Bord Bia uses Ryder Cup to increase appetite for Irish food

As an official sponsor of the golf tournament, Bord Bia seized the opportunity to promote Irish produce abroad, writes Caroline Madden

What has smoked wild Irish salmon got to do with Tiger Woods? Or Baileys cream liqueur with a hole in one? Or Clonakilty black pudding and a plush green fairway?

The answer is - not much. There is no obvious connection between fine Irish fare and the game of golf. But as official food sponsors of the Ryder Cup, Bord Bia had to change all that, and on a shoestring budget.

For its sponsorship of the golf tournament to make sense, Bord Bia, the Government body responsible for promoting Irish food and drink, had to create some kind of link between food and golf in the public mind.

As its resources were limited, the food board was forced to come up with some inventive marketing strategies. So what exactly did it do? And did it work?

Months before a ball was hit off the first tee at the Ryder Cup, the groundwork was being carefully laid.

In April, Bord Bia ran a hugely successful programme to promote Irish meat. Some 10 million meat packs were distributed across Ireland and Britain with stickers attached which entitled the purchaser to a free golf lesson with one of 500 professional golfers.

The golf pros volunteered their services free of charge in return for promotion in a directory published by Bord Bia.

Some 39,000 customers have taken up their free golf lessons so far and roughly €3 million was generated in additional sales. It was a win-win situation, bringing together the two strands of Bord Bia's strategy - to create a link between food and golf, and to promote Irish produce.

Then came the Ryder Cup itself. Think back to the glimpses of the tournament that you may have watched on TV, and you probably noticed some of Bord Bia's marketing tactics. Perhaps you spotted the Ireland-shaped island floating in the lake near the 13th tee to promote its "Ireland the food island" brand; maybe you tuned in while Gary Lineker was presenting from Bord Bia's food island garden at the K Club; or you might have noticed the commentators' frequent references to Irish food - like many members of the media, they had received hampers overflowing with the finest produce that Ireland has to offer.

"The food island garden and lake are further examples of Bord Bia's innovative approach to promoting its message as widely and as visually as possible using the vehicle of the Ryder Cup," says Bord Bia chief executive Aidan Cotter.

"The event is watched by viewers in 150 countries, which is a perfect fit with Ireland's export market of 170 countries worldwide. Eighty per cent of our €7.5 billion in exports go to Europe and the US."

If you managed to get a ticket for the tournament and if you breakfasted, dined or had afternoon tea at the K Club, you will have sampled food and drink prepared by caterers who were in partnership with Bord Bia.

Some 10,500 people were served each day of the competition, giving Irish food suppliers a unique opportunity to showcase their produce. Even Nick Faldo was impressed, declaring that the food served at the Ryder Cup was the best he had ever eaten at a golf tournament.

In addition, 300 international industry buyers were invited to the Ryder Cup by Bord Bia, along with the guests of 50 Irish food and drinks companies. Those invited included a mixture of existing and potential trade buyers, and gave Irish producers the chance to network and build up new business.

Although a lot of business dealings are now being carried out using modern technology - phones, Blackberry, teleconferencing - nothing quite beats the personal touch. Conducting business face-to-face can succeed in a way that e-mails and telephone conversations never will, particularly when there are cultural differences.

One Asian buyer who was invited to the Ryder Cup by Bord Bia spent two days watching golf and two days viewing meat plants. At the end of his trip, he had bought €3.5 million worth of Irish meat.

It is interesting that even though Bord Bia had one of the smallest budgets of all 16 Ryder Cup sponsors, it benefited most in terms of press coverage. Research shows that Bord Bia received more than €600,000 (when converted to the equivalent cost of advertising) in editorial space across all Irish print media - national and regional newspapers and magazines - as a result of its association with the Ryder Cup.

Necessity is the mother of invention, as the saying goes, and Bord Bia has shown that you don't need an enormous budget to mount a hugely successful marketing campaign.