaign will support Ultimate Sevens’ inaugural season and its first four European events in Leganés, Madrid; Cardiff; Biarritz; and Brentford, London.
