Background
Transforming rugby into a global festival experience
World Rugby HSBC Sevens Series is renowned as a destination for great sport and partying for those close to rugby. Our brief was to reimagine what the Series could become through a new brand vision, evolving Sevens from a rugby tournament into an iconic global festival experience for both fans and non-fans around the world. Positioning it as the go-to destination for sport, entertainment and culture.
The tournament has one key thing that makes it different from anything else: Sevens is always following the sun. Taking place in summertime destinations across seven unforgettable months; from sun soaked days in Cape Town to buzz-filled nights in Dubai. The power of Seven doesn’t stop here. It’s inherent in the game itself, where teams are made up of seven players and matches are played over two, high-energy seven-minute halves. This became the inspiration for our strategic platform: Chase the sun. Live the rush.
As part of this exploration, the brand positioning and unique festival format of entertainment, culture and sport was imagined through three experience principals: Sunrisers, Sungoers and Sunsetters, which help frame how different audiences could engage with the series, setting the vibe, bringing the energy and ensuring every HSBC SVNS event ends on a high.
Once we had defined the brand strategy, we moved to naming. It was more an evolution than a complete reimagination. The name SVNS was proposed as a bold evolution of the Series name, keeping the brand recognition of the tournament while adding a playful energy that matches its new format.
Challenges
Turning a rugby series into a global festival
Placeholder challenges — the Series needed a sharper reason to care beyond the rugby faithful, without losing the heat that already made host cities feel electric.
Placeholder challenges — scale across sun destinations also meant one brand system had to flex for day-to-night rituals, from Cape Town heat to Dubai nights.
Execution
Chase the sun. Live the rush.
Placeholder execution — we locked the strategic platform, named the evolution to SVNS, and mapped three audience modes: Sunrisers, Sungoers, and Sunsetters.
Placeholder execution — from there, identity, festival formats, and touchpoints were built to follow the sun across the season.
Impact
A festival brand with room to grow
Placeholder impact — SVNS gave the Series a bolder voice and a clearer festival promise for fans and non-fans alike.
Placeholder impact — the platform now frames how each host city can set the vibe, raise the energy, and close every event on a high.