The relationship between alcohol and sports sponsorship has raised much debate in recent months but there is no escaping the fact that drinks companies come to the fore as major sponsors of the biggest events.
On the eve of Ireland against England at the Aviva Stadium we look at how Guinness has made the most of its sponsorship across the RBS Six Nations tournament and its competing teams and players.
 
“Guinness has a longstanding partnership with rugby in Ireland, sponsoring the Irish rugby team for over 20 years in addition to Leinster & Munster Rugby partnerships,” said Alice Keogh, Guinness Brand Manager for Western Europe, speaking to Sport for Business.
 
“Most recently, Guinness has become the official beer to the RBS 6 nations.”
 
“There’s a substantial program of activity for the Six Nations, with a focus on deepening consumer’s connection with the Guinness brand by driving awareness our international rugby sponsorships and enriching the consumer experience on match day.”
 
Guinness launched the new Made of More campaign earlier this year and has put a rugby twist on posters across Ireland and Britain ahead of the Championship.  A player with his hands behind his head looks on in the closing moments of a tight game above the strap line ‘Studied Arts, Chose Drama’.
 
Rugby themed merchandising has been rolled out to pubs and the concentration on the match day experience has extended to the creation of  multiple rugby villages at key sites around stadia.
 
In mainstream and social media the brand is leveraging a team of  rugby ambassadors for the including Jamie Heaslip, Chris Robshaw, Jamie Roberts and Kelly Brown
 
One of the main executions is Guinness Class where consumers can win a trip to a match in a private jet with friends.  “We are looking at how to make the experiential element of the programme scalable and to introduce a ‘did you see’ factor,” added Keogh.
 
Exclusively within Ireland there is also a competition to win a VIP package to see Ireland take on Italy in Rome in what could be a Grand Slam decider.
 
The owned channels on social media are hosting exclusive content for more than 800,000 Facebook fans across Britain and Ireland.
 
In mainstream media Today FM is hosting a series of programmes on the Last Word where stars from the past preview the following weekend’s games and look back on the past.  This week Jeremy Guscott and Paul Wallace were guests on the show.
 
Alcohol is woven into the fabric of Rugby celebration as it is with many sports and Guinness is making a strong attempt to associate its particular brand as the one to gain the most association.
 
The company always claims that marketing is aimed at brand substitution as opposed to attracting young drinkers and abides by strict codes of ethical advertising around sport.  In that sense having ‘legends’ play a significant part in the campaign is to be applauded if only on the basis that many of the younger audience will not remember them…
See how Accenture is activating its sponsorship of the RBS Six Nations
See how Ulster Bank is activating its sponsorship of the RBS Six Nations 
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