The European Sponsorship Association Ireland Branch held a special networking event this morning, reflecting on Irish success at the recent European Sponsorship Awards in London.
The event took place at Electric Ireland’s head office on Fitzwilliam Street and brought together a host of interesting people to chat and break bread with on a sunny day in Dublin.
Here are ten things we learned from sponsorship professionals at the top of their game. things we learned:
1. Smirnoff for Breakfast is OK so long as you are just talking about it and it’s award winning sponsorship activation at Electric Picnic.
2. Its ‘Event of the Year’ winning The Collective Stage was born of a need to add magnetic connection and cultural relevance to a brand that is ubiquitous.
3. Planning your own zone at Electric Picnic, the size of a football pitch with a capacity of 1,600, is challenging, but when done right, it is brilliant. Think low bars for wheelchair users, Art, Dance and Fashion Collectives for beyond the music, 100 random turn up on stage spaces with the performers and you begin to get the drift.
4. If you are going to use ESL interpreters, go to the trio that Taylor Swift used in the Aviva.
5. Playing with your brand can be risky, but do it like Just Eat with Pride, and you will win awards.
6. Shutting down your app for an hour so people can get out and ‘be present’ at Pride Dublin takes some persuading but results in the biggest revenue weekend of the year.
7. Embracing screens to promote the An Post Irish Book Awards is initially counterintuitive, but get the right influencers in the Book Tok community, and you’ll be a winner, too.
8. Apart from distributing World Book Day Vouchers free to every school, An Post also delivered 14,000 books to disadvantaged kids and those who were in hospital on the day. Wonder not why it is the most trusted brand in Ireland.
9. Darkness Into Light had 400 people walking in its first year, 2009. After 13 years of partnership with Electric Ireland, that number has risen to over 100,000.
10. This year’s event takes place on Saturday, May 10th, at 04:15 AM in a space near you. Come on, it’s something special.
11. Join us at the ESA Ireland Annual Event on June 12th at the Aviva Stadium for more brilliance in the sponsorship world.
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