ESA Ireland & MII Masterclass : Reframing Sponsorship

In-Person Course
From €850 per person
3rd December 2025

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Reframing Sponsorship: A Strategic Brand Asset

The European Sponsorship Association and the Marketing Institute Ireland are joining forces to deliver a one-day intensive workshop led by brand expert Damian Devaney — designed to demonstrate why sponsorship should be seen as one of the most powerful tools in strategic brand building.

This session will challenge outdated views of sponsorship as a tactical or siloed activity and instead reposition it as a core element of modern marketing strategy — capable of driving real, measurable brand impact.

 It’s about forging authentic connections with the audiences that matter, building lasting brand affinity, and proving that well-integrated sponsorship can directly influence the key drivers and barriers in your market.

What You’ll Learn:

How to shift sponsorship from short-term exposure to long-term brand equity

Frameworks to align sponsorship with brand strategy and broader marketing goals

The winning formula for best-in-class strategic sponsorship programmes

Who this event is for:

Senior professionals working in brand and marketing roles
Decision-makers responsible for buying sponsorship rights
Senior agency professionals with a focus on brand strategy

This event is not open to junior staff or non-brand focused roles, as the content is tailored specifically to those shaping brand strategy and sponsorship decisions.

ESA Ireland & MII Masterclass : Reframing Sponsorship – €850 per ticket
*ESA Ireland & MII Member Rate

ESA Ireland & MII Masterclass : Reframing Sponsorship – €950 per ticket
**Non Member Rate

ESA Ireland & MII Masterclass : Reframing Sponsorship – €1100 per bundle
***Includes 1 year MII membership

Members should log in to book tickets to ensure the best price and experience.

Orla Mitchell

ex-CEO WaterWipes & National Marketing Champion 2026

Prior to her board career, Orla worked with WaterWipes between early 2020- end 2022. As CEO and board member she with her exec team implemented a 3-year strategy that more than doubled the business with the brand now a top global brand leader in all its key markets including the U.S. An Irish founder owned global success story the WaterWipes brand, as the world's purest baby wipe has disrupted the wipes category with exponential growth in multiple geographies globally.
Until May 2019 Orla was Global President of Gum & Mints at Mars Wrigley Confectionery, a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated. She led the Business Strategy, Global Innovation pipeline, Strategic P&L, capital program and Brand strategy for a Portfolio of Globally famous gum and mints brands including Orbit Extra, 5, Doublemint and Juicy Fruit to name but a few. She was also a member of the Mars Wrigley Leadership Team and Strategy team (a sub-team of the Leadership team responsible for Global Segment strategy).
Prior to this role she held the position of Chief Marketing Officer for Wrigley preceding the integration of the Mars Confectionery businesses. Orla was with Mars for 18 years in several different roles, and her business and marketing expertise across multiple regions make her a highly experienced strategic and marketing resource. Before joining Wrigley, Orla served as the CMO for Mars Global Food, where she promoted marketing excellence across the company’s global good business and helped create a strategic growth agenda. Prior to that, she was the European Marketing Director for Mars Foods Europe, where she was responsible for marketing Mars’ sauce brands in Europe. Orla began her time with Mars as the Marketing Director of Petcare for Mars Ireland and has moved up in the Marketing function since then. Orla has a passion for developing sustainable business legacy and growth strategies and has led several business turnarounds during her career to date. She is also very experienced in developing iconic and multi award winning communications campaigns.

Joe Heneghan - Revolut Europe

Partner & CEO, Revolut Europe

Joe Heneghan is Partner & CEO of Revolut Europe, leading the company’s expansion across the continent from 10 million to 45 million customers. With almost 30 years of leadership experience in banking, fintech, and public policy, he is part of Europe’s standout fintech success story and is changing how consumers and businesses engage with money. He previously held senior executive roles at Ulster Bank and Permanent TSB, having started his career in marketing, product management, and digital banking. He now plays a central role in shaping the future of financial services in Ireland and Europe. Joe serves on the European Central Bank’s Euro Retail Payments Board and the Department of Finance’s Industry Advisory Council. He is also a former Chair and current board member of Financial Services Ireland, representing the Irish financial services sector. Joe holds a B.Comm from the University of Galway and is a Certified Bank Director, accredited by the Institute of Bankers and UCD. He has also been a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland for 30 years.

Alison Flannery

Research Director at Amárach Research

A dualist researcher, Alison has worked with Irish, UK and International brands and services during her 30-year research career. Originally from the UK, Alison studied Consumer Sciences in Newcastle upon Tyne before embarking on a Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) research and customer experience journey.
She has been in Ireland and with Amárach for the past 12 years, where she remains hands-on with various research projects and leads the research & ops teams.

Michael Carey

Chairman of Enterprise Ireland

Michael is co-founder and Executive Chairman of ‘East Coast Bakehouse’, Ireland's only commercial scale biscuit producer and also co-founder and Chairman of ‘The Company of Food’, a specialist food investment business. He is the current Chairman of The Housing Agency.

Beyond his leadership in food innovation, he has played key roles in An Bord Bia, Marketing Institute of Ireland, Grow Dublin Tourism Alliance, and many other influential organisations. He also serves as a judge for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

David Gillick

Former Irish Olympic Athlete

David stepped off the track in 2013 after a successful athletics career which included winning Ireland’s first sprint gold medal in 76 years when winning the European Indoor 400m championships in 2005, he went on to retained his title in 2009 and became an Olympian in 2008. A major goal for David was to compete in a global 400m final and 2009 he achieved just that, when finishing 6th in the Berlin World Championships. He still holds both the indoor and outdoor Irish 400m records.

Post his athletics career David went from full time corporate employment to the winning celebrity MasterChef and more recently was one of only three contestants to pass RTE’s gruelling hit TV show, Hellweek.

David’s core passions and values are built around fitness, food and promoting a healthy body and mind and has become a vocal advocate on mental health.

He has written two bestselling books, David Gillick's Kitchen and Back On Track, David's 4 part plan to a healthy lifestyle, in which David talks openly and honestly about his struggles with mental health post a sporting career and the strategies he used in recovery.

Today, David works in a number of areas mainly corporate wellness, performance and media. He is a regular sports correspondence for RTE covering all major sporting events including the Olympic Games.

Passionate about Irish sport and the voice of the athlete, David is a founding member of the Olympic Federation Of Ireland’s Athlete Commission and currently sits on Sport Ireland’s Anti-doping committee.

Aimee Connolly

CEO Sculpted by Aimee

Aimee Connolly is one of Ireland’s most recognisable and loved beauty entrepreneurs and she can usually be found hard at work on her award-winning cosmetics range, Sculpted by Aimee. Sculpted by Aimee is one of the fastest-growing Irish beauty brands in the market. The company currently employs more than seventy staff and it plans to soon become a globally recognised brand. Winner of the 2021 EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and now sitting on the EY Entrepreneur of the Year judging panel, Aimee is a qualifi ed makeup artist with more than 12 years of experience.

Sculpted by Aimee now has stores in Dublin, Kildare, Belfast and London.

Sir John Hegarty

Founder, Creative Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), The Garage Entertainment

John Hegarty has been central to the global advertising scene over six decades working with brands such as Levi's, Audi, Boddingtons, Lynx, British Airways and Johnnie Walker. He was a founding partner of Saatchi and Saatchi in 1970. He co-founded Bartle Bogle Hegarty in 1982 with John Bartle and Nigel Bogle. The Agency now has offices in London, New York, Singapore, Stockholm, Shanghai, Mumbai and Los Angeles. John’s creative awards are numerous. He has been given the D&AD President's Award for outstanding achievement and in 2014 was admitted to the US AAF Hall of Fame. John was awarded a Knighthood in 2007 and was the recipient of the first Lion of St Mark award at the Cannes Festival of Creativity in 2011. John has written two books: ‘Hegarty on Advertising – Turning Intelligence into Magic’ and "Hegarty on Creativity - there are no rules". In 2014 John co-founded The Garage Soho, an early stage investment company that believes in building brands, not just businesses. In 2022 John co-founded The Garage Entertainment, which aims to unlock creative potential through inspiring, distinctive and entertaining products.

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