Top brands come together for Irish Sponsorship Awards

The Irish Sponsorship Awards returned for its seventh year on Wednesday, December 5th, at the Round Room at The Mansion House in Dublin. The Awards sought to honour firms and individuals who have excelled in industry.

At the end of what was a record-breaking year for the Irish sponsorship market, the biggest names in the industry gathered as 19 awards were handed out on the night.

Amongst the biggest winners of the evening was Just Eat, which took home awards in three different categories. Their marketing director Edel Kinane spoke of the honour, saying; ''We have always placed sponsorships at the heart of our marketing strategy, so to have our campaigns recognised by the industry, winning Best Sponsorship Brand for Just Eat Dublinbikes, Best TV Broadcast for Just Eat delivers Love Island and overall Best Sponsorship, is hugely rewarding for us as a team''

Another top winner of the Irish Sponsorship Awards was The Brand Fans. Daragh Persse, founder of The Brand Fans said of the honour; "We were proud to be shortlisted again for the Irish Sponsorship Awards and delighted that the Energia and Seachtain na Gaelige sponsorship won the top prize for arts culture culture. Recognition of the power of these partnerships is very important for all of us involved in the delivery of world-class sponsorship programmes."

The winners of the 2018 Irish Sponsorship Awards was decided by an expert panel of judges led by Heineken’s brand manager for sport, Jim Geraghty, who said; “The quality of submissions this year was exceptionally high. The winning sponsorship activations reflect the exciting and buoyant industry and the standard of work would be up there with the best in Europe.”

Sponsors of the 2018 Irish Sponsorship Awards included top names like JCDecaux Ireland. Their marketing director, Tony O'Flanagan said; “The sponsorship awards are an excellent annual showcase of best-in-class work in a marketplace that has been thriving over the last number of years. JCDecaux believe it is important to celebrate and encourage exceptional quality in our chosen fields and we were very impressed by the outstanding calibre of entries this year. The standard of talent in the industry was very evident in the variety of campaigns shortlisted and those campaigns that were awarded on the night.”

The Irish Sponsorship Awards 2018 is run by Business River. The full list of winners is available below, and to read about other Business River events visit their news hub.