Three in four marketing pros in Ireland named official rather than non-official Rugby World Cup (RWC) sponsors of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England as brands that they felt stood out, with Heineken and Land Rover shoulder to shoulder at the top of the research, a joint survey by sponsorship consultants Onside and the Marketing Institute shows.
From 36 different brands mentioned, Guinness was the one non-official RWC brand that Irish marketers rated at a similar level of effectiveness to Heineken and Land Rover for their event activity, followed by Aer Lingus. Land Rover was rated highest for activation, while Guinness received was best recognised for social media and TV stand-out.
TV3 was the other big winner. Seventy eight per cent of Irish marketers rated TV3’s coverage of the tournament highly, while one in two said their perception of the Liberty Global-owned broadcaster had improved significantly as a result of their RWC coverage. The knock-on effect of TV3’s performance was passed on to coverage sponsors Land Rover.
Looking to next year, Onside’s John Trainor said that as the Irish squad gear up for the 2016 RBS 6 Nations, Ian Madigan was identified by Irish marketers as the current Irish rugby team player that did most to enhance his marketability for next year through his RWC performance.
Madigan is currently in contract talks with Leinster Rugby.
Pictured above are TV3’s Pat Kiely, RWC presenter Matt Cooper and Onside’s John Trainor
