Many brands will choose to focus on one sport over another when it comes to a significant partnership. It is fitting though that a brand with such a diverse offering as PwC should look at things a little differently.
Last Friday at Donnybrook they saw their branded jerseys worn to victory by the Ireland U20 International Rugby team. That relationship will extend throughout the NatWest 6 Nations and onto the World Championship which this year takes place in France.
Before Christmas though, the emphasis was on the first year of a long-term partnership with the GAA and the Gaelic Players Association to back the PwC All-Stars.
The Awards took place at the Convention Centre, snugly sitting beside PwC’s Main Dublin offices and were all about celebrating the achievement of the best of the year.
“These are two very different sponsorships, but there is a natural link between how we look to back each of the groups of players,” said PwC Sponsorship Manager Jonathan Dever, speaking to Sport for Business.
“While the PwC All-Stars are at the pinnacle of their career already, the U20’s Irish rugby team are on a journey to what will hopefully be a long and successful professional rugby career.”
“As such, while PwC ‘Celebrate Excellence’ when it comes to the role we play in the sponsorship of the PwC All-Stars; for the U20s Irish rugby team, PwC’s role is to ‘Support Excellence’.”
“Like Celebrating Excellence, the creative platform Supporting Excellence is in direct alignment with the PwC core brand values as this is what PwC aims to do in the business world for our clients.”
“We are supporting the U20s to develop to be the best they can be.”
“Developing young talent is a strategic imperative for PwC. PwC has a clear ambition to nurture the aspirations of our future leaders, in business and in sport.”
“We recognise that it takes a team both on and off the pitch to create the environment to make that possible. We will work together with the players (and IRFU) to make a real difference in their pursuit of excellence.”
The company backs that in the workplace as well with a host of inter-county and Irish international stars doing their day jobs to a high level in the company and then performing in the biggest stages in sport.
Last year the company held a Player Development Day for the U20 squad focusing on the softer skills of work and life such as social media training, interview skills, DISC personality training and networking.
Dublin footballer Cian O’Sullivan and Irish Hockey International Rebecca Barry both took part in a session on how work and sport fit together at this level and another day is planned for the current squad later in the spring.
“The day is part of the Elite Player Development Program,” added Dever.
“We believe these skills are very much transferable on and off the field. We are also aware that a percentage of these players will go out to successful professional careers and we are keen to support that where possible.”
The brand was active at the weekend across a number of platforms including social media with branded content through the game, in advance with the video below of Sean Masterson at the Captains Run, and winningly for fans by distributing complimentary tea, coffee and hot chocolate around the ground.
Ahead of this evening’s game against Italy, we spoke to Ireland U20 Sean Masterson at Captain’s Run last night.
He’s expecting a physical challenge in Donnybrook.#FutureIsGreen #IrevIta pic.twitter.com/f2LJR8rKs8
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 9, 2018
There are plans afoot to really get behind the PwC All-Stars this year as the Championship summer kicks into gear, making it more of an ingrained element of how the players and the games are seen as opposed to just a review and recognition at the end of the season.
Combining the two sports with those very different emphases is a way to get across the breadth of the company and the opportunities it provides to young graduates.
Garry Ringrose came on board as a brand ambassador earlier this month and will be out and about on behalf of the brand.
There will be other activations and sporting partnerships through the year, including a repeat of the succesful Staff relay Series in May, and PwC is also a supporter of our own Leading Sport Series of interviews with key sporting leaders, helping to shape the future of irish sport.
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