WEALTH March 17, 2026 0 Comments

How Caroline Donnellan’s Unconventional Three-Pillar Strategy Cracked the Code to MotY 2023 Success—and What It Means for Sky’s Future

Since 1993, the Marketer of the Year Award has stood as a beacon spotlighting Ireland’s marketing maestros—those rare leaders who don’t just follow trends but command the tides. Now, as MediaPLUS prepares to dive deep into the stories of these iconic figures, one can’t help but ask: what alchemy turns a good marketer into a legend? Take Caroline Donnellan, for instance—Sky Ireland’s marketing powerhouse who flipped the narrative on a well-known UK brand to forge an authentic Irish connection. It’s no small feat in an age when streaming battles and shifting consumer loyalties play hardball. What did it take to unify UK and Irish teams, champion women’s football, and launch a product that broke records? This journey isn’t merely about campaigns; it’s about vision, guts, and the instinct to trust your own path amidst the noise. So, if you’ve ever wondered how leadership, innovation, and heart collide to craft marketing magic, stay tuned—there’s a lot to learn from Ireland’s brightest. LEARN MORE

Since its launch in 1993, the Marketer of the Year Award has recognised Ireland’s most outstanding marketing leaders. In the weeks ahead, MediaPLUS will spotlight some of the iconic figures in Irish marketing who have had the honour of receiving the industry’s premier award.

Caroline Donnellan, director of brand and marketing, Sky Ireland, was unveiled by Marketing.ie as Marketer of the Year 2023 for her achievements in spearheading a new three-pillar strategy for Sky, which saw a global brand more synonymous with the UK market win over Irish consumers through local connections.

MotY candidates must show outstanding brand and business success through creative and effective marketing communications.

They should have a track record of driving growth for their brand and business, and a background in leadership, having managed, upskilled and inspired teams.

The judges seek out career marketers with a proven track record.

Donnellan has almost 20 years’ experience in marketing. She joined Sky in 2019, having previously worked with EBS Building Society and KBC Bank.

Her MotY submission was based on the strategies she pioneered at Sky Ireland over 18 months.

Up to then, the local Sky team was part of a UK set-up, ‘lifting and shifting’ campaigns for the Irish market.

Sky’s new strategy was centred around creating local autonomy for the brand in Ireland.

The aim was to build stronger brand affinity, connect more with Irish consumers and drive better results across brand and sales metrics.

While brand awareness was not a concern, Sky faced a fast-changing market with an explosion in consumer demand for streaming services during the pandemic.

Unite

While streaming grew, the paid TV market declined. Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon were spending heavily and impacting on Sky’s share of voice.

Donnellan had to unite Sky’s UK and Irish marketing teams and bring together brand strategy and activation.

It was decided to rely less on Sky Creative output in the UK and develop a new model in Dublin. Core was hired as Sky’s Irish agency.

Donnellan devised a plan to build a best-in-class marketing team, champion local campaigns and strengthen Irish connections with a preferential focus on under 35s and young families.

Prompted by its heritage as a sports brand, Sky chose to become the first lead sponsor of Ireland’s women’s football team.

The platform kicked off in September 2021 under the ‘Outbelieve’ banner.

The results saw Sky Ireland embed a new marketing structure and culture.

The company won marketing team of the year at the Marketing Institute’s AIM awards. Commercial results were delivered through local ownership.

The ‘Outbelieve’ women’s national football team sponsorship grew brand affinity by 23 per cent and Sky Glass was its biggest ever product launch in Ireland.

Runner-up

The runner-up for Marketer of the Year 2023 was Aislinn O’Connor, marketing director of Three for both the UK and Ireland.

In her presentation, O’Connor outlined the highlights of her work, which included the Irish marketing function of Three Ireland to be ranked as the global best in class with the CK Hutchinson network.

As marketing director for the two markets, she was tasked with leading a team of 130 people across quite separate businesses, with two in-house agency teams.

O’Connor explained her strategies following Three’s acquisition of 02 from Telefonica. Customer insight indicated that while 02 customers knew little about Three, 02 was a widely trusted and popular brand.

The biggest risk for the merging brands was a potentially skittish and sizeable customer base. O’Connor developed plans to retain the base through the transition period.

Caroline Donnellan of Sky Ireland with her Marketer of the Year 2023 award. (Pic: Brian McEvoy)

The ads created by Boys+Girls with media by Core won major industry awards. ‘Connected Island’ was a major stand-out at Cannes, the Effies and the AIMs.

At the MotY presentations, the two finalists were asked for their top career tips. Donnellan said: “Trust your gut, your instinct… yourself.” O’Connor said: “Follow your nose when learning new things.”

DMG Media Ireland is a Marketer of the Year™ (MotY) partner. Launched by Marketing.ie in 1993, the award recognises and honours standards of excellence in Irish marketing. The winner is someone who proves that by using strategy, innovation, communications and impact on the target market to the best effect, they make their brand, product or service an outstanding success.

Photo: (Left to right) Dynamo Managing Director Roisin Ni Raighne, Jamie Helly -Founder of Dynamo , Caroline Donnellan of Sky Ireland who was announced as Marketer of the Year 2023 , Barry Dooley of the AAI, and Orlaith Ryan CCO at Sky Ireland. Picture Brian McEvoy