MEDIA & MARKETING:Mobile network hopes to target young and mature audiences with golf tournament deal, writes SIOBHAN O'CONNELL
NEXT THURSDAY sees the start of the four-day Irish Open golf tournament in Baltray in Co Louth. The tournament’s new sponsor is mobile phone network 3, which has made a three-year sponsorship commitment. The prize fund is €3 million, €500,000 more than last year and is one of the biggest pots on the PGA European tour.
Associating itself with a golf event would appear to be a peculiar move for 3, whose marketing activities to date have focused on young consumers. Think golf players and fans and it’s the image of a silver-haired man in a bright Fair Isle jumper that springs to mind. Youngsters and golf seem unlikely bedfellows.
Not so, says 3 sales director Elaine Carey, who is confident that the 3 Irish Open will attract droves of young people. “There are 500,000 golfers in Ireland and their average age is early thirties,” said Carey.
But more mature types are also in 3’s sights. The company now has a strong business offering and the Open association, 3’s first national sports sponsorship, should help raise the company’s profile in that area too. But how will 3 know if its sponsorship has been effective? “That is the million-dollar question,” admits Carey. “When we do our research, if brand recognition for 3 has grown, then that means the sponsorship has been a success.”
The main branding spinoff comes from television coverage of the event. But 3 has also been spending heavily on TV, radio and national press advertising to build awareness. The company has also been setting up a golf simulator in shopping centres around the country, where golfers can win tournament tickets and other prizes.
3 has also set up Facebook and Bebo pages to curry interest among its target youth market. According to Carey: “Public goodwill for our sponsorship has been massive because we are the white knight. Ultimately, that goodwill turns into awareness, consideration and then footfall into our shops.”
To capture details on potential customers, people can register on the 3 website for a free ticket to the first day of competition on Thursday, May 14th. The freebie offer is better for existing 3 customers; they can log on to claim a free pass to the play on Friday May 15th, as well as access to the 3 clubhouse.
Diageo has set itself a daunting marketing challenge with its new Signatures initiative, which has the aim of securing one million signatures from the public by the end of the summer. It’s not for a petition calling for longer pub opening hours or reduced taxes on beer. Signatures is a philanthropic initiative whereby Diageo will donate €2.50 to charity for every signature collected.
The campaign ties in with the Guinness brand’s celebration of its 250th anniversary. Diageo would like to plough €2.5 million (one million times €2.50) into social entrepreneur activities. But the size of the eventual donation will depend on the number of pub goers taking time out from their pints to add their signature to a Guinness poster on the pub wall.
There’s no catch to the campaign. Guinness doesn’t want an individual’s home address or e-mail address to target them later on with marketing messages.
The brand just wants the person’s signature, and they don’t care how many times the same person makes the effort to write their name.
The scheme ties in with the philanthropic heritage associated with Arthur Guinness. However, the campaign isn’t entirely altruistic.
Big brands benefit when consumers empathise with the company’s do-good activities, what marketers call “brand affinity”. Diageo’s reminder of the Guinness brand’s longevity also reassures consumers who, in troubled economic times, may act on nostalgic impulses.
Still, from a marketing perspective, if only 100,000 signatures are collected, the campaign will be perceived to have failed. To encourage people to sign the posters, the Signature drive is being advertised in pubs during May and June, backed up by advertising on TV, outdoor, radio and press. Around 250 Guinness staffers will also give up some of their free time to make the rounds of pubs and encourage customers to sign up.
siobhan@businessplus.ie
