The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua is not only making waves on the field in just its third year in the Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific, but their brand is gaining traction off the field and off shore as well.
While there is no doubt about the club’s popularity in Fiji, the Drua is gaining traction on social media overseas, particularly in Australia and New Zealand.
A recent analysis by Engage Digital Partners on the growth and performance of teams in the leading sports competitions across Australia and New Zealand showed that in the past two months the Drua has had the higher percentage in follower growth.
The analysis was based on the measuring metrics on Instagram with the Drua having a 14.5 per cent increase in follower percentage over the past two months.
This surpasses teams such as the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (Aussie Rules, the Penrith Panthers and Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League, and Wellington Phoenix in the A-League.
“This is a very significant result for a new and small club like ours. It’s good to get this kind of independent validation that we’re on the right track in terms of connecting with our fans. We are still very much a new club and to be compared to big clubs in the NRL and AFL is huge for us.
“An advantage we have is that our fans have waited for years to have a professional club to call their own, so they do seek and crave content, always looking for something new,” Drua marketing and communications manager Angie Lal stated.
The Drua is growing as a brand and business, and it takes a creative team to push for its public presence and relevance.
“Planning during the off -season is key. For the 2024 season, Drua marketing reached out to fans via an online survey on what fans would like to see more of in terms of content. The Drua social pages exists for the fans. Our marketing team also get the opportunity to share plans with the playing squads during the pre-season. Buy-in from the players is important, ensuring they are comfortable, and their ideas are heard.
“The marketing team has also been given free reign by Shane Hussein (head of commercial and marketing) to be bold and try new things,” Lal added.
It has taken a more inclusive route especially with the Fijian Drua Women’s team joining this season.
“The women’s team joined the Fijian Drua officially from December 2023 and we started sharing women’s content from late January once they started training in Nadi. We recruited an additional creative person to ensure we give equal prominence to the women once their pre-season began.”
The Drua’s objective is to ensure that there’s equal coverage for the men and women’s teams going behind the scenes to give fans insights on the players, coaches, staff and everyone else involved with the club. Factors such as unpolished videos of sideline reactions, fans, vertical shooting and the authentic integration of sponsor content has worked well for the Drua’s social media presence.
