Is é Aaron Poole, feidhmeannach margaíochta, PML Group, a scríobh Out \ Look na seachtaine seo
OOH Goes Green for St. Patrick’s Day
St Patrick’s Day is almost upon us once again. The theme of this year’s national St. Patrick’s Festival is ‘Eachtraí’ (the Irish word for ‘adventures’) representing the famed and legendary adventurous spirit that lives inside us all, known and loved the world over as a defining symbol of Irishness.
Half a million spectators are expected to line the route for the parade on the streets of Dublin, which is set to be one of the largest in recent history, featuring 7 large-scale pageants, 6 transitional showpiece performances, 12 marching bands from across Ireland, North America, and Austria, and over 4,000 participants in total.
A projected 400,000 passengers are expected to pass through Dublin airport this week. Many will fly here to watch the St Patrick’s Day parade, while many will fly out to cheer on Ireland in their final Six Nations clash vs Italy at the Stadio Olimpico. Cork and Shannon airports are expected to handle over 53,000 and 38,000 passengers respectively over the weekend also.
As a key occasion that all Irish consumers can resonate with, St. Patrick’s Day offers a much greater attention opportunity by generating both physical and mental availability for audiences. Brands are seizing that opportunity by marching to the beat of attention in a parade of OOH this March 17th.
A Golden Opportunity with 7UP Zero Sugar
7UP Zero Sugar is embracing the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day with a vibrantly green campaign that blends seasonal celebration with consumer engagement. ‘We’re all UP for St. Patrick’s Day’ is planned by OMD and Source out of home, strategically placing formats near key retail locations to influence purchasing decisions while leveraging large-scale formats to build mental availability.
The creative leans into the festive mood, with limited-edition can designs featuring a St. Patrick’s Day-inspired aesthetic. Further leaning into the seasonal narrative, the brand has embedded a limited number of ‘Golden’ cans within the range. Consumers who find these special cans will win €700 – a playful nod to the idea of ‘the luck of the Irish’.
With daylight hours increasing and brighter weather arriving in Dublin, the campaign is well-timed to align with seasonal changes. As people step out to enjoy the extended hours of sunlight, 7UP Zero Sugar remains top of mind as a refreshing choice amplified by its emerging association with the holiday.
KFC’s Bucket of Gold is worth chasing
KFC is bringing a taste of fortune to St. Patrick’s Day with its limited-time ‘Bucket of Gold’ campaign. Tapping into the familiar imagery of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the brand is serving up a golden offer of its own – six pieces of Original Recipe chicken at 50% off for one week only.
The campaign is running exclusively across mall digital formats, ensuring high visibility in key retail environments where footfall is strong. Reinforcing the thematic connection to the occasion, a special projection is planned for March 15th and 16th, expected to take place in Dublin. The campaign is managed by Spark Foundry and PML, with the projection element handled by Tenvito.
With a short run-time and a focus on high-impact retail locations, this campaign is a prime example of how a brand can use OOH to drive urgency, awareness, and in-store action in a way that integrates well with the zeitgeist.
Guinness Storehouse’s Once-in-a-lifetime Celebration
The Guinness Storehouse is once again highlighting the venue as a must-visit spot across the weekend, opening its doors to visitors from around the world to experience modern Irish sociability and culture from March 14 to 18 with a selection of Ireland’s top performers.
The Out of Home campaign is planned by PHD and Source out of home, with the creative featuring the iconic Guinness gates opening to welcome green-clad individuals for the seasonal event. The campaign is running across an abundant mix of classic and traditional formats including T-Sides, Golden Squares, roadside digital 6s, and the Green Screen at Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre. Dynamic DOOH had been employed via LIVEPOSTER across the last few weeks counting down the days to the festival and event.
The Storehouse – which was recently commended as the world’s leading tourist attraction – is taking advantage of the increased footfall over the weekend from the airport to the city. Visitors landing at Terminal 2 are hit with prompts to pay a visit to Ireland’s most popular attraction with formats including Wall Wraps, Sky Screens, and a special build archway.
McDonald’s Shakes it Up
Planned by Source OOH and Zenith, McDonald’s Shamrock Shake has been on display on Outdoor panels in the lead up to this week, running across roadside digital.
The annual milkshake offering has continued to endure as a seasonal staple of the brand’s menu since its introduction to the Irish market, signalling St. Patrick’s Day is closing in and often generating a buzz across social media.
Some may notice the creative – from agency Leo Burnett – positions the menu item similarly to the ‘Grimace’ shake, departing from the shamrock formation creative from previous years. The wider media campaign elements feature Uncle O’Grimacey, Grimace’s Irish uncle who hasn’t made a public appearance in over 40 years. Uncle O’Grimacey was first introduced by the chain in 1975 to promote the then-newly released Shamrock Shake.
Aware Harbour2Harbour Walk
Fancy doing something a bit different this St Patrick’s Day?
Aware’s Harbour2Harbour Walk returns for its 18th year, raising vital funds for the charity’s services for people affected by depression and bipolar disorder across Ireland.
Planned by Javelin Dublin and Source out of home, the event is supported on OOH with a campaign running across commuter 6s, rail cards and bus lower rears, encouraging consumers to take on the 26km challenge. Registrations for the walk are open at aware.ie/harbour2harbour.
Panadol waves the flag for Ireland
Haleon have once again 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 campaign is planned by Zenith and Source out of home with inherently Irish creative from RTÉ displaying the brand’s Extra variant set to a background bearing the Irish tricolour, painting the streets green, white and orange across T-Sides and classic/digital 6s in roadside environments.
The centrepiece of OOH activity focuses on Actifast in the form of a special build 48 Sheet at Gardiner Place. It comprises a shamrock shape frame set into the creative, which is filled with actual shamrock reinforcing the Made in Ireland tagline proudly displayed above a tricolour emanating from the product box. The copyline playfully nods to those who may have awaken with a sore head after St. Patrick’s Day festivities – ‘Lucky for your pain, there’s Panadol’.
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. For prompting spend on key occasions, Out of Home format were considered the top media ahead of TV/VoD, Social Media and Radio.
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!
