Cadbury, which became Official Snack Partner of the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team last year, leveraged the tie-up in August through a poster campaign which aimed to turn grassroots female players into super stars.
The chocolate giant’s initial activation of its official tie-up with the Football Association Of Ireland (FAI) was built around the idea that ‘A Player & A Half’ deserves a ‘Support & A Half’, but in summer 2022 the focused switched to supporting the grassroots women’s game at a local club level through a platform called ‘Become A Supporter & A Half’.
The opening phase saw Cadbury donate money for functional, facility upgrades at grassroots football clubs and then in August the confectionary brand’s second phase emerged from research carried out in collaboration with the FAI and local teams across Ireland. This study confirmed that while women’s teams have significantly less resources and support than men’s, the most significant barrier facing these teams was not structural, but societal. Female players felt that they were not seen to be as legitimate, important or respected as men’s teams and therefore weren’t given the support, funding or resources they deserve.
So, to meet this challenge, agency The Public House developed a follow-up activation called ‘The Game Is On’ based on an OOH campaign built around a series of posters which made grassroots female footballers feel like superstars.
The marketing team Cadbury commissioned 10 leading female Irish Illustrators to design bespoke posters for a team of 10 grassroots Irish women’s football teams and an additional one for the national team. Whilst the Cadbury logo remained present in the bottom corner of each poster, all other aspects of creative control were handed to each artist and amateur team.
The outdoor phase also included suggested poster ‘call-to-action’ lines for each participating team to encouraged players and volunteers to join local clubs, whilst urging the Irish public to support the women’s game either directly through attendance or indirectly through Cadbury purchases.
The posters were initially unveiled to local players at a launch event in Dublin’s Temple Bar on 18 August with guest brand ambassadors and Arsenal legends Emma Byrne and Ian Wright. They then formed the creative for a nationwide billboard campaign supported by social and digital executions.
Spent the morning listening to @emmsb30 and @IanWright0 discussing the importance of club football for women, national academies for growth and development, the importance of supporting women’s football, and the exciting journey it’s on at the moment. pic.twitter.com/4wdwASZAdE
— Melanie Mullan (@Melmullan) August 18, 2022
A parallel in-store and product-linked activation strand also enabled Irish football fans and consumers to sign-up ‘Become A Supporter And A Half’ and help grassroots women’s football by visiting participating stores nationwide and purchasing Cadbury’s products up until 16 October 2022 in an initiative further incentivised through money can’t buy prizes for consumers, players and amateur clubs with further details available on womensfootball.cadbury.ie.
The community club posters thus handed Cadbury’s FAI women’s football platform over to the country’s local grassroots clubs and amateur players.
“In 2022 it has been fantastic to see the Irish Women’s National Team getting the visibility and support they deserve, it has been an honour to be on this journey with them so far,” explained Mondelez Ireland Managing Director Eoin Kellett. “We are also acutely aware of the grassroots women’s teams right around the country and ensuring they also get the visibility needed to continue to develop the game and break down any barriers to participation. Through ‘The Game is On’ and our in-store activity we hope that the Irish public joins us in supporting their local clubs and teams.”
The Public House Senior Copywriter Mikey Curran added: “We’re in a pivotal moment for women’s football in this country. The game needs real, tangible support, on a national level, but systemic change happens from within. That’s why we’ve created this work for grassroots clubs. If we can encourage more participation at that level, hopefully we can ensure a better future for the top flight. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the future of the sport, but one thing is for certain, The Game Is On!”
The activation was created for client Cadbury Ireland Brand Manager Eileen Leahy, FAI Partnerships Account Manager Gus Lewis and FAI Club Development Programme Coordinator Barry McGann by a team at agency The Public House which included Managing Director Catrióna Campbell, Creative Director Dillon McKenna, Senior Copywriter Mikey Curran, Art Director Rudy Godfrey, Head Of Design Eimear O’Sullivan, Production Lead & Senior Designer Trevor Nolan, Senior Designer Liam Frawley, Designer Molly Devlin, Animator Cian Booth, Agency Producers Sarah Chadwick and Aoife Fitzgerald, Strategy Head Sarah Walsh, Strategist Áine O’Boyle, Account Director Terri Turner and Senior Account Executive Divya Mathias.
PR was run through FleishmanHillard with Director Gill Madden,Senior Account Director Lydia McDermott and Account Executive Ava Mcevoy, with media run by a team at Carat led by Business Director Oilbhe Doyle, Account Director Nathalie Dooley, Account Manager Sarah-Jane Clarke and Account Executive Amanda Faherty.
Video production was handlded by The Coop, the photographer was Liadh Connolly and the Illustrators were Sorcha O’higgins, Sophie Thu Hien Nguyen, Sophie Devere, Cathy Hogan, Jacky Sheridan, Grace Enemaku, Alice Kearney, Lauren O Neill, Molly Devlin, Kate O Loughlin and Claire Prouvost with Animators Aoife Brady and Elliot Ruddy.
Comment
This work sees Cadbury further establish sports partnerships as a key pillar in the brand’s European marketing mix and other recent standout European soccer activations from Cadbury have included several initiatives with Manchester United FC like 2022’s ‘Worldwide Hide’ and 2020’s ‘Donate Your Words’, while other sports led marketing campaigns from elsewhere in the world have included its ‘Ground Staff Sponsorship’ with the IPL’s Mumbai Indians and its reworked ‘Cadbury Cricket’ spot in India in 2021.
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