A graceful exit is rarely the most common of occurrences. That is true of sport has often as it is in politics but we have to take our hat off to Three who, on the eve of their farewell to sponsorship of the Irish rugby team, have donated a rugby themed one million euro marketing campaign to support the work of Focus Ireland in fighting homelessness.
“Let’s All Tackle Homelessness”will leverage the Three sponsorship of the Irish Rugby Team during the 2016 RBS 6 Nations tournament.
The brand hopes to harness the goodwill, enthusiasm and passion of rugby fans, and generate both awareness and funds to make a real difference to the lives of people currently facing great difficulties as a result of homelessness.
“Homelessness is one of the major issues facing our society and we wanted to play our part in supporting this very worthy cause,” said Elaine Carey, Chief Commercial Officer of Three Ireland.
“Therefore we are giving our assets and full marketing campaign associated with the rugby sponsorship to Focus Ireland.”
“This will raise funds and awareness and help Focus Ireland reach those in need of their services, advice and information.”
The €1m campaign will include a major advertising campaign on television, radio, outdoor and online; the creation of a three minute documentary on homelessness; a fundraising campaign with dedicated text line; access to Three ambassador Johnny Sexton, public relations and other promotional support.
Three is also making its own ‘call’ to Ireland’s rugby fans and the rest of Ireland to help by texting HOME to 50300 to donate €2. No network charges will apply when donations are made on the Three network and all funds will go directly to Focus Ireland.
“We are incredibly grateful to Three for using its sponsorship of the Irish Rugby Team to provide this platform to raise awareness for the issue of homelessness,” said Ashley Balbirnie, CEO of Focus Ireland.
“We do not have the resources to launch a campaign anywhere near this scale so Three’s generosity will go a long way in helping us to achieve a new awareness of homelessness in Ireland, reach a wider audience and make it easy for people to support our work.”
“This is a very welcome opportunity to create an impactful campaign and raise funds that will ultimately change lives.”
There is a touch of irony in that one of the first instances in Ireland of a brand giving over sponsorship assets to a charity was when Vodafone gave over their Dublin GAA sponsorship to mental health charities four years ago. We revealed last year that Vodafone was the likely successor to Three as sponsor of the Irish Rugby team in a deal that will be announced after the RBS 6 Nations and could extend to ten years.
