The latest Guinness TV ad has been playing out for a week now focusing on the volunteers behind every GAA team.
In a world of content, however, the thirty-second ad is only a gateway and yesterday the brand, always ahead of the curve when it comes to advertising, launched four 20 second long additional clips around the individual volunteers featuring in the ad.
The short films went live on the Guinness Facebook Page and the Guinness Europe YouTube Channel. It will be interesting to see how they are shared and spread over the coming weeks.
Also of interest is that ‘Behind Every Great Town’ was created by communications agency, Wilson Hartnell, together with Irish Director Brian Durnin and production company, Red Rage Films.
The gap between agencies is narrowing all the time as is the gap between what we consider to be advertising and what is short form entertainment. It;’s good that sport is holding its own and in many ways leading the way with the biggest of brands in the biggest area of marketing spend.
Moses
Moses Wanjigo, who hails from a rural village in Kenya, came to Ireland in 2010 before settling in Ongar, in suburban Dublin. Responding to an advertisement from the local Erin Go Bragh GAA Club in Ongar, who were looking new members to join, Moses was welcomed by the club with open arms and he quickly found a way to integrate into the local community. Moses started off as a player before becoming a volunteer in recent years.
Speaking about his new-found passion for the GAA, Moses said; “It’s hard to start fresh somewhere new. When people like me, who are from different countries, come to a foreign land, the first thing you want to do is to integrate. You want to get to know your community. I was at home one evening and a flyer came through the door looking for new members for Erin Go Bragh club. I said to myself that I will give it a go. They were very welcoming to me although I had to really listen to their words as the Dublin accent was difficult. I love to help with fundraising, putting up nets on the goalposts or whatever needs to be one. I find myself doing lots of odd jobs down at the club. I love it though. It really is a way to belong”.
His love for Gaelic games extends beyond just Erin Go Bragh, Moses also acts as a volunteer steward in Croke Park helping out on big match days. Moses puts his integration into the local community in Ongar down to his links to GAA and would recommend joining a club to anyone who is new to the country.
“It was great to join the club because it gave me a chance to mix with the locals, to know my area and to contribute to my community. By being part of the club, I feel more secure and there are people that I can count on to help me in any difficulty”.
“I think it’s nice to integrate because that’s how you learn about the place you have settled. You can learn the language and culture faster too. I would encourage people like me to get involved in the GAA as a way to get to know their local community”.
Maurice
Maurice Spillane has been helping as a volunteer with Castlegregory GAA Club for fifty years. He took on the role of Chairman of Castlegregory GAA Club at the age of 23 and has been helping out ever since. Maurice has also been treasurer, helped to run the GAA Lotto, was senior player registrar and his block-building skills can be seen all over the re-developed Castlegregory GAA grounds, which was re-opened in 2003.
Speaking about his passion for the GAA, Maurice said; “The GAA was a social outlet for me as a young adult. I was quite shy growing up and the GAA helped me in a way to get the shyness out of me. I remember it was 1970, I was 23 years of age and I was asked to go to a GAA meeting in the old Pearse Memorial Hall in Castlegregory village. Things were bad with emigration at the time. It was the AGM and there were only five or six people at it. Somebody said to me, ‘Maurice, will you do chairman?’. Up to then, I had never been involved in any type of administration, but I said ‘OK’ and I’ve been knee deep in the club ever since.”
Simon
Inishbofin Islander Simon Murray, and those before him on the Island, have a dedication and conviction to succeed, having been affected by the people leaving their neighbouring island Inishark in 1960. Although the island does not have a club team that regularly plays in competition, their GAA pitch is a physical symbol of their identity.
Commenting on their GAA pitch, Simon said, “We used to kick ball down in a commonage area called Duach and it just wasn’t good enough. When you are soloing a ball and dodging rabbit holes, that’s when you need a pitch. With first thought about having our own pitch in the early nineties. It took five or six years to get a site, planning permission and fundraising and another two years to develop it. We just needed somewhere to have proper training, to play a few challenge matches every year and feel like a proper team. We have the asset now and we want to keep it at its best. If you have a handful of willing people to drive it on the rest will follow. One of the core reasons our pitch was done was to build for the future. I remember the day the posts went up at each end and I was standing there saying to myself, ‘yeah, we now have our football pitch’.
Simon is also one of the founding members of the All-Islands Gaelic Football Tournament which takes place every September since its inception in 1998. It brings nine off-shore islands together to a different Island annually in what has become the social and cultural event of the year for Islanders, and this year, Inishbofin is hosting the weekend tournament.
Simon said; “Having the All-Islands Gaelic Football Tournament coming back to Bofin this September is a huge personal sense of achievement. One of the core reasons for it was to give a platform to connect with other Islanders and share ideas. Islanders have a commonality in that we don’t have a lot of things that they have on the mainland and, therefore, have to fight for everything ourselves. Things like having a pitch on an island makes you stronger as a community. I have no doubt the tournament will stay going for years to come because it’s a real symbol of identity and a way to show pride of place.”
Wendy
Wendy McEldowney is Camogie Secretary at the Robert Emmets GAA Club in Slaughtneil, one of Ireland’s most remarkable GAA communities. Only founded in 1953, the club is the epicentre of community life and has helped to unite and grow the parish. As Secretary, she was an integral part of the club’s All-Ireland Camogie club final success earlier in 2017.
Speaking about his passion for the GAA, Wendy said; “You need the fire in your belly and the passion for the GAA to do what we do. There are many of us up here seven nights a week helping out. It’s all we live for. Everybody gets stuck in. Because you’ve got a sense of commitment to it, you are happy to become the chairperson, secretary or just be the general dog’s body. You will do anything that is needed to help drive the club forward.”
“People here don’t wait to get asked to do things. They offer. Whether it’s to give a lift to team players to away matches or making the tea and sandwiches after a match for away teams – everyone rows in the same direction for the betterment of the club”.
