This weekend’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby will be one of the most valuable sporting events to take place in Ireland this year. High Rollers from around the world have been jetting in to see the best of the best and enjoy a host of activities that are a real showcase for Ireland on a world stage.
Dubai Duty Free has been involved as title sponsors of the race since 2008 and we sat down this week with Sinead El Sibai, the company’s Senior Vice President Marketing.
How did Dubai Duty Free originally get involved as sponsors at the Curragh?
“We were involved with the Anglesey stakes here for 18 years. That partnership came about when our CEO Colm McGlaughlin was chatting with Michael Osborne at a carousel in Gatwick Airport.”
“Michael asked would we consider doing something at the Curragh and it has been a winner for us ever since.”
“It was part of an Emirates Dubai Day and included sponsorship from Emirates and a number of others. We stuck with it and then in 2008 a meeting took place in Dubai and Evan Arkwright presented the idea of taking on sponsorship of the Derby.”
“We had worked with the racecourse and enjoyed a good relationship so we decided then to take it up a notch.”
It is very much a global event, is that important to you as a brand?
“The prestige of an event is very important. We look at its position in the international racing calendar and the TV coverage that generates around the world putting our brand to the fore.”
“We have turned it into a real Festival as well. We host key customers across the whole weekend and play golf at the K Club where we host our Charity Ball as well and it is very well received by people who really matter to us.”
“This time next year it will also be back to its best with this fantastic redevelopment that is very evident physically now this year and which will be ready for the world in 2019.”
Horse racing is important in the Emirates but your involvement with sport is much wider. Where does Ireland fit in that?
“Yes, our biggest involvement with sport is the Dubai Duty Free Tennis which takes place over two weeks of the Tour with the men’s and the Women’s events. It is a great event in February and a major investment on our part bringing the sporting spotlight on Dubai and our own brand.”
“Golf is now second for us and next week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is a major part of that which we very much enjoy as well.”
“As you can imagine we are approached on sponsorship all the time but there are a good many that we do not consider where there is either too high an entry to get involved with or too crowded a space to stand out.”
“We like to work closely with our partners and create a really high-quality experience.”
How big is the business and how important is sponsorship as part of the overall marketing mix?
“In 2018 our target is to reach $2 Billion in sales and we are well on track to hit that. We monitor sales every minute of the day and we are very conscious of the measurement of what we do.”
“The return on investment is carefully considered. TV coverage and the value of that is very important. We can track the value of the TV coverage from this year’s tennis as coming in at over $1 Billion.”
“Last year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open came in at $161 million and $50 Million of that was centred on the brand.”
“The Irish Derby does not hit those numbers in terms of exposure but it works in other areas that we measure and monitor.”
This is the 11th Year of the Partnership as Title sponsor. You extended by one year in January. What are the long-term plans?
“We will continue to go year by year. That suits everybody. We are very excited about the redevelopment and the changes that are coming. We used to have our hospitality in the old grandstand. We then went into the inside of the track but this is the level we always wanted to be at and it will be great to see how that comes to final fruition.”
