Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia and its largest airline by fleet size, international flights and international destinations. It is the third oldest airline in the world, after KLM and Avianca, having been founded in November 1920.

In 2004 Qantas became the shirt sponsor of the Australian national rugby union team, “The Wallabies”, a sponsorship that continues to this day.

Who are the Qantas Wallabies?

When the first Australian team toured the United Kingdom and North America in 1908, they followed a recent tour to the UK by the New Zealand team, which the English press dubbed the “All Blacks” because of their all black costume.

It was suggested by the press that the Australian team should also have a name and there is conjecture as to whether the press or some members of the team suggested the “rabbits”.  The team rejected this as they did not want to represent an imported pest and instead they chose the native Wallaby.

Until the 1980s, only members of touring teams were called Wallabies and the teams who played Tests at home were known as Internationals.  Today all Australians playing Test matches at home or abroad are called Wallabies.

Project Objectives

• Convey the fun of support for its own sake.
• Position Qantas as the number one supporter of the Wallabies.
• Link Qantas inextricably with rugby, in the minds of Australians.
• Leverage Qantas sponsorship of rugby.
• Tap into the pride in and support of our national team.
• Fun components and content.
• Easy-to-use interface.
• The target audience will be all Wallabies supporters throughout the world, and on a large scale, all Australians worldwide.

The website should speak to all Australians – not just traditional rugby fans… whether they are rugby fans, fans of another code or neither.

Results

• worldwidewallabies.com.au became the home of rugby online
• Thousands of people registered on the site and uploaded profiles
• Millions of messages were sent between members
• Hundreds of “Warrens” were created by fans around the world, registered and sent promotional materials
• One of the largest advertisements for a website was created by Qantas when they painted a Boeing 767 to promote the project