In 2022, AIB sought to reaffirm its community credentials through their GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship sponsorship. Having redefined #TheToughest framework under the platform ‘Tough Can’t Quit’, they heroed the resilience of Gaelic footballers and their role within their community.
The restructuring of the Gaelic Football calendar saw the championship split into A and B grades, allowing AIB the opportunity to show up in both championships to build their community credentials. First targeting the inaugural Tailteann Cup, AIB focused their content on smaller footballing counties where the GAA is the heart of the community, and those who don’t quit, despite rarely garnering big wins or media headlines.
AIB stood out as the only sponsor to activate in this championship and with the use of ground-breaking content, ‘Tailteann Cup – Mic’d Up’. AIB mic’d up players and management for the first time in GAA, providing fans with an unprecedented insight behind the scenes.
This innovation was carried through into the Sam Maguire Championship, with a talent-led, media-centric approach. Again, the focus was on local players in story-telling series ‘The Drive’, highlighting four of the #TheToughest players, who showcased their incredible perseverance and Tough Can’t Quit mentality through GAA and their day to day lives.
With both series supported by a robust PR and media strategy, AIB’s content for the season delivered over 940,000 combined views, impressive organic engagement, and secured 99 pieces of coverage with a reach of 12.1m. In a challenging environment for banking brand equity, AIB’s community credentials held firm.
