Celebrating its 45th year, the Irish Car of the Year (ICOTY) awards in association with Continental Tyres continues to set the standard for automotive excellence. For 2025, Cullen Communications once again delivered a multi-channel strategy aimed at raising the profile of the Awards.

The 2025 ceremony in Dublin’s Conrad Hotel welcomed over 160 guests, the highest attendance in recent years, including motoring journalists from all major print, online, and broadcast outlets, along with senior executives from the automotive brands competing for the awards.

Ahead of the awards, we supported ICOTY’s and Continental’s presence at the NEVO EV Show in the RDS, Dublin, where 22 vehicles proudly displayed ICOTY 2025 award eligibility and Continental Tyres branding to 19,500 visitors at the show.

Our strategic media engagement generated more than 125 earned articles across all media formats that mentioned the ICOTY award winners, including in-depth car reviews, all prominently featuring title sponsor Continental Tyres.

From creation of branded content, digital assets to event production and press outreach, Cullen Communications ensured the Irish Car of the Year 2025 awards was another standout campaign for the automotive industry, reinforcing its status as Ireland’s main awards platform and delivering strong brand exposure for Continental.

The Irish Car of the Year awards, in association with Continental Tyres, are Ireland’s longest-running and foremost automotive awards scheme. We have been managing the programme for more than 35 years. The awards are run each year in conjunction with the Motoring Media Association of Ireland (MMAI), and the event for the 2024 award took place in the Conrad Hotel, Dublin, on 3rd November 2023.

As PR agency to the Continental Tyres-sponsored awards programme, the main job of Cullen Communications is to keep the spotlight on the awards throughout the year, then create as big a splash as possible around the gala awards event which takes place in November each year.

We designed this year’s trophies to emphasise the ‘Irishness’ of the awards through the use of local materials (slate and copper) and the ‘torc’ motif – a sign of high rank in Irish Celtic society, which in itself echoes a moving part from a car engine, be it an EV or ICE model.

For the 2024 award, the overall winner was the Hyundai IONIQ 6 – the fourth year in a row that an Electric Vehicle took the overall award.

We have worked with the McGreals Group since 2020, helping to raise awareness of Irish-manufactured Novaerus air disinfection technology throughout the pandemic and beyond. Novaerus devices have been independently proven to inactivate all viruses, bacteria and spores from the air, making the technology suitable for all indoor environments. 

While most of our work has focused on B2B sectors, there is another high-profile sector that relies on clean indoor air: sport. 

Leveraging our connections in sports sponsorship, we identified Leinster Rugby as a potential partner for McGreals and a great fit with the proven benefits of this cutting-edge technology.  

We represented McGreals in negotiations with the 4-time European Cup champions and agreed a deal that would see our client become official clean air partner of Leinster Rugby – the first partnership of its kind in rugby. We organised a video/photography session at the Leinster Rugby campus and orchestrated a PR campaign announcing the partnership and emphasising key benefits of the technology in a high-performance sports setting.

The Continental Irish Car of the Year awards are Ireland’s longest-running and foremost automotive awards scheme. Cullen Communications has been managing the programme for the past 20 years: liaising with the judging panel which assesses the eligible cars and vans; managing the awards event; and spearheading the PR and communications strategy. The 2020 Irish Car of the Year awards took place in Dublin’s the Westin hotel on 17th November 2019.

Background

Strategy

Execution

Final result

Continental Tyres, a global leader in automotive safety and performance, partnered with Cullen Communications to identify and secure a high-impact sponsorship opportunity that aligned with their brand values. In 2019, we brokered and launched the Continental Tyres National Adventure Race Series, a gruelling multisport challenge featuring trail running, cycling and kayaking in stunning rugged locations across Ireland.

As the official agency managing the sponsorship, we took a hands-on approach from the outset. We coordinated a national launch event, managed media relations across both motoring and sports press, and created dynamic content to bring the action to life. Our team also handled social media management for the series, generating race updates, athlete profiles and real-time stories from the trail.

To maximise brand impact on the ground, we oversaw marketing activations at events across the country and supported Continental in recognising the top male and female champions at the season-end awards. Our efforts helped position Continental as a performance-first brand that celebrates endurance, resilience, and outdoor spirit.

In 2017, Ford Ireland marked 100 years since the company’s arrival in Cork, where Henry Ford, of Irish descent, founded a manufacturing plant. This once-in-a-lifetime campaign was designed to celebrate that legacy while also reinforcing Ford’s future-facing relevance in an evolving automotive world.

Cullen Communications led all PR and event management activities for the centenary celebration. A rich narrative was developed around Ford’s contribution to the Irish economy, the emotional ties to Cork, and its innovative vision for the future of transport. The campaign was anchored by a weeklong visit from Ford’s Executive Chairman, William Clay Ford Jr., who served as the campaign’s figurehead.

Key elements included illuminating Cork City Hall in ‘Ford Blue’ with the Ford 100 logo, coordinating a high-profile gala dinner attended by Ford’s global leadership, and securing national TV, radio, print, and digital media coverage. Cullen handled all logistics, content creation, press coordination, and stakeholder engagement.

The story reached national and international audiences, achieving a 7% increase in unprompted brand awareness and earning Ford standout status during its milestone year.

Cullen Communications launched the online lotto betting brand Tipp24 in Ireland in March 2017. To explain the concept and convey the brand’s Irish credentials, we recruited the Ireland rugby international Sean O’Brien to be the face of our launch. Central to our strategy was the creation of a high-value piece of video content that showed Sean ‘picking his lotto numbers’ by doing what he does best – smashing people on a rugby pitch.

Strategy

Execution

Final Result

The Camogie Association wanted to continue with the successful “Our Game Your Game” campaign in 2016 and were keen to elevate the campaign through player profiling.

We knew that the #OurGameYourGame campaign had gained good momentum over the years but our understanding women’s offer real insights into the training inter county teams were doing to get the edge on the competition. For this series, our primary focus was on profiling the strength and conditioning aspect of preparing for the Camogie Championships.  

In partnership with the Camogie Association we identified players who had an interesting story to tell and scheduled a content gathering day with these four players ahead of the Championship.

We worked closely on creative concepts with photographers and videographers and used a rugged strength and conditioning gym backdrop for the shoot. The edgy backdrop was important to move further away from the misconceptions of traditional Camogie training and match day preparations.

The campaign offered a fresh insight into the type of training and commitment that inter county players give to their sport. Working with four key players from four senior inter county teams help us to secure media interest in national and regional media outlets. 

:ontinental Tyres, a premium global tyre manufacturer, sought to connect with a younger, values-driven audience through its sponsorship of the the Football Association of Ireland’s Women’s National League (WNL). While the brand enjoyed strong equity in motoring circles, it saw an opportunity to amplify its support for women in sport and position itself as a genuine ally in the growth of the game.

Cullen Communications designed and executed a multi-year PR and content strategy to maximise Continental’s role in the league. Our work focused on human-led storytelling, community engagement, and sponsorship activation that felt authentic and emotionally resonant. This included original content such as Tough At The Top, a documentary on Wexford Youths FC, and #TheRoadITravel, a campaign profiling the journeys of WNL athletes.

Through carefully planned media outreach, loyalty programmes, and collaboration with the FAI’s communications team, we helped build visibility and credibility for both the league and the sponsor.

The result was a standout example of sports sponsorship done right: meaningful, memorable, and measurable.

Thomas Cook Holidays, incorporating well-known names like Sunworld, Panorama, Direct Holidays and Club 18-30, was entering a transformative phase in 2009. The business was consolidating its various brands under the single Thomas Cook umbrella in Ireland. It needed to maintain consumer trust, communicate the benefits of the merged offering and drive renewed interest during a time of industry volatility and changing travel behaviours.

As the lead PR agency in Ireland, we launched creative stunts such as “Direct Holidaymakers” where actors dressed in beachwear rode Dublin public transport to launch the summer brochure. Another campaign introduced “Tommy the Beach Ball,” a street ambassador who interacted with the public with social giveaways. We also supported Thomas Cook’s presence at the National Ploughing Championships, creating a Mediterranean-themed stand that generated strong visibility and customer interaction.

These stunts were supported by Facebook competitions, late-deal placements in key media titles and frequent media drops and FAM trips to destinations. When travel crises occurred, including the Arab Spring and the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud, we worked closely with the head office to provide localised crisis management. This ensured Irish media and travellers received timely, reassuring communications.

Through consistent messaging, creativity and collaboration, we helped Thomas Cook remain a top-of-mind holiday brand for Irish consumers while reinforcing its value to travel agents and the trade.