This year, Robert Walters became an official sponsor of the British & Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand. Robert Walters shares many values with the Lions, including integrity and a passion to succeed, and is proud to have supported them for a second time following their successful tour of Australia in 2013.

Stephen Edwards, Chief Marketing Officer at Robert Walters, commented:

“The values we hold core as a business have direct parallels to those of the Lions and the selection challenges faced by the coaching staff resonate with our own challenge of helping our clients recruit and build the best teams possible.”

Trust us to field the best

Through an integrated social media campaign, Robert Walters celebrated the Lions shared goal to field the best. This included a dedicated British and Irish Lions microsite and a video series featuring Sir Ian McGeechan - offering a unique insight into what it takes to be a British & Irish Lion player. Rugby fans were also given the opportunity to win the trip of a lifetime to watch the Lions first test in New Zealand through the Robert Walters Ultimate Lions Fan Facebook competition.

Charlie McEwen, British & Irish Lions Chief Operating Officer, said:

“Robert Walters focus on fielding the best of the best resonates with the Lions, who are defined by being the very best of the home unions on and off the field.”

Recruiting the ‘Ultimate Fan’

Supporters were invited to submit their reasons why they believed that they are the Ultimate Lions Fan through the Robert Walters Facebook page. Out of 1,750 competition entries, Stuart Broad was selected as the competition winner. Broad demonstrated his passion for the Lions by delivering a stirring rendition of coach Jim Telfer’s 1997 speech to the Lions ahead of their first test against South Africa to ex-rugby player judges Tom Shanklin, Richard Hill and David Flatman. The video of Broad’s speech was the best performing sponsors video, receiving 1.4m views and achieving a reach of over 3.7m.