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You may have seen people in matching Honda bobble hats in the West Fan Village at Twickenham on match-days and thought, who are they? When the gates of Twickenham open for thousands of fans on match-days, we take on the role of Brand Ambassadors. We were lucky enough to be there for the electric England Vs Ireland Six Nations game and experienced the excitement from start to finish.
After arriving at the stadium a few hours before kick-off, we help to set up the stand and put on our Honda merchandise. During this time, we also have the chance to have a go on each of the activations ourselves, usually taking way too many photos in our Grand Slam photo booth and attempting to take on the Target Tyres. Rugby balls stacked back up and trays of chips eaten, we’re ready for action. My favourite part of the day is engaging with so many people who are passionate about rugby and are ready to get in to the competitive spirit of the day. If you see us around, we love to talk about what we do as a part of our partnership with the RFU, tell you more about Honda, or just talk about rugby.
"On the occasions where the weather has been unwelcomingly wet, the fans have been just as warm with excitement - the atmosphere never fails to impress."
We run three activations - Target Tyres, the Power Bar, and the Grand Slam photo booth. Given my terrible coordination skills, I tend to steer clear of the Target Tyres activation, but it’s a huge hit. Crowds cram in the queue barriers to launch rugby balls through the tyres, bragging how they should be playing on the pitch after their attempt. Young, aspiring rugby players love to test their skills on this activation, with the queue behind them buzzing with enthusiastic support. It pretty much sums up the camaraderie of rugby fans that whoever stood on the marker, no matter what team they supported or how many attempts they made, they were just as encouraging.
On the other sides of the stand, we have the Power Bar, where people are invited to hold on to reach 100% charge. We get a lot of people asking whether this charges our Honda e:Ny1, which is parked just around the corner- I think a ‘strength to electric power’ charger may be a while off for now, but we’ll keep you updated. Fans also love to come to talk about our e:Ny1 and CR-V e:PHEV models, (most often after a crushing defeat on the Target Tyres). We have our lovely product experts on hand to answer any questions you might have about our models and will be more than happy to take photos of you and your friends by the cars and motorbikes.
Before kick-off, we temporarily close the stand and head to our seats- both England and Ireland put up a fantastic fight, but England won the thrilling 90 minutes with a last-minute drop goal. Watching Twickenham stadium erupt with such uproar is one of those moments I’ll likely never forget. We also got to watch a brilliant half-time show from Rag’n’Bone Man, who put on a spectacular performance. We were lucky enough to meet him before the game when he had a go on our Target Tyres- it’s safe to say he beat my score by a mile. I've spent four match-days at Twickenham with Honda– I’d often get a message from my parents afterwards asking if I got caught in the rain or if I’d enjoyed the sun, but I can’t say I ever noticed.
"There’s always a great atmosphere after the game created by something so unique to rugby- the buzz of supporters from both sides laughing together, throwing each other rugby balls, discussing the match."
After way too many pizzas, churros, and chips (because stadium food always tastes so much better), we head back to the stand for the post-game activities. Fans love to soak up the atmosphere after the game, which is the perfect time to give our Grand Slam photobooth a whirl. This involves standing against a fake-grass tryline with a rugby ball while you make either the most convincing try-scoring face possible or the most hilarious pose you can think of. Some people do handstands and people towers- we really have seen it all. I’d imagine there are a lot of young fans showing their friends at school the picture of them scoring a try at Twickenham, and a lot older fans emailing their photo around the office.
Make sure you come down to Twickenham to support England soon and come to say ‘hi’ to us Brand Ambassadors on the Honda stand- we promise the experience won’t disappoint.
Author: Imogen Lewis