Permanent TSB was unveiled last week as the title sponsor for both the Irish Olympic and Irish Paralympic teams at the Paris 2024 Games.
Over the weekend a campaign has been running across different media promoting the partnership and the campaign theme of ‘Raising a Nation’.
It marks a return to the big-time sponsorship arena for the bank which is expanding in the Irish marketplace with more facilities on the ground and more accounts following the departure of Ulster Bank from the market.
It is also the first time that a single title sponsor has partnered with both the Olympic and Paralympic times around a single cycle.
Sport for Business sat down with Permanent TSB CEO Eamonn Crowley to find out a little more about the why behind this exciting deal and how important it is internally.
SFB: Congratulations on the partnership, how has sport been a part of the brand in the past?
EC: We were the IRFU’s first-ever shirt sponsor for 13 years from 1993 through until 2006 so there is certainly a familiarity with our involvement in sport.
Prior to that, we were also sponsors of a number of the Republic of Ireland team that played in Italia ’90 and as a sponsor of Barry McGuigan in the 1980s. Perhaps there will be something special now once again across Paris 2024 with our Olympians and Paralympians.
SFB: Why the return to sport now in 2022?
EC: The banking sector has been in a state of change with the departure of a number of key players and we are expanding our footprint in personal and SME banking, adding branches to our network and customers to our books.
The time was right for us to make a statement with a national sponsorship and this has been in the planning stage over a number of months.
Our marketing team sat down over that period with Core Sponsorship and ran through what we wanted to achieve and what the best fit for that would be in terms of an organisation and individuals for us to support.
Our Olympians and Paralympians fit the bill in so many ways and it is a privilege to be here today helping them to achieve their dreams.
SFB: How long is the initial deal for?
EC: The Olympics and Paralympics run on four-year cycles in normal circumstances but with Covid, Paris is closer than would normally have been the case. it made sense though to tie our support to that timetable and to see what we can do together over the next two and a half years.
We are excited about how that will look and what it will mean for us as an organisation and for our athletes.
Bearing in mind we were with the Irish rugby team for over a decade, while we transformed from a mutually owned building society and they from an amateur organisation, we understand the power of building long term relationships.
SFB: How might we see the partnership being activated?
EC: There is a national campaign which will be rolled out across different channels but the Olympians and Paralympians are also local heroes and with our expanding branch network that is also an area that will come into play as they secure their places for Paris and the excitement of supporting athletes like Kellie, Jason, Britney and Nhat becomes palpable.
SFB: Is this a morale boost for your staff as well as your customers?
EC: Very much so. We all experienced the high of cheering our athletes to multiple Gold, Silver and Bronze in Tokyo across last July, August and September. Being able to keep this under wraps and then announce it first to our employees is special and there will be a real sense of pride that together we are helping to support these great sportsmen and women.
Permanent TSB, the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Paralympics Ireland, Core Sponsorship, Gordon MRM and Wilson Hartnell are all members of the Sport for Business community and we will be following the growth and the development of this partnership with exclusive content behind the adverts and the messaging as we travel together on the road to Paris 2024.
