James Byrne, marketing manager, PML Group with this week’s Out \ Look on Out of Home.
Painting the town Green
The theme of this year’s St. Patrick’s Festival is ‘One’, extending an invite to people from all over the world to ‘come to Dublin and celebrate together as one’ this St Patrick’s Day. Half a million spectators are expected to line the route for the parade on the streets of Dublin, which is set to be the largest ever, featuring 7 creative pageants, 10 transitional showpiece performances, 15 marching bands from across Ireland, North America and Canada, and over 4,000 participants in total.
Nearly 500,000 passengers expected to pass through Ireland’s two busiest airports over St Patrick’s weekend. Many will fly here to watch the St Patrick’s Day parade or watch Ireland take on England in their Six Nations clash on Saturday.
Taxi booking app FREE NOW predicts St Patrick’s festivities mixed with Saturday’s Grand Slam opportunity for the Irish rugby team will see a surge in demand for taxis. It expects the busiest time on the app so far this year to come this Saturday morning at 1am – with up to 30,000 requests an hour and eight requests per second expected. It said the weekend will be one of the busiest so far this year – with a 30% increase in tax trips expected compared to last year.
As part of our Media Impact Study results, key occasions were noted to be crucial opportunities for brands to influence the buying decisions of consumers. As St. Patrick’s Day closes in, brands are once again faced with a key occasion that all Irish consumers can resonate with. With a much greater opportunity to generate both physical and mental availability for audiences, brands are seizing that opportunity by painting the town green this March 17th.
Panadol
Haleon has taken to the streets and stores to celebrate the fact that Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, is the global home of Panadol: around 6.5 billion Panadol tablets are produced here each year.
The centrepiece of OOH activity is a special build Golden Square on Ushers Quay. It comprises a 3D packet cut at angle, Made in Ireland Lightbox and a 2D flag with LED strip lighting behind the flag in the different colours.
“Panadol has been made in Dungarvan for over 40 years and we are delighted again to launch our ‘Made in Ireland’ out of home campaign, coinciding with St Patrick’s Day,” notes Lucy Else, Brand Manager at Haleon, “We were thrilled with the results we received last year following our campaign, so we knew we wanted to do something even bigger in 2023. The Special Build in Usher’s Quay has surpassed our expectations and we thank PML Group for helping to bring our vision to life.”
Created by RTÉ and planned by Zenith and Source out of home the campaign also encompasses Classic and Digital 6s across roadside and retail environments alongside T-Sides and Digital Bridges.
Cadbury
This year Cadbury is utilising OOH in calling on people across the nation to join them in becoming a ‘St. Patrick’s Daymaker’ on March 17th. Ireland is known around the globe for its instinctive generosity and this year, people can #BeADaymaker by showing true Irish spirit by committing small and meaningful acts of generosity.
Created by The Public House and VCCP and planned by Spark Foundry and PML the OOH campaign encompasses Classic and Digital 6s across roadside and retail environments alongside T-Sides.
Guinness 0.0
As featured in multiple PR releases this past week, Guinness 0.0 are going all in to make this a ‘St Patrick’s Day To Remember’.
Planned by Source OOH and PHD, running across a combination of digital roadside formats, the Outdoor feature ties into the broader campaign offering a free pint of the no/low variant by way of a QR code set into the glass. Classic and digital large formats meanwhile showcase ‘0.0’Donohue’s’ pub, rebranded as part of the campaign and serving to highlight the 300+ pubs across the country serving Guinness 0.0 this St. Patrick’s Day and throughout the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Guinness Storehouse are running in tandem. Highlighting the venue as a must-visit spot across the weekend, the creative from In The Company of Huskies brandishes a similar occasional green hue overlaying their gravity bar, framed as pint two pint glasses. Also planned by Source OOH and PHD, the campaign is running across an abundant mix of classic and traditional formats including T-Sides, Transvisions, Digipanels, Digishelters, Aerpods, Skyscreens, Orbscreens, Micromedia panels, and the Green Screen at Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre.
McDonald’s
Planned by Source OOH and Zenith, McDonald’s Shamrock Shake is ‘Back for the Craic’ on Outdoor panels this cycle running across Digipanels and Digishelters.
The annual milkshake offering has become a seasonal staple in the fast-food giant’s menu since its introduction to the Irish market, signalling St. Patrick’s Day is closing in and often generating a buzz on social media.
This year’s creative from agency Leo Burnell cleverly positions three of the titular sweet drinks in the formation of a shamrock, generating a message that is easily understood and well-aligned with the occasion.
EPIC, The Irish Emigration Museum
In a continuation from their ‘This Is Not Us’ campaign, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum is reminding revellers that there is more to St. Patrick’s Day than oversized shamrock glasses and plastic green tat. It’s created by The Public House and planned by BDO Digital and PML.
Working across OOH and social, the “This is not us” campaign contrasts modern-day St. Patrick’s Day attire with historical images of Irish people. The campaign isn’t about raining on anyone’s parade, but encouraging tourists and locals alike to dig a little bit deeper and discover what it truly means to be Irish and how that meaning is forever tied to the people who have left these shores.
For more information on how to use OOH to engage consumers and play a role in leveraging communal experiences on key occasions, contact the PML Group team.
Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit!
