Why Irish Sport Matters - Promoting the value of sport
Brief:
In 2009, the Federation of Irish Sports (FIS), which represents all Irish sport, were concerned that government would cut one-third of funding to the Sports Council in the December budget.
Together with the key sporting bodies including the FAI, the IRFU, the Olympic Council of Ireland and the GAA, FIS asked WHPR to devise, manage and implement an awareness and lobbying campaign that would:
- Promote and educate various stakeholders on the importance of sport to Ireland and deliver a greater understanding of what sport can do and does deliver
- In advance of the budget, influence Government to protect sports funding
- Positively influence government policy and commitment to maintaining a separate Government Department, reinstatement of the sports capital programme and continued development of the National Sports Campus.
Solution:
We applied three public relations techniques within an integrated strategy.
Media Relations: we developed and designed a pre-budget submission on behalf of the 68 Governing bodies of Irish Sport. This report was launched at a special media briefing with the heads of the FAI, IRFU, GAA, Olympic Council of Ireland, Special Olympics, FIS and the Golfing Union of Ireland held in October. A sustained media relations campaign was put in place by each of the participating organisations to amplify our message, which intensified in the run up to the budget in December.
Political Engagement: we organised meetings with key political stakeholders including the Minister for Arts Sport and Tourism, opposition spokespersons on sport, and the Secretary General of the Department of Arts Sport and Tourism. We augmented this with a pre-budget briefing event, at which the heads of Irish Sport had the opportunity to communicate their key messages to the political establishment including TDs and Senators.
Digital Campaigning: We developed and organised a public awareness programme using the autumn rugby and soccer internationals at Croke Park in November to connect digital campaigning to the sports community. This included using the stadium announcer to deliver our key messages to over 250,000 sports fans in attendance, an accompanying creative for the big screen and text for the match programmes. This supported a successful Facebook and Twitter campaign for fans of Irish sport creating social media advocates for the campaign. Active updating engaged this community, reaching over 130,000 people online.
In the December budget, Government funding cuts to the Irish Sports Council was reduced to just 4% and not the 33% proposed in the McCarthy report.
For more information on the campaign go to: www.irishsportmatters.com/
