I've now seen around 15 Super League lorries. I've seen both Widnes and Catalans 3 times each.

I've seen 3 or 4 and I still maintain that I only paid attention because, being a fan, I recognised the imagery; I fail to see what effect they'll have on people who don't already watch RL.

Saw my first today, only problem was Sam Tomkins ugly mug on it. M621 this afternoon.

Finally Seen 1, M5 North bound around junction 11 (Cheltenham), it was a salford player on it

Seen my very first one today in the Eccles area of Salford it was Hull FC

saw 2 yesterday



Jon Wilkin in the morning, and then some Wakefield player in the evening, both on the M60

What do you mean? It is a simple billboard (in effect) advert which has two calls to action:
1) go to the website stobartsuperleague.co.uk

2) watch on Sky Sports HD on Friday nights

If we see increased traffic to the site through that address, and increased viewing figures on Sky, then there is an argument that this is helping.

There is also the simple brand awareness promotion, and the fact that the RFL will be able to provide coverage to their partners (Sky and Heinz at the moment).

People complain that the trucks are like adverts for Sky Sports coverage, but then if somebody does tune in then surely there are benefits in this. Firstly, increased viewing figures. Secondly, watching the live games can only help people to decide that they'd like to attend a live game.

Dave - I think people get the idea. i.e. increased awareness may lead to increased viewers, fans and income from other sponsors. BUT, the - very valid and one I share - point people are making is that it's very hard to spot one. Even to committed RL Fans who are actively looking out for them. If WE can't see them - what chance have Joe Public got of a) seeing them and b) taking in any of the messages we are wanting them to see?

I've just seen the Wakefield one leaving Hull.

Just seen the Sinfield one on Stockholm Rd, Hull.

You're absolutely spot on.
Pretty much all the people on here are avid RL fans and whilst there may be Stobart lorries down south, which wont be spotted unless you travel down there, these vehicles are like rocking horse muck and thats when you are really looking.
How much impact can they really have.
If the TV series on Stobbarts was back on TV, we could get some excellent exposure for the sport but, this seems more like a gimmick.
BTW, still haven't seen one and I tend to travel around 600 miles a week

TBF the individual that I was responding to clearly didn't understand the potential benefits.

I don't understand the issue about people not seeing them. They are out there. If there was doubt that they were out there then fair enough, but they clearly are.

The fact is that there are around 100 trucks out there and they are getting seen by people. Just because RL Fans on here are not seeing them is not relevant at all tbh, and it would be a complete waste if these trucks were simply in areas where RL Fans reside.

Having a look round some sites and stuff at work, it can cost around £1k for a large billboard for around a fortnight. These trucks are here for the full three years, with constant presence around the country.

I suspect that some people would be happier with one billboard in each RL town, so that they could see that advertising, despite the fact that the value would be massively less.

This is not a targeted campaign, as the trucks are moving ads, whether RL fans are out there looking for them is quite frankly irrelevant. They are out there getting seen by people.

RL Fans are cynical, unless they can see something, they are not happy. People appeared to be delighted last year with the TV advertising because they could click a link and watch the ad, despite the fact that it probably cost a fair amount and did very little.

The fact is, these trucks are getting seen, it is generally at random, but that is how this kind of advertising works, but there will be hundreds of thousands of people exposed to these ads so far in just a few weeks.

People need to stop focusing on who hasn't seen the ads, and look at the people who have seen the ads.

From your own anylasis, do you think they are working better that some targeted marketing or advertising ?
Personally, I think the exposure Stobarts are getting from heading up the SL sponsorship, is far greater than the return that RL is gettingg from Stobbart.
To turn your arguement on its head. How many people are seeing/ hearing their name whilst watching/listening to RL in comparison to how many people see the 100 vehicles each day and who then realise that they have seen an advert for Rugby League ?

Personally I'd advocate a balance of different forms of marketing, the one main area that I feel the RFL falls short in is targeted Online Media, although this can be a very expensive form of media with varying levels of success. I find it frustrating when I am on a RL site and I get ads for RU events flashing up. As said though it is very expensive, and it is something that I am looking at very closely witha view to taking the company I work for off this kind of thing, so it is expensive and risky.

I'm not sure what publicity Stobart are getting. They get mentioned during broadcasts, but they have no branding around the grounds, and things like the weekly Try video and Try of the month are branded with Heinz and Irn Bru. Stobart haven't bought the same sponsorship deal that engage had. engage pretty much had every space available - refs kit, corner flags, post pads, centre spot, pitch markers etc. If the RFL can sell these on seperately, then the whole package needs to be looked at as one, rather than the Title sponsorship that Stobart have sold.

The Stobart sponsorship can be worked out in terms of viewing figures and fans through the gates. I'd expect all of these to know that the Title sponsor is Stobart, but the actual branding is very little so the value is quite small. I expect around a quarter of a million people is a fair figure to use.

I suspect over the three years we will get exposure to far more than a quarter of a million people through their trucks, and will probably have had that already.

Of course vieiwing something and being converted into business is a completely different thing, but that goes both ways.

Bradford one at the Otter roundabout Ottershaw Surrey. StufF yer M62!

Saw the Sam Tomkins one in Heywood, Rochdale.

Never expected to see one drive through here, little bit of pee trickled out when I saw it I was that excited

That couldn't have been more patronising if you'd tried.

TBF, I understand perfectly well the 'potential' benefits - I just question whether they're being realised; the trucks are most often spotted when passing one on the motorway and the message is limited, at best.

The only benefit of the deal I can see is to Stobarts; they've got national TV exposure for their brand on the second most watched team sport on Sky TV, plus the various magazine shows that go alongside it, for the cost of equipping 2% of their fleet with new curtain sides. High-fives all round at Stobart HQ no doubt, whilst the pay-off to RL remains to be seen.

Have the post-pads and ref's been sold to anyone yet?

Hadn't seen any until about 10 days ago, but since then I've seen the Wilkin Saints one on Stoneferry Road in Hull, and the Sinfield Leeds one in Hull yesterday (think near town).

why would they buy new curtain sides when its the refrigerated hard siders carrying the branding?. Seen all but 4 clubs now ( typically havent seen my own club yet), spread out pretty much all over the country.

Thanks for the clarification; the point remains.

Apologies if you found it patronising, but my post was in rsponse to your comment:

I've seen 3 or 4 and I still maintain that I only paid attention because, being a fan, I recognised the imagery; I fail to see what effect they'll have on people who don't already watch RL.

That suggests you don't understand advertising. It is an advert of a Rugby Player, with the Stobart Super Leage name on it, and a Sky Friday Night Ad. That is what is being advertised, I'm not sure why you fail to see what people could see in that.

If the benefits of having your name attached to the 2nd most watched team sport on Sky were that great then this dealwould have sold out a while ago. Of course it's easy to blame the RFL, but there aren't that many great sponsorship deals knocking around at the moment for sports like ours, stuck with negative fans.

Irrespective of what you or others think, there IS a benefit to the trucks. A real actual value can be attached to the ads, and they are getting seen, and will do for the next 3 years 24/7 365 days a year.

This is the biggest advertising campaign the sport in this country has ever undertaken (I suspect by far) yet you can't see a single benefit from it?

There are very valid concerns about whether it is the best marketing around, and whether we should be supporting it with other forms of marketing, but to not see a single benefit from it is blinkered at best.

No, I don't believe the post pads and ref space has been sold yet, again sponsorship deals are tough at the moment, but lets see what happens.

One final point, not sure if it has been raised here in this thread, but certain comopanies are very precious about their brands. Stobarts appear to be one of these companies that are very proud of their brand.

One thing that all brand managers will do is to monitor mentions of their brand, and tbh if I was connected to a Rugby League sponsor I would generally recommend supporting a different sport.

In RL, no matter who gets involved, either the company, or the deal is not good enough.

Sky get slated for their coverage.
BBC get slated over almost everything.
Gillette get slated for no mentions of RL on their products.
Stobart get slated for not driving trucks to each fan's house personally to let them have a gander.
Irn Bru get slated for not being Coca Cola
Heinz get slated for pushing a small product from their range.

When you get people like Jamie Peacock pushing jokes about the Stobart deal on Twitter (one of the first places the Sotbart Brand Manager's will be searching) then you wonder why these companies bother.

I'll bet a fair few of the above companies or their agents take quotes from this forum in particular.

I understand your point fully and you do appear to have some good knowledge on this subject. However, would you not agree that Stobarts are themselves getting some excellent exposure from sponsoring our sport.
I'm not clever enough to do the numbers for this, but they get their name/brand mentioned on many differing forms of media at different times of the day/ week and the numbers of viewers and listners in colossal.
My point really is about the cost of the deal vs the reward. IMO Stobbart appear to have got a cracking deal for very little cost.

Aye. If the 100 branded lorries were being used for jobs/routes that are confined to the M62 corridor and being seen by lots of RLFans members, there would still be criticisms. The first of which being "I thought this was about increasing brand awareness, they're just preaching to the choir!"

On the surface you could absolutely make that point (your last line) because there has been no cash change hands, however that doesn't mean they haven't paid anything.

They will have incurred quite considerable costs to kit out the trucks, and then giving us that space has a value. Naturally none of us know the true value, but the figures touted have been between £1.5m-2.5m worth of advertising. Again, I repeat there are questions about whether this is the best kind of advertising out there, personally I believe this works as part of a multi-media campaign, so you need activity to support it, but there is clearly a value.

We should not over-state the value of the mentions Stobart will get. Firstly, to the masses watching RL each week, the vast majority of us have no need to use Stobart, secondly we all complain about the lack of coverage the game gets, finally engage paid £1.2m but this was for far more.

The value of our game is what companies are prepared to pay, and unfortunately that is not very high at the moment. It is the main reason I brought up the negativity around brands associated with RL.

Of course Stobart will be getting mentioned, and so they should, but it is up to us to decide if the truck deal is beneficial to us, and indeed to complement it with additional activity to make it a resounding success.