Confused.com & Karmarama: Rugby World Cup Idents

Tell us about your role in the creation of this work.

We came up with the initial concept for the spots, so we were there from beginning to end, with creative direction from Matthew Lancod and Robert Amstell, and direction from the incredibly talented Basak Erol with Blink, who brought a totally new perspective and really pushed us to create something different, striking and beautiful.

Give us an overview of the campaign, what is it about?

Confused.com want to bring clarity to a world of confusion. When it came to rugby, we saw this as an opportunity to look at the unspoken rules and customs of the game from a new perspective.

Tell us about the details creative brief, what did it ask? 

It was a tough one. The brief was to bring clarity to the unwritten rules of the Rugby world cup. The rules of rugby, but also the cultural rules of the first-time hosts, Japan.

Which insight led to the creation of this piece of work?

It was actually through talking to a colleague about his recent trip to the Chelsea Flower show. He saw a Japanese garden that had been based on the concept, ‘Ma’. Where the space between the flowers was as important as the flowers themselves. This seemed pretty applicable to rugby too, so we kind of went from there. Cheers Pete.

Can you share with us any alternative ideas (if any) for this campaign? Why was this idea chosen?  

No. Just in case we get the brief again in 4 years and can't come up with anything new.

What was the greatest challenge that you and your team faced during development.

Naturally getting the right concepts was a challenge. You hear stories of tattoos going wrong, and some poor unwitting tourist getting a cola brand tattooed on their arm. So, understanding those concepts completely, and getting rid of the ones that weren’t 100% right was the biggest hurdle. Thankfully we had some people around us who knew what they were talking about.

What did you enjoy most about seeing this campaign through? Did you learn anything new from the experience?

Finding a concept that really nailed a moment in rugby was a great feeling. But the most enjoyable part was the craft. Keeping it authentic by using cues from Japanese theatre and real Japanese instruments throughout meant we could be single minded and come out with something simple but striking. We also discovered that there is a single word in Japanese for the specific light that dapples through trees, not relevant, but lovely all the same.

Where do you see this campaign going in the future?

That's it in terms of rugby. But there's more to come. It is the year of confusion.