Kildare firm nominated for national sponsorship awards

Kildare based public relations and event management company O’Brien PR has been shortlisted for the Irish Sponsorship Awards for its work on the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open 2021. The well-known communications agency carried out all of the communications and event management for Dubai Duty Free for its title sponsorship of the Irish Open.

The glitzy black tie Irish Sponsorship Awards will take place this Thursday (22 nd Sep) at Clontarf Castle where some of Ireland’s top brands and leading marketing professionals will gather. O’Brien PR has been shortlisted for ‘Best Sporting Event Sponsorship’ alongside Lidl Ireland for the Lidl Ladies National Football League, The Punchestown Festival and the Electric Ireland GAA Minor Championships.

O’Brien PR Managing Director, Aileen O’Brien said: “In 2021 Covid was causing all kinds of problems for sporting events and indeed all events as everything was cancelled and crowds were not allowed to gather. The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open 2021 was one of the first pilot initiatives for extended capacity at outdoor sporting events chosen by the Irish government, (the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh, just the week before was the first one back).

Due to the restricted crowds allowed each day (only 1,000 people per day) and the fact that there were huge concerns about Covid the limitations and difficulties in running, promoting and entertaining at The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open cannot be underestimated. Every single person coming on site had to be tested for Covid, it was a challenge, but it worked out really
well, people were just overjoyed to see live sport back again.”

Aileen went on to say, “there were lots of things we couldn’t do due to the restricted numbers and the strict Covid regulations so we just had to pivot and to focus on what we could do. Our brief and objective was to engage the public with the Dubai Duty Free brand. That meant that we had to find the best possible virtual and traditional media and communication
channels to get the best return for our client’s investment in the tournament and increase the reach on media and digital.”
O’Brien PR provided regular updates on what was happening behind the scenes, the build up to the tournament and provided virtual opportunities for the press to talk to key personalities in the tournament, including the sponsors and players.

“Due to the pandemic and the huge restrictions and challenges for the tournament there was no host for the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open,” said Aileen O’Brien. “However, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell all returned to home soil.

"This provided the comms teams with the opportunity to share the message of solidarity, ‘we are all together, we are one team’…. The focus then on 2021 was a celebration of Irish golf as a whole after the challenges of the previous 18 months or so, and not on one individual.”

The campaign was very successful and saw dramatic, double-digit growth in Dubai Duty Free’s own social media. Media coverage was also secured across Ireland, the UK and the Middle East.