In Ireland, athletes who dream of competing at the Olympics or Paralympics have more than athleticism and qualification to contend with. With low levels of funding compared with many of their international competitors and training schedules and commitments taking up the majority of their time, many athletes struggle to stay afloat financially. And with the games now being postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this will only serve to exacerbate this struggle for our athletes.
The Local Currency
An innovative new currency to fuel Ireland’s Olympic & Paralympic athletes
Client
- Circle K
Office
- Dublin
Challenge
Inspiration
Circle K have forecourts in towns and villages all across Ireland. So, as part of Circle K's sponsorship of Team Ireland for the Tokyo Olympics & Paralympics, we set out to make Circle K a pillar of communities right across the country.
Idea
"The Local Currency" - a technologically innovative program that gives communities around Ireland a role to play in supporting Team Ireland, leveraging data, technology and community spirit in a way never seen before. The Local Currency is generated by the community to help fuel their local Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Utilizing Circle K’s existing Play or Park loyalty functionality, it enables customers to collect points for themselves with the added functionality of generating unique ‘coins’ for their local Olympic and Paralympic athletes to spend on fuel, food and drink in-store.
Growth
As of April 2020 almost 90% of Team Ireland athletes have signed up and benefited from this new currency already.