Ballygowan set out to position its water product as ‘the’ drink that powers Ireland’s leading sportsmen and women by activating its Ireland Rugby Football Union (IRFU) sponsorship during the Guinness 6 Nations with a campaign called ‘Wild Like No Other’.
Created in partnership with TBWA\Dublin, the campaign seeks to draws out the parallels and similarities between the Britvic owned Ballygowan, Irish Rugby and the players by describing them as all being ‘wild like no other’.
The integrated activation programme, which features the tagline ‘Bottled Wild For Irish Rugby’, spans TV commercials, OOH executions, digital and social media content, PR, plus in-store POS initiatives rolled out across key retail outlets nationwide.
Additional copy claims: “No other water on earth falls from the sky and flows through mineral-rich limestone like Ballygowan does. That’s why no other water powers Irish Rugby. The water, like the IRFU, is ‘Wild like no other’”.
As well as the spearhead content, the campaign included social support such as a behind-the-scenes, making-of video, tips for sporting hydration, outtakes and a match-specific ‘Guess The Score’ ticket contest.
The campaign aims to work towards Ballygowan’s ambition to ‘be the first name in hydration and an ever-present figure on every pitch, course, and field across the country’.
“We wanted to use real Irish rugby heroes in this campaign to show just how alike Ballygowan and Irish Rugby are,” explained TBWA\Dublin Senior Copywriter Dimitrios Leontakiankis. “The water and the players go on a similar journey. Defying the elements and overcoming obstacles at every turn. Ballygowan’s brand positioning ‘Bottled Wild’ launched in 2021 and this sponsorship campaign gave us the opportunity to leverage that positioning to land a strong message that reflects both the spirit of the brand and that of the IRFU.
Senior Art Director Mikey Ryan added: “Ballygowan, the IRFU, the fans and all of Ireland are ‘Wild like no other’ – that’s why we chose this message to spearhead the campaign. We hope that it galvanises, inspires and powers our players forward as they do battle on the pitch.”
“Working with a great brand like Ballygowan was truly a pleasure,” commented TBWA\Dublin Global Client Lead Kerrie Sweeney. “Lynne Andrews and Stephen Cramp were as passionate about bringing ‘Wild like no other’ to life as we were, and we worked closely together throughout the process to create a campaign that’s true to the brand, the product, and the Irish teams alike”.
The campaign was created for and briefed by Britvic Ireland Head Of Marketing Stephen Cramp and Marketing Manager Lynne Andrews and was developed by a team at creative agency TBWA\Dublin which included Head Of Client Services Paula Kelly, Business Lead Kerrie Sweeney, Account Executive Niamh Fitzgerald, Copywriter Dimitri Leontakianakis, Art Director Michael Ryan, Producer Ana Baena Sanchez, Assistant Producer Zsofi Abel, Retoucher David Picquenot, Art Director Zoltan Kuti and Digital Creative Director Mark Murray.
The production team included Photographer Adrian Stewart, Makeup Artist Kellie Fitzgibbon and Retouchers Stefano Cherubini, while those leading the project on post production and VFX were CG Artist Simon Allan and Editor Ciaran Murray and the music and sound team included Sound Mixer Tom Morris and Voice Over Artist Dermot Magennis.
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It was back in October 2022 that Ballygowan was unveiled as the ‘Official Water Partner’ of the Irish men’s and women’s rugby teams and both the Sevens teams too, as well as becoming an official sponsor of the IRFU National Referee panel.
Ballygowan is already a sponsor of GAA and provincial rugby teams as well as golf in Ireland, but in 2022 the brand’s marketing team sought to take their sports sponsorships a step further by sponsoring the IRFU.
The deal with the national governing body sees Ballygowan provide 40,000 litres of water each year to the teams for training and matches. The average international rugby union player covers around 7km each match and often lose up to1kg in weight via dehydration per game.
Back in October 2022 at the launch event, Ireland men’s players Mack Hansen, Gavin Coombes and Jack Conan, plus Ireland Women’s players Aoife Doyle, Enya Breen and Dorothy Wall fronted the unveiling of the new water sponsor at and event held at Dunboyne Castle immediately ahead of the Bank of Ireland Nations Series and they were joined by Britivic Ireland Managing Director Kevin Donnelly and IRFU Head Of Commercial Jessica Long.
Donnelly said that Ballygowan, which is owned by Britvic and is ‘bottled wild’ from source at Newcastle West in Limerick, would activate the partnership through integrated, through-the-line campaigns.
Commenting on the sponsorship agreement, Britvic’s Kevin Donnelly stated: “Ballygowan is Ireland’s number one bottled water brand and we are proud to partner with Irish Rugby at all levels. Ballygowan is bottled in Ireland, travels less miles than imported brands to get to Irish consumers, and our bottles are 100% recyclable and made from 100% recycled materials.”
The IRFU’s Long added: “Irish Rugby is delighted to welcome Ballygowan as the Official Water Partner of the IRFU. Keeping players’ fluids in balance is an integral part of achieving peak performance and we are delighted to be working with a home-grown Irish brand with a proven track-record in the Irish market. We are looking forward to further developing our relationship with Britvic, and I have no doubt our athletes and fans will welcome the support this partnership provides.”
The activation built on Ballygowan’s 2022 relaunch campaign called ‘Bottled Wild’ which sought to bring to life its hydration benefits and to position the brand as the most sustainable water brand in Ireland by highlighting how all bottles are now made from 100% recycled plastic and are 100% recyclable.
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