Tonight promises to be as dramatic a night in Irish soccer as has ever been seen. Cork City and Dundalk go head to head at Oriel Park with the destiny of the SSE Airtricity Premier League to be decided between them.
Events last week turned the advantage in Cork’s favour but the home crowd will be worth a 12th player tonight and it’s the latest boost in what has been a good couple of months for soccer.
It’s also a real winner for sponsors SSE Airtricity on a busy weekend when they will also take over Dublin City on Monday as they run the second year of what will now be at least a four year partnership with the Dublin Marathon.
It promises to be a frantic weekend for the sponsorship team but we grabbed time with Brand and Sponsorship Manager Jillian Saunders this week and asked how they will be managing such a full on exposure…
It’s been a good autumn for soccer with the successful Euro 2020 bid, a great start to qualifying for Euro 2016 and a roller coaster finish to the SSE Airtricity League. How have you found your own association with the sport to have grown during the year?
It’s been an incredible couple of months for Irish football and SSE Airtricity is proud to be part of it, with this our fifth year as title sponsor of the domestic football league. We have recently launched our new retail identity, SSE Airtricity, and used our flagship sponsorship of Irish football as the platform to allow us bring this identify to life. For us this relationship demonstrates our commitment to Ireland and to Irish sport.
SSE Airtricity is now involved in all levels of Irish football, from grassroots with the Under 19 League all the way to International Football. The Under 19 League is fundamental to Irish Football as it gives players the platform to play at the highest standard at this level before progressing to the SSE Airtricity League.
In 2013 we also became the official energy partner of the FAI. With the excitement around the new management team and the current Euro 2016 qualifying campaign well under way, it was a great time for us to strengthen our relationship with the FAI. We are fully behind the FAI, and the International squad in their bid to make it to France.
What has been a high point of this year of the partnership and what have you done to build on relationships with clubs and fans?
To have the SSE Airtricity League go right down to the wire on the final game of the season with two of the best supported clubs in the country, shows what an exciting season it’s been.
For us, it is the dedication of the fans, the players and all the clubs, which make the League what it is.
This year we were keen to celebrate the stars of the League – the players themselves! We wanted to focus on the players and increase their profile. For the first time we worked with players from each club and undertook a media campaign including out- door, press and radio which we ran at the start of the season in March and continued again mid season in order to create an excitement around the league and to encourage attendance at the games.
For fans we want to give them unique content which brings them closer to the clubs. With the SSE Airtricity/SWAI Player of the Month awards, we produce exclusive video content from the winners, which gives fans an insight into what the award means for the players.
This year we also launched our Ultimate Fan, which is a social media hub for fans where live commentary, analysis and photography is shared with rival fans commenting live from games. Social media is where we can engage the fans and we are keen to build on this platform going into next season.
How do you measure the success of the sponsorship and when do you start planning for next season?
We have already started planning for next season; we tried some new fan initiatives this season and want to build on this. We want to continue to engage with fans and create something which makes a difference to how they experience the league.
The success of our all sponsorships is assessed through brand engagement. The SSE Airtricity League and SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon are the perfect vehicles for us to engage with Irish consumers by supporting sporting passions.
We also undertake monthly media analysis, conduct regular evaluation reports and continually work to improve our sponsorship partnerships.
This is year two of your SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon sponsorship, how have you built on the foundations of last year?
We were delighted to have partnered with Dublin Marathon again this year, and have recently agreed to remain title sponsor until 2016.
Running is a perfect brand fit for SSE Airtricity as it reinforces our commitment to Irish sport and remains one of the most sustainable sporting activities, all your need is a pair of runners.
This year we’ve worked closely with the marathon organisers on creating an enhanced experience for both runners and supporters.
Running remains a fast growing activity, how have you found the engagement with the runners this year?
The engagement of the runners has been fantastic, with over 20,000 having already taken part in the SSE Airtricity Dublin Race Series during the summer.
The dedication and hard work of every runner always inspires me. The runners are more engaged this year and starting to associate the SSE Airtricity brand with this sport.
This year we have been working with the organisers of the Dublin Marathon to engage with runners through the Dublin Marathon social media channels, which have a huge following.
Has the new app given you a greater insight to those who are using it?
The new SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon App is designed to be a one-stop shop for everyone participating in the marathon. The App has pre race tips and information, race day information and post –race advice.
The APP reinforces the commitment of everyone at the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon, in helping runners to train effectively and cross the line on October 27th. Users of the app can also upload photos of themselves or friends and family taking part in the marathon and win exclusive prizes.
How many runners are there for this year’s race and how will you leave them with a memory of SSE Airtricity as sponsor?
Over 15,000 are registered to run the streets of Dublin this year, including 50 from SSE Airtricity.
For us we want to make sure that every runner has an incredible experience and comes away from the marathon with a rightly deserved sense of achievement.
For this reason we want to give the runners something to remember this feeling, that’s why we are working with Fan Pic to create unique photo sharing opportunities at the start line and at the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon Expo.
Runners can share these photos across their social media and be in with a chance to win prizes from SSE Airtricity.
We’ve also identified certain mile stones around the course and are powering interactive cheer zones in these areas in order to motivate runners and give family and friends a great experience in which they can support their friends and family from. Also look out for motivational messages along the course which will inspire the runners to keep going towards the finish line.
