Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

Irish Permanent has announced that it is giving up its sponsorship of the Irish rugby team, which makes perfect sense to be honest because the company has scaled down over recent years. It will be interesting to see who snaps up their spot on the green jerseys, but it does throw up a few interesting points about sponsorship.

Companies are shifting their spending from advertising to sponsorship. In Ireland that has been exemplified by Budweiser’s ‘Bud Rising’ series of concerts which have been highly successful. It serves as an effective means to target and connect with a target audience when done correctly.

Sports sponsorship is slightly tricky though. While sponsorship of the Irish team may also grant the company a wider audience due to international matches, it also ties them to their performance. Last season Ireland were being tipped as potential Six Nations champions. This season we’re hoping to put in a decent performance after a poor twelve months which was capped by a thrashing at the hands of the All Blacks.

Unfortunately what that means for viewership figures and attendances is that the armchair supporters will turn to other sports. More importantly, potential sponsors will be less likely to back a losing team. Our soccer and rugby teams are in transitional periods and the only companies likely to spend the million euro or so a year that it would cost to sponsor either side are Irish companies or someone trying hard to portray themselves as Irish. Of course the way to spin it is to position yourself as the loyal supporter who is there for the good times and the bad.

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