Cork give Chill premium return on investment

THE All-Ireland champagne stays on ice, but the Chill bubbly can begin to flow.

Bonus territory; not the kind of language Jimmy Barry-Murphy or Davy Fitzgerald will entertain ahead of the hurling final replay.

But that’s where new Cork GAA sponsor Chill Insurance is now, according to sponsorship expert John Trainor.

“They were in bonus territory as soon as Cork reached a semi-final, but a final and a replay has given the relationship a great kick-start in year one of the deal,” says Trainor, founder and MD of Onside Sponsorship.

“The deal came later than many people expected. But the fact that Cork have got there the hard way, via some high-profile games will also have helped Chill,” agrees Rob Harnett, sponsorship expert and founder of Sportforbusiness.com

As Harnett mentions, the online insurance broker was slightly late to the party this year. Cork hurlers and footballers both played league matches wearing shirts promoting the Mercy Foundation’s testicular cancer appeal as the county board took time to ink a new agreement after the 15-year partnership with O2 ran out of credit.

Amid much talk of a gloomy business environment, there was some relief when the Chill contract was finally rubber-stamped in early March, even if the hurlers’ first action carrying the new brand brought, coincidentally, a six-point defeat by Clare.

Leaving Páirc Uí Rinn that evening, not many, from the sport or business sides, would have mapped out the season in store.

“The first year has been absolutely fantastic. We couldn’t ask for more. That has been down to the success on the field of the hurlers and footballers,” said Chill CEO Pádraig Lynch this week.

“The replay gives us three weeks’ additional exposure. Though, like any Cork supporter, in those final few seconds, we’d have taken the win.”

If Cork’s campaign has gradually gathered momentum, some within Chill have been pleasantly surprised with how quickly the new relationship has registered with the public, nationally as well as on Leeside.

More than half the respondents to an independent national survey carried out last month were able to identify Chill as Cork’s sponsors, a result that delighted the company’s head of marketing, Fergal Lynch.

“Spontaneous recall of a sponsor by 51% of a survey group is practically unheard of,” Lynch suggested.

Trainor agrees that the first year of any sponsorship deal is a vital get-to-know-you period. “The initial challenge is to bed in the Chill relationship with Cork GAA and the success of the team has helped with that. The next step is to convert that awareness of the Chill brand into benefits to its business.”

Chill has already taken several steps to maximise benefit from the exposure. An affinity scheme is now in place which pays commission to GAA clubs if members buy Chill’s insurance products. The company has opened a new Cork office with eight employees and there is a staff member dedicated to visiting clubs in the county.

“The community aspect of the GAA is what attracted us to this relationship,” says Pádraig Lynch. “And the success of it will be seen in the number of people we employ and in the money going back to the clubs.”

Chill’s debut in the sports sponsorship arena has been welcome. When Munster Rugby was also looking for a new sponsor this year, its chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald pointed out that there had been no significant new players in the market over the past two years.

So, in that climate, was Chill’s investment a risk?

“Anything could be seen as a gamble. But it wasn’t really a gamble because it was Cork and the county is so strong at both codes. We’re committed to making it work.” says Pádraig.

You’d expect an insurance company to get the risk assessment right and Trainor argues there are very few real gambles any more as brands realise exactly what they are getting and know how much to pay.

“There may have been some panic buying in the past, but now potential sponsors are much more confident and are happy to walk away from a deal that isn’t right for them. The models used to measure value are now very rigorous and sharply defined. So if a rights holder is looking for €500,000 and the brand knows this is worth €250,000, they will pass.”

Yet deals are getting done. Munster has settled gratefully back into the arms of long-term partners Bank of Ireland. Liberty Insurance penned a five-year deal with the GAA to replace Guinness on the hurling championship ticket. And the nine counties seeking a new sponsor at the start of the year all managed to find a backer, even if most had to look to local firms for that support.

Onside predicted 1.5% growth in the Irish sponsorship market this year and its half-yearly assessment suggests that projection is on track.

Liberty is the latest of a host of blue chip brands that the GAA has taken under its wing, as a move away from headline sponsorship to a blended approach has proved successful for the organisation. But it’s also an approach that depletes the pie for individual counties, and sets up some interesting match-ups.

Rob Harnett points out that Chill has had to share the summer spin-off with its American-owned competitor.

“It’s been a hugely engaging hurling championship and, somewhat ironically; Liberty the title sponsor has also got a significant boost. Two players competing in a very competitive market.”

Trainor expects to see further moves from the insurance sector over the next 18 months, but Chill will be concentrating on getting its first big deal right.

“The Cork work is keeping us busy at the moment. You don’t want to dilute things too much,” says Pádraig.

It will help, of course, if the Chill jersey becomes a champion jersey.

“We’ve noticed as the summer has gone on that more and more of the jerseys have appeared. A win in the replay would round off a great year.”