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| Tony Griffin, left, Director, Sports ai, and John Trainor, Managing Director of Onside Sponsorship at the launch of the Irish Sponsorship Summit, which is to take place on March 15th at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Picture credit: David Maher |
Investment in sponsorship in Ireland is continuing to show positive signs in spite of the difficult economic environment according to the organisers of the 2011 Irish Sponsorship Summit, details of which were announced today.
Entitled ‘Sponsorship Transformation: Building Better Game Plans’, the event at the Aviva Stadium on 15 March will feature advice on and analysis of best practices sponsorship plans for 2011 and beyond.
The Summit will include keynote addresses and interactive roundtable discussions from Irish and global industry leaders including senior marketing personnel from O2, IRFU, Diageo, An Post and Bord Gáis Energy. An international perspective will be presented by speakers including Jim Tobin, Director and Head of Sponsorships for the Canadian bank Scotiabank, which operates in 50 nations.
Dublin-based consultancy Onside Sponsorship is the primary partner of the 2011 Irish Sponsorship Summit, which is being organised by Sports Academy International and Make It Happen, in association with The Marketing Institute of Ireland and The European Sponsorship Association.
Mr. John Trainor, Managing Director, Onside Sponsorship, explained that the event will focus on sponsorship game plans with a particular emphasis on the continued transformation of sponsorship in Ireland.
He explained: “The timing and location of the event has been created to coincide with the arrival of England in the RBS Six Nations to the newly redeveloped Aviva Stadium. With the World Cup in South Africa having dominated the sporting landscape in 2010 and the Summer Olympics taking place in London 18 months from now, Rugby is primed to be the sport that will dominate the sporting landscape in Ireland in 2011. Where sport is, sports sponsorship follows and rugby has been at the forefront of Irish brands sports sponsorship focus over the past number of years, this is set to continue in 2011.”
“New research released by Onside Sponsorship has found that there are now over 2.1m followers of rugby in Ireland in 2010 – up nearly 20% in the past 5 years - of which over 900,000 describe themselves as what Onside term ‘Avid Fans’. But eyeballs aren’t everything - for example with 28% of all consumers claiming they will pick a brand’s product / service over a similarly priced competitor product if the brand is an official sponsor of a sport they follow, demonstrating the power of sponsorship”, he added.
Commenting on the upcoming Summit, Mr. Tom Trainor, Chief Executive of The Marketing Institute of Ireland said: “The Marketing Institute of Ireland sees sponsorship as having enduring value during tough economic times. We regard sponsorship as a very robust marketing tool that provides unparalleled reach into selective markets when it is conceived and executed professionally. We call on all Irish Marketers to look closely at this event.”
Mr. Tony Griffin, Director, Sports Academy International, noted that the sponsorship event “will deliver industry leading speakers outlining how they and their brands are reinventing the way they do sponsorship in order to deliver a new era of sponsorship results right to the very heart of their business for the benefit of many different stakeholders.”
Irish Sponsorship Summit details: Places are limited and booking is essential. Further information on www.irishsponsorshipsummit.ie.
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| Tony Griffin, right, Director, Sports ai, and John Trainor, Managing Director of Onside Sponsorship at the launch of the Irish Sponsorship Summit, which is to take place on March 15th at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Picture credit: David Maher |
