For the past 18 years this weekend would have marked the excitement around the start of the Heineken Cup season. A shift in how European Rugby is structured, simmering over the past two years was resolved in the spring though, and the new European Rugby Champions’ Cup was born. It looks similar but a new sponsorship model, based on the UEFA Champions’ League and GAA Championship style of multiple sponsors will generate greater revenues for the clubs, or in Ireland’s case the IRFU.
The irony is that while so much has changed the fans will hardly miss a beat as the structure is broadly very similar, as are the teams and even the weekends of the year when the tournament dominates the sports agenda.
It’s even the case that because of a slower than expected commercial acceleration, the only premier sponsor to be unveiled thus far as we set out on the opening weekend is none other than Heineken. Plus ca change, plus ca meme choses as the French so eloquently put it.
Sport for Business caught up with Heineken Sponsorship Manager Karl Donnelly this week to discover how the brand had seen the shifting of emphasis and to find out why they still wanted very much to be part of the tournament they did so much to create in the first place.
How easy a decision was it to stay involved having such experience of what European Rugby delivers?
Very easy. Heineken is very proud of its 20-year association with European rugby, and more committed than ever to the future of the European game.
We are delighted to become a founding partner of the new European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup tournaments.
It promises to be a big year for us now that we have increased our presence across European club rugby.
Is this sponsorship pushed from Dublin or will there be greater European control under the new set up?
Heineken’s association with rugby has proved very successful in Ireland over the last 20 years.
Heineken Ireland is proud to be recognised as a global lead when it comes to rugby sponsorship and the related campaign development.
Like with any international brand, we need to encourage consistencies across markets, but specifically on rugby-related sponsorship activity we have lead the thinking and the development.
This even extends to our activity around Rugby World Cup which we are particularly excited by heading into 2015.
This season, we look forward to offering fans new experiences, such as our exclusive Heineken ‘Back Stage Stadium Tour’ which includes presenting the coin for the Heineken Coin Toss alongside the referee and the two captains.
Throughout the season, fans can enjoy the atmosphere in pubs across the country in dedicated Heineken Rugby areas.
Keep an eye out for the Heineken Rugby squad who will visit pubs on match days with a huge array of prizes up for grabs, including match day tickets and official merchandise.
In addition, Heineken has extensive online and social media rights to bring exclusive behind the scenes content to fans of European club rugby everywhere.
How are you finding the transition from one voice to having to, in future, link in with other partners?
We are excited to work with new partners to help promote European club rugby. We have a lot of experience in this regard via our longstanding sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League.
We ultimately believe that the ability for the EPCR to further develop their competitions and the associated brands with multiple partners will provide greater value to our brand in the long run.
In terms of activation spend will you be spending more, less or about the same as in previous years?
Heineken doesn’t release figures surrounding sponsorship spend. But I can say that we are fully committed to the new sponsorship agreement and look forward to maximising our role for the benefit of rugby fans across the country.
The resource we apply to our rugby campaigns is on the increase.
Is the fact you will be the only alcohol sponsor likely to mean just as much benefit but for less of a financial investment?
We don’t necessarily view it like that, we believe the restructuring of the rights package is the best thing for the EPCR and will ultimately benefit us in the long term.
We enjoyed a lot of success as sponsors of the Heineken Cup and via other rugby partnerships.
The new rights package presents a different dynamic but we are constantly looking to improve how we activate our partnerships and the new set-up provides great opportunities.
Ultimately, our role is to ensure we better our past results and add genuine benefit to the new tournaments, on the ground, for fans of rugby all over Ireland.
Will you develop ideas based on the Heineken Cup or is this a chance to start from scratch?
In some ways, it provides us with an opportunity to start afresh. We have a rich history in European club rugby which is very important, and a factor we will not forget.
When we develop our activity, our starting point is the consideration and understanding of the fans, their behaviour and how we can enhance their rugby experience.
To that end, the nature and make-up of the tournament we are partnering and therefore the fans behaviour is not changing dramatically.
We will look forward to a new and exciting chapter which will enable us to revisit our brand role in enhancing rugby moments and experiences for fans across Ireland and Europe. We are at the dawn of a big season for Heineken and rugby as we get set for our sponsorship of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
