Media and Marketing: The Irish banking sector has often been described as a cosy duopoly between AIB and Bank of Ireland. Even the arrival of Bank of Scotland, Rabo Bank and Northern Rock has not reduced the market share of these two groups by a huge degree.

This has prompted many observers outside the industry to conclude that the two largest incumbents are not too worried about the arrival of foreign foes. This would not appear to be the case if one looks at figures concerning advertising spend in 2006.

In the outdoor section of the market - where consumer brands tend to dominate - the banks have increased their spending by an astonishing scale. This indicates an enthusiasm by the incumbents to protect their market share and by the newcomers to pinch share from AIB and Bank of Ireland.

One figure alone bears this out. The banking sector's spend on outdoor sites rose by over 100 per cent in 2006 alone. AIB and Bank of Ireland shared over €4.5 million in outdoor spending and the rebranding of Bank of Scotland (Ireland) to Halifax in late 2006 further boosted all this spending.

The figures come from Dublin-based firm Poster Management Ltd.

AIB, for instance, upped its spending on outdoor advertising by 140 per cent, while its rival, Bank of Ireland, increased its by 236 per cent. While getting a share of the SSIA proceeds was clearly a part of this trend, the generally more competitive climate must also have played a part. With both banks making profits of several million euro a day, the money spent on advertising is tiny, but it does indicate a concerted attempt by both institutions to guard their home front.

Croker rugby boost

The larger capacity available at Croke Park compared to old Lansdowne Road already seems to be having benefits for the IRFU.

Saor Communications, the advertising agency, is reporting this week that the print run for the various match programmes is set to double for the Croke Park Six Nations matches. That should mean more advertisements.

Half-page colour ads in either the England or France match programme cost about €2,250 which offers quite good value, according to Saor.

Many observers believe the novelty of rugby being played at Croker is likely to push up the usual viewing figures.

The French match last February 11th averaged 310,000 adults and the English match on last year's St Patrick's weekend averaged 590,000 adults.

Talking points

If Gordon Brown becomes the next British prime minister and if Bertie Ahern is re-elected as Taoiseach in the summer they will have something to talk about the next time they meet.

Both have been targeted in aggressive advertising campaigns by Ryanair. For years the Taoiseach was berated by the airline for his inaction over a second terminal at Dublin and for not breaking up what the airline calls the Dublin airport monopoly.

This week Brown got similar treatment in the British papers, with the normally dour Scot dressed in cowboy outfit under the banner headline Welcome to Britain - This is a stick-up. Brown's decision to increase air passenger duties to £10 has predictably raised the hackles of the airline. The airline now wants its UK passengers to email "greedy Gordon" to think again. The chances of the campaign succeeding?

Well, despite spending thousands of euro in Ireland trying to prompt a certain decision from Bertie Ahern, the contract to build the new terminal was still given to the Dublin Airport Authority.

TV3's position

Figures this week from Nielsen appeared to spell bad news for TV3, showing the station slipping into third position behind RTÉ 1 and RTÉ 2.

But a closer look at the figures shows that the station - now owned by private equity group Doughty Hanson - still has a strong presence among the top three.

The figures need to be seen in context.

For example, children were counted among the market share figures even though they have never been part of TV3's demographic.

TV3 is still number 2 when it comes to adults generally and those between 15 and 44 years of age.