Cadbury Ireland Urges People to Become a Supporter & a Half of Women’s Football

The Public House have launched a new campaign for Cadbury urging the public to show their support for women’s football across Ireland.

As a partner of the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team, Cadbury Ireland have always understood the importance of supporting women’s football at all levels, which is evident from their continued support of grassroots clubs around Ireland over the past 18 months. To date, the brand has made inroads to make women’s football more accessible, removing some of the barriers to entry and improving the state of play for grassroots’ women’s clubs. The latest campaign is a continuation of their sponsorship platform, Become A Supporter & A Half, which calls on the public to go above and beyond in supporting women’s football. 

The campaign was fuelled by insights gleaned from surveys and focus groups with players, coaches and volunteers from grassroots women’s teams around the country. It was clear from these conversations that although funding is vital to the growth of women’s football in this country, support for both the national team, and on a local level is also key. Players pointed to the massive impact that community members can have by volunteering at the club, or attending matches.

Become A Supporter & A Half is a rally cry from Cadbury to not just passively support women’s football but to go the extra mile in getting behind them, in all areas, at all levels. To bring a genuine feel to the campaign and an extra level of authenticity, grassroots clubs were asked for stories of their best ‘Supporter & A Half’s’. They were integrated into the campaign, bringing their support to life in a way that feels reflective of the reality of clubs around the country. 

Throughout the campaign, the audience aren’t just being asked to be supporters of women’s football in Ireland, they’re asked to Become A Supporter & A Half. 

Running across OOH, Social and Digital, the hero film shot by female director duo JAK, features players from two grassroots teams and the women’s national team. Mixing a combination of in-camera, and post special effects, as well as a bespoke score by Otis Studios, it’s a high energy call-to-action for fans and players alike.

“We really loved last year’s ‘Become a Supporter and a Half’ campaign and we are thrilled to see it come to life once again across multiple platforms. Our aim was to break down the barriers that women’s grassroots football teams face today and we’re proud of the positive effect that the campaign had, so this year we’ve gone bigger and better. We are really looking forward to seeing who the winning clubs will be and how the prizes will impact their clubs.”  Eileen Leahy, marketing activation lead, Cadbury Sponsorship, Cadbury Ireland.

Dillon McKenna, creative director at the Public House said, “There’s a real buzz around women’s football in Ireland at the moment. From grassroots all the way to the national team, you get a sense that we’re witnessing the beginnings of something really special in the sport.  We wanted to capture this positivity with a campaign that implores the viewer to get behind their team, whether local or national, and support in any way they can. Given that a lot of the players, and supporters volunteered their spare time to help make this happen, we’d like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone involved.”

The campaign for The Public House continues a successful year with the growing independent creative agency’s clients include Jameson and EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum, FBD and Dunnes Stores. The agency is known for its strategic rigour and creative edge that delivers for its clients, with a principle that ‘Boring Doesn’t Sell’.