Boost for Cork as Marketing Start Up Wins National Contract

12th October 2015

Cork based shopper marketing and design agency Ball & Socket, have secured a national contract with the leading Irish grocery retailer SuperValu, which saw them fight off competition from other agencies.

Women in business, Aisling Murphy and Louise Ryan established Ball & Socket just two years ago having previously, forging out successful industry careers. Ball &Socket have now secured a national contract with leading Irish grocery retailer SuperValu. With their team of in house experts in design and strategy based in Blackpool, Ball & Socket will work hand in hand with SuperValu in 2016 as their appointed strategic, shopper marketing agency, delivering the retailer’s in store communication.

The move comes as a boost to Cork, with Aisling Murphy admitting: “Securing such a prestigious partnership with SuperValu is a real coup for Ball & Socket as a relatively new, Munster based agen-cy. We see it as a real testament to the talent here in Cork and we look forward to delivering some tru-ly impactful work in the coming months”.

This partnership is good news for design and marketing in Cork, with a number of skilled roles se-cured to deliver on this contract. “We are proud to work with SuperValu to provide employment in Cork, Munster is bursting with talent and skilled individuals, who we know will be thrilled to have this opportunity”, said Louise Ryan.

Since its inception in 2013, Ball & Socket have gone from strength to strength, establishing contracts with global businesses such as FMCG heavyweights Mars Ireland and Molson Coors, and key pharma-ceutical player Actavis. “It has certainly been an exciting number of years for Ball & Socket, we are privileged to work with some truly world class businesses who trust us to deliver their marketing com-munication”, said Aisling.

A recent survey amongst key practitioners in FMCG completed by Engage*, showed a significant pri-oritisation of shopper marketing across Irish Industry with 65% of the companies surveyed making it a priority in the last 5 years. Shopper marketing is a discipline which has been employed by retailers for many years, it is designed to drive growth by improving the shopping experience for the customer. Louise said, “We specialise in shopper marketing which aims to engage the consumer through their shopping journey. It is informed by truly understanding and responding to shoppers behaviours. Our work has helped clients successfully grow market share, brand awareness, regularly resulting in dou-ble digit sales increase.”

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