Ulster Bank GAAUlster Bank has launched its 2013 sponsorship of the GAA All Ireland Football Championship with a social media initiative to discover Ireland’s best GAA home.
The bank was able to involve some of its player ambassadors, including Footballer of the Year Karl Lacey in launching the initiative yesterday on Dublin’s Clonliffe Road, and the house chosen to illustrate the initiative was bedecked with colours suggesting that Dublin will face Kerry, Donegal, Meath or Leitrim in the final in four months time. Who knows?
As the Championship becomes most active from July through to September, the Bank is encouraging supporters to Tweet, post on Facebook and email pictures of how they have decorated their houses, clubs and communities, in their county colours.
It is a smart way of tapping into a traditional display of club or county loyalty as teams progress through the Championship.
One overall winner will be selected to win €5,000 towards a home makeover, as well as tickets and hotel accommodation, for their family, to the GAA Football All-Ireland Final at Croke Park in September. Additional prizes will be given out regularly throughout the campaign.
This is the sixth year of Ulster Bank’s sponsorship of the Championship.
“Every year, families across the island of Ireland use their homes and communities to express their support and passion for their club side and county team,” said Jim Ryan, Managing Director of Ulster Bank Branch Network.
“We want to recognise their efforts and reward those fans as part of our overall support of sport in our communities. Ulster Bank is a strong supporter of communities and, similar to our Ulster Bank GAA Force initiative, this campaign is about getting communities together to get behind their county heroes.”
Also speaking at the launch of the campaign, Paul Dermody from the GAA, said: “We wish football sponsors Ulster Bank every success with their promotional activity around our games and are always willing to support innovation in reaching out to the GAA communities.”
“The Ulster Bank GAA Force campaign has helped clubs develop themselves across the country. The imagination and attention to detail, in addition to the involvement of a large number of players who work for the company, make them a perfect partner for the GAA and the football championship in particular.”
Each year Ulster Bank has involved as many as 4,000 of its staff in a football competition among branches and departments that ultimately leads to a match on the hallowed turf of Croke Park.  It is an ideal way of involving the whole company in a flagship project.
Ulster Bank and the GAA are both active members of the Sport for Business community.
header-1
Sport for Business is a subscription based community that develops innovative ideas to bring sport and business closer together with many mutual benefits.
Sports organisations and businesses can avail of membership of Sport for Business for a monthly subscription that costs between €25 and €90, depending on size.
In return you get unique intelligence and analysis of the commercial world of Irish sport; a monthly programme of networking events enabling them to connect with sporting and business leaders and a platform to showcase your projects in sport. Click here to find out more.
Sport for Business articles are free to view for a time limited period before being added to our comprehensive archive of over 1000 articles on the commercial world of Irish sport.