Background information

An Irish leading media sales house, Media Central, orchestrated a complex support campaign dedicated to the Irish Women’s football National team, during the World Cup of 2023. The sales house teamed up with the broadcaster and telecommunications company, SKY and Cadbury – a multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International.

Supporting Irish women’s football

Women’s football has been flourishing in Ireland over the last number of years and Media Central’s stations have been at the forefront of championing the women’s game, ensuring it receives the same level of coverage and support as the men’s game. With the Women’s World Cup taking place in Australia and New Zealand in July 2023, it marked the first time that the Irish Women’s National Team had qualified for the tournament. The country was buzzing with momentum and excitement, providing an opportunity for brands to tap into the fervor.  Media Central used the occasion to develop various campaigns and partnerships with key brands Mondelez and SKY, across their different stations, showcasing the depth of creative solutions and content while rallying the nation behind the team.

Come On You Girls In Green podcast – driving coverage, awareness and conversation

In collaboration with Cadbury, the official snack partner of the women’s national team, Media Central developed a unique podcast named COYGIG (Come On You Girls In Green) dedicated to covering women’s football. The goal was to increase coverage of the women’s game through mainstream media, driving awareness and conversation around the women’s football.

Off The Ball has been actively championing women’s sport in general over the last few years and embraced this new opportunity to work with a brand to further champion women’s football in Ireland. The approach was very straightforward – to cover women’s football just as they would men’s football.

The COYGIG Podcast was a a brand-new platform entirely dedicated to covering women’s football with ten special episodes integrated into mainstream coverage around the tournament, amplifying Cadbury’s association with the team.

This weekly podcast covered all the latest news, fixtures, previews, reviews and analysis of the women’s game and quickly became a permanent and popular fixture in Off The Ball’s content output. The content was podcast-first, but also distributed across Off The Ball’s myriad of available touchpoints, with the full podcast show also recorded and the videoed show going out on social media, as well as short-form highlight clips across FM and social media.

Drumming up local grassroots support

Cadbury also aimed to use the Women’s World Cup to raise awareness of Cadbury’s support for women’s football at a grassroots level. Media Central’s regional network, consisting of 7 regional and local radio station, provided the perfect platform for this. They recorded content with local football clubs around the country and broadcasted it across each station’s on-air and social platforms. Each station ran cross-platform activities, including:

• Cadbury messaging around Women’s World Cup updates in editorial Sports Bulletins delivered through sports reader live mentions.
• Bespoke recorded on-air messages of support for the girls in green for their group fixtures, featuring voices from local grassroots clubs around the country.
• Bespoke social video content featuring local grassroots clubs around the country