Rexona:
RIVALS
To challenge conventional sponsorship models and strengthen its relevance with sports fans, Rexona partnered with Octagon to create RIVALS: Sport vs. Sport, a first-of-its-kind sports entertainment property.
Brand Strategy, Concept Development & Creation:
The challenge was identifying how to insert Rexona into Australia’s sporting culture throughout the calendar year. Instead of being separated by the tribal nature of sport fandom, Octagon identified an opportunity to lean into the rivalries between sports as a way of bringing sports and sports fans together.
Rexona and Octagon co-created RIVALS: Sport vs. Sport, a world-first competition where athletes don’t compete for club or country, but for something far more personal: their sport. Bringing together elite athletes from rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules football to compete in challenges, RIVALS transformed a long-running fan debate into a competitive entertainment property.
RIVALS was built as an entertainment-first platform designed to spark the debate fans already love having. No seasonality. No team loyalties. Just pure sporting rivalry brought to life by some of Australia’s best athletes.
Working in partnership with Unilever and distribution partner Kayo, Octagon shaped the creative concept, competition structure and campaign identity, ensuring Rexona was authentically integrated throughout the format and storytelling.
Event Management, Athlete Management, TV Production & Partnerships
Octagon delivered the project end-to-end, managing 12 elite athlete participants, two hosts and the Australian Institute of Sport, overseeing all talent recruitment, negotiations and logistics, while leading event planning, production and on-ground management for the multi-day live shoot.
Alongside this, Octagon provided TV production oversight and post-production management while managing strategic partnerships with the AIS and Hamilton Island to enhance the event experience and broaden the project’s impact.
The result was a fully integrated sports entertainment property combining elite athlete rivalry, premium content production and live event execution, positioning Rexona at the centre of a high-performance competitive format designed for broadcast and digital audiences.
Performance metrics included:
- Over 21 million views of the RIVALS promo video before series launch
- Record sales of the Rexona RIVALS product SKU and the brand’s highest-performing sales campaign ever
- Fox Sports’ No. 1 non-live sports show
- 44 million audience reach generated through 302 PR hits from announcement through live coverage
