3, the primary sponsors of the FAI have chosen to place real fans at the heart of its new advertising campaign which launches this Friday on RTE, TV3, Sky and other channels.
The fans used in the campaign were chosen from among the membership of the ‘You Boys in Green’ fan club who have become a strong social media brand themselves through the YBIG hashtag.
The advertisement at the centre of the campaign was launched yesterday on Facebook and had been viewed over 6,000 times at time of writing this morning. You can view it below.
The campaign will also work well for the FAI, placing the focus firmly on the fans and creating a strong vibe about supporting the team a week ahead of two crucial qualifying games for the 2014 World Cup.
“We recruited You Boys in Green because they are the fans that travel all over the world to support their team,” said Elaine Carey of Three.
“Their reactions were amazing on the day. They didn’t need to act. They just showed what they do every time they go to a match, every time they watch a match, every time they travel away to a match. Their emotion is what the true Irish fan is about and Three wanted to demonstrate that. Our ad captures the raw emotion that each and every Irish fan displays when showing support for their country.”
“An Ode to fans” is meant as a quiet celebration of Irish football fans, their trials and tribulations – the great moments and the bad,” added Rory Hamilton of ad agency Boys and Girls who created it and admitted the inspiration coming from the fans performance at the end of the 4-0 defeat to Spain last summer that cemented their reputation as among the best in the world.
Three will spend close to €1 million on the campaign and maintained the authenticity of the advert itself by shooting at Ardmore Studios in Bray and using Irish actor Emmet Kirwan to do the emotive voiceover.
It is also running a number of promotions among its own customer base including two for one ticket offers on next weeks match at home to Austria and continues to place a strong emphasis on sporting content as part of its key offering in the Irish marketplace.
