Core celebrate wins at European Sponsorship Association Awards 2023

Jill Downey (Chief Sustainability & Sponsorship Officer, Core); Kate O'Callaghan (Client Director, Core);
Caroline Donellan (Director of Marketing at Sky); Caitriona Ní Laoire (MD, Core Creative); Mark Tuthill (Creative Director, Core);
Kieran Forde (Marketing Controller, Sky); Shane Doyle (Group Strategy Director, Core); Brian McCormak (Communications Executive, Sky).

Sky Ireland and the #OUTBELIEVE campaign for the sponsorship of the FAI’s Women’s National football team won Best Newcomer, Best Use of Content and Sport Sponsorship (€250,000-€499,999). Developed by Core and launched in April 2022, Outbelieve was the very first dedicated Women’s National Team TV campaign with the aim of creating a strong connection between the Women’s National Team and fans, both avid and casual.

Speaking about the success, Jill Downey, Chief Sustainability & Sponsorship Officer, at Core said:

“The success of the OUTBELIEVE campaign for Sky continues, as once again we see the power that a sponsorship platform has when it is developed from deep fan insight and when sponsorship activation is rooted in culture.

Everyone at Core is delighted to be recognised at a European level with a variety of clients including AIB, An Post and WHOOP. Congratulations to all the winners and it is wonderful to see the strong Irish success at this year’s event.”

Core Sponsorship and AIB were Commended for Media Sponsorship category – the sponsorship was recognised as pushing the boundaries of a media partnership, moving beyond badging a broadcast sponsorship, to making full use of assets and association across all activation.

There was also Gold for An Post’s sponsorship of the An Post Irish Book Awards in the Arts and Culture (non-charity) category. Another sponsorship platform informed by great insight, the #ReadersWanted campaign developed by Core, continues to deliver success. This is the third year that An Post have taken home an award at the ESAs, having won the Grand Prix in the sponsorships’ first year. This years entry also got a special mention in the Sponsorship of the Year category.

Caitriona Ní Laoire, Managing Director at Core Creative said:

“As well as working closely with our great clients, collaborating with Core Strategy and Core Sponsorship has resulted in our Creative Practice developing engaging and effective work rooted in strong strategies and insights.

We are honoured to be recognised on the European stage and look forward to pushing the work even further in the future.”

WHOOP won Best Media Sponsorship and Highly Commended in Best Use of Cutting Edge Technology, and they were also the winners of the coveted Grand Prix. This incredibly innovative and immersive media partnership with Eurosport for the Giro d’Italia shows the future of sports stats partnerships. Core negotiated the partnership with Eurosport on behalf of WHOOP.

Learn more about Core Sponsorship or Core Creative.