Savouring Kilkenny….

We had the great pleasure of spending the October bank holiday weekend in Kilkenny for the 13th annual Savour Kilkenny food festival. Upwards of 50,000 people descended on Ireland’s medieval city last weekend to celebrate Kilkenny’s finest local artisan producers and their produce. Joining them was a host of Ireland and the world’s most innovative celebrities and opinion makers in the world of food.

 

 

International visitors for this year’s festival included best-selling Australian author and national TV star, Kim McCosker who brought her 4 Ingredients thinking to the Savour stage. Kim is pictured below taking some time out of her busy schedule to chat to host Edward Hayden on KCLR FM.

 

 

Other familiar faces included homegrown Irish stars Paul Flynn of The Tannery, Dungarvan, Clodagh McKenna, Catherine Fulvio, Rory O’ Connell, Roz Purcell, Darren Kennedy and Mount Juliet’s Ken Harker and John Kelly.

 

 

As well as the KBC Wellness Stage and food and fitness bootcamp with Kathryn Thomas, other festival highlights included tented food and beverage stands, a Medieval Banquet at the Medieval Mile Museum, cooking demonstrations and talks, and kids fun and dining events.

 

 

Roz Purcell hosted a vegan night and also demonstrated how to cook vegan to a packed marquee. This year also saw the introduction of the new Food Provenance award in partnership with Kilkenny LEO and KCLR where local eateries were recognised for the focus they place on local and regional producers and seasonal cooking.

 

 

It was wonderful to experience the very best of Kilkenny’s vibrant food culture and to witness the city and county’s core commitment to supporting local growers and producers and local cafes and restaurants. See savourkilkenny.com for details of next year’s festival.

 

 

Ten Things SME’s Can Take From Big Brand Marketing Strategies….

We’ve had the pleasure of working with many great brands over the years and it has taught us a thing or two about marketing and PR. While we appreciate that global brands have bigger budgets, we believe there’s a lot that SME’s can take from big brand marketing strategies. In no particular order, here’s our top ten:

 

1. Work Seasonally

Big brands work on a calendar led basis. They plan strategy and activity months and years in advance. They look ahead and research what’s coming up, and develop campaigns around that. The calendar provides a natural opportunity for SME’s to shout about their business… from New Year’s to Valentine’s, Patrick’s Day, Easter, Summer, 4th of July, Back to School, Hallowe’en, Christmas and back to the New Year again. Not to mention a host of international days from World Tourism Day (Sept 27th) to International Day of Happiness (March 20th), World Wildlife Day (March 3rd) and Universal Children’s Day (Nov 20th). Here’s how we put the calendar to good use for clients this year…

 

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2. Adopt a Partnership Approach

Big brands are always on the look-out for mutually beneficial partnerships and opportunities to align their brand with like-minded organisations – it’s a natural way to reach a new and captive audience. Keep an eye out for events taking place locally that your business can partner with or support. For instance, in the run up to the Donegal Marathon, we hosted a RunWell Marathon Night at JT Physio. The event gave top tips and advice for those running a marathon including talks on physiotherapy, nutrition and training in the run up to the big day. And because numbers were limited, we captured the event on video and shared it with JT’s followers online.

 

Forming partnerships with other businesses can also be a good strategy, but it’s important to get the right fit. For example, working with Kinnegar Brewing, The Traveller’s Inn commissioned house beer ‘Baxters 1867’ in honour of the Baxter family whose connection to the building dates back to 1867. The beer is based on an American pale ale style in recognition of Samuel Alexander Baxter, who fought with the North in the American Civil War. The story generated strong local, national and trade coverage for both The Traveller’s Inn and Kinnegar…

 

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Working with Inishowen Motors, we partnered with Letterkenny, Laois and Galway Shopping Centres and Relay for Life, Donegal. Inishowen Motors donated one of their top of the range Kia’s for a charity drive from Ireland’s most northerly point, Malin Head to Tarifa, in the south of Spain. This activity raised €10,000 for Relay for Life Donegal and generated strong local and national coverage for all parties involved….

 

Non-Stop Charity Drive from Malin Head to Tarifa, Spain - Last night saw the launch of an innovative charity fundraiser in aid of the Irish Cancer Society. The fundraiser is the brainchild of Letterkenny Shopping Centre manager, Brian McCracken and two of his colleagues, Páraic Naughton from Galway Shopping Centre and Kevin Doyle from Laois Shopping Centre. The trio will undertake a non-stop charity drive from Donegal to Spain in a Kia Sorento, sponsored by Inishowen Motors.Photo- Clive Wasson

 

3. Mark the Milestone

Whether it’s a launch, first birthday or tenth anniversary, marking the milestone is a great way to shout about your business and remind people of what you do. The Traveller’s Inn, Milford recently marked its tenth birthday with a week long celebration and live music every night. To mark the occasion, we commissioned a bespoke cake of the building from Selena’s Creations and the images landed in all the local papers. Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure also celebrated a great first year in business with a week-long promotion offering customers the chance to win a €1,000 gift voucher and Inishowen Motors, the car partner for Highland Radio, marked the station’s 25th anniversary as part of the car handover this year…

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Insihowen Motors, Highland Radio. Photo- Clive Wasson

 

4. Be Brand Aware

This is something big brands do very well. Their brand identity and brand values influence everything they do. SME’s can also benefit from this approach and it’s worth taking the time to have a think about your brand identity and working with a good graphic designer to bring it to life. When the new owners of The Milford Inn wanted a fresh start, we worked closely with them, brainstorming suggestions for a new name and logo. We compiled a graphic design brief and enlisted the help of Fiona O’Reilly from On The Dot Creative, who then worked with the hotel’s in-house marketing team to bring the brand to life. We also worked with Donegal’s Early Learning Schools on a new name, logo and website. Big brands pay lots of attention to their social media channels to ensure they are engaging with consumers in the correct way. Your website is your shop window – if it doesn’t provide an up-to-date or accurate reflection of your business, then you need to change it…

 

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5. See The Bigger Picture

As a small local entity, it can be easy to overlook or dismiss potential opportunities with national media. However, we know from experience that national media are always on the look out for good news stories. We’ve hosted outside broadcasts in Donegal with national broadcasters including Today FM and 2FM. Earlier this summer, we worked with RTE’s Nationwide as they filmed at Donegal and Ireland’s first outdoor school. You can check out the piece on the RTE Player….

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6. Get In The Right Frame 

Good photography forms a key part of any brand’s marketing strategy. Through our work with the Earagail Arts Festival, (and with the help of some beautiful imagery), we’ve generated articles and features across a range of national and local titles from the Irish Times to the Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, Sunday Business Post, RTE Guide, Image and Social and Personal. Getting the right shot to accompany your story greatly enhances the chances of coverage. From a business profiling point of view, it’s important for SME’s to have a good selection of photography to represent key spokespeople – more than ever, papers are relying on you to provide suitable photography. Reaching out to the relevant political representative or securing the right brand ambassador for the photo (and your business) is also worth exploring…

 

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**** NO REPRODUCTION FEE **** DUBLIN : 19/06/2014 : Pictured was Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar with founders of Rascal’s Brewing Co, Emma Devlin and Cathal O'Donoghue. Founders of Rascal’s Brewing Co, Emma Devlin and Cathal O'Donoghue at the brand's official launch in The Mart, Rathmines. The pair discovered their love of craft beer while living in New Zealand and on return to Ireland, they set up Rascal's Brewing Co. They now produce a range of ‘Bold Irish beer’, three of which were showcased at the launch – Ginger Porter, Big Hop Red and Wit Woo (a Belgian wheat beer). Based in Dublin, Emma (28) is originally from Malin Head in Donegal and Cathal (32) is from Skibbereen, (near Mizen Head). Minister of Tourism, Transport and Sport, Leo Varadkar also attended the launch'. Picture Conor MCCabe Photography. MEDIA CONTACT : Mary Crawford, The Right Angle – 087 2774739 ormary@wordpress-494791-1578769.cloudwaysapps.com

 

7. Give Insights and Added Value

Leading brands are always thinking of ways to surprise and delight their customers. One way to do this is to give added value through unique insights, customer loyalty schemes, in-store promotions, events, competitions and giveaways. Through our work with REN NET and Donegal County Council, we helped promote a renewable energy trade fair, giving members of the public free access to renewable energy providers across the northwest. And in a series of videos for Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure, Michael chats to leading sportspeople from Donegal, gaining a unique insight into their lives, such as this one with Ballybofey boxer, Jason Quigley….

 

 

8. Celebrate Success

Whether it’s an award for your business or your customers, celebrating success is a positive way to share your story. Mulroy Music got widespread coverage when its students excelled at this year’s Ulster Fleadh. We also worked with John F. Loughrey Financial Services to share the story of their second successive win at The LPI Awards in The Mansion House in Dublin. Whatever success looks like for your business, make sure to celebrate it in the right way…

 

IBA LPI Awards 2015 in the Mansion House Dublin. PHOTO CREDIT: dak photohraphy

 

9. Get Creative

Big brands are always thinking of innovative ways to create news hooks, so media will write about them. A good example of this is the below art installation, ‘Reflect Yourself‘, which was fabricated by Henry McGinley & Sons in Milford and unveiled in Dublin as part of the St. Patrick’s Festival.

 

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10. Use Video

According to this article published in The Guardian, 64% of marketers expect video to dominate their strategies in the near future and half of all businesses are already integrating video content marketing into their strategies. 100 million people are watching videos daily and YouTube has one billion UNIQUE users each month. With online video quickly becoming a key means for people to satisfy their information and entertainment needs, small businesses that fail to include it in their internet marketing strategies will do so at their peril. Video is a great way to communicate your customer offering and unique selling point. For example, The Traveller’s Inn, Milford hosts one of the country’s best traditional music sessions every Wednesday, so we worked with videographer Paul Doherty to capture the atmosphere and share it with our followers online….

 

 

There are lots of ways that small businesses can market and promote themselves in creative and cost-effective ways – the secret lies in the execution. If you’ve an idea you’d like to develop or an event coming up that you feel could generate publicity for your business, then let us know. We’d be delighted to help….

Planning for 2015

As is customary for marketing heads at this time of year, we’re looking ahead and planning for 2015 to get some idea of what we can expect from the coming year. The good news is that there are lots of positives to take us into the new year and here’s our top 15…

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1. Ireland will continue to be the fastest growing economy in the European Union as Irish and foreign-owned companies start to invest again

2. Business and consumer confidence is set to increase even further than it did in 2014 

3. Retail sales are on a firm upward trend – meet your customer in 2015 (albeit a US one!)…

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4. Private consumption growth (year-on-year) turned positive for the first time since 2012 and this will continue into 2015

5. Unemployment (though still too high) is set to fall to 8% in 2015

6. Sustained growth is set to continue next year at around 3.6%

7. We get to celebrate some cool milestones like the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of our cultural icons, Nobel Laureate W.B. Yeats

8. Our current creatives continue to shine on a world stage, from musicians like Hozier (who played the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show earlier this month) to brilliant Irish designers like Don O’Neill, Simone Rocha and Emma Manley

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9. The Web Summit will be bigger and better… already a massive success this year and that’s without decent broadband. Imagine what it will bring in 2015, when hopefully (and we’re optimistic) the RDS will have sorted out its WIFI issues

10. Ireland is set to become a new technology hub for central and Eastern European firms looking to access the US market – that’s according to PwC

11. It’s set to be a good year for food lovers – 2015 marks the anniversary of the world’s first restaurant, which was opened 250 years ago by Mr. Boulanger in France. We suspect there’ll be lots of restaurants celebrating this milestone in their own unique way…

12. Content marketing remains king – more and more brands will become publishers of useful content that customers will actually thank them for. Writing is where it’s at…

13. Travel becomes more ‘local’ than ever and Ireland is perfectly placed to deliver the kinds of authentic experiences tourists are looking for

14. Our food scene is bustling and set to thrive even more next year

15. Ireland is open for business in 2015 – Are you? Now is the time to get your business ready and we are here to help…

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Earagail Arts Festival In Full Swing

We had a wonderful first day at Earagail Arts Festival. This morning’s Walking Donegal tour attracted a great crowd as locals joined visitors from Ireland and further afield to explore some beautiful landscape and learn more of our local history. Setting off from Doe Cemetery, walkers made their way across the old Light Gauge Railway walk, guided by local expert Seamus Doohan. Festival Director Paul Brown was among them and it was a beautiful morning for it…

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Then it was off to the Glebe Gallery for the official opening of the centerpiece of the festival’s visual arts programme, ‘Patrick Scott: Image Space Light’. Presented in association with IMMA, this exhibition is the most comprehensive representation of Scott’s 75 year long career and takes place across three Donegal venues: The Regional Cultural CentreAn Gailearai in Gweedore and The Glebe Gallery below…

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Christina Kennedy, Head of Collections at IMMA gave an insightful overview of the late artist’s career and his partner Eric Pearce spoke lovingly of his experiences watching Scott at work. He also gave some wonderful details on Scott’s practice of meditation and the art of Zen, as well as describing the influence that Japanese and Far Eastern culture had on him.

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The event included a special performance by The Japanese Kocarina Group – a fitting tribute to Scott, whose use of the recurring circular motif in his works was inspired by the Japanese flag. Here is a pic of the ladies getting ready for their performance…

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Next stop was the Regional Cultural Centre, where Municipal Mayor, Councillor Michael McBride officially opened the exhibition. He spoke of the importance of supporting events like Earagail Arts Festival and expressed the Council’s ongoing commitment to Arts and Culture in the county. We couldn’t agree more, afterall…

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As the event in the Regional Cultural Centre was coming to a close, things were hotting up in An Grianan Theatre. The crowds were gathering for ‘Fiesta’, a brand new play which tells the story of the dancers and chancers of one of the finest dancehalls in Ireland. The demand for this show is such that it sold out on its first night and an extra night was added for Tuesday, 15 July. Tickets are selling fast and booking is strongly advised – 074 91 20777 or via www.eaf.ie

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It was a great day all round in what promises to be a wonderful festival. If you missed out today, don’t worry because there are still 15 more jam packed days left. Get your copy of the programme and start planning your Earagail Arts Festival of summer. There are so many highlights ahead, like theatre production ‘I Do’ and outdoor spectacle ‘Imaginarium’. Here’s a taster of what’s still to come…

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Ireland Inspires

Loving the Ireland Inspires video from Failte Ireland – a great idea and it certainly inspired us this morning. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to one and all… #IrelandInspires

Digital Media in 2014

We’re working with The Samsung Digital Media Awards which takes place on Friday week in the Double Tree by Hilton, Burlington Road, Dublin. The volume and calibre of entries this year is reflective of the explosion in digital media in Ireland. The industry has grown to become one of the country’s most thriving and innovative sectors, generating much needed employment.rsz_digital-media-lawThis is part of a global trend, which sees digital marketing budgets continue to grow in 2014. A recent report from Conservant shows that overall, agencies expect a 20% year-over-year growth in digital spend in 2014, and brand marketers expect a 38% increase.

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Video continues to play a dominant role in digital marketing plans, with advertising and marketing decision-makers saying that spend on video will increase in 2014. Approximately 61% of marketers surveyed plan to use the channel as part of their strategies. Cross-device spend is also set to grow substantially, with 59% of advertisers planning to invest in the channel.

Get the full report here or check out this infographic for more info…

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Content Marketing

Really good infographic on the rise of content marketing…

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And a very useful matrix of what small businesses need to know when it comes to utilising content marketing in the most effective way for their business…

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Tourism in Ireland in 2014

We’ve started working with some clients in the hospitality sector and it has got us thinking about what tourists can expect of Ireland in 2014.

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In the wake of The Gathering, there certainly appears to be an upsurge of confidence in the tourism sector, with independent researchers indicating that the project delivered 250-275,000 overseas visitors in 2013. According to the website, 5,000 gatherings were held in honour of returning friends, loved ones and connections from around the world. The initiative is reported to have generated double digit growth in the number of US tourists visiting our shores and around €170 million in revenue.

So, where does that leave us for the coming year? Well, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar is determined to build on this success for 2014 and the focus now is to empower local authorities to lead community tourism initiatives in each area.

The launch of Destination Dublin hopes to grow tourism in the captial and enhance tourists’ experience of the city. The initiative was launched in direct response to feedback from tourists who found the city dull.

And developments like the Wild Atlantic Way, due for launch in March 2014, are certainly on the right track.

Predictions for 2014

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By its very nature, the start of a new year heralds lots of predictions and trend alerts. From wearable technology to the death of Facebook, here are some of the things experts are predicting for 2014.

Almost everyone is in agreement that the coming year will be a challenging one for Facebook, as teens turn away from parents and grandparents watching their every move. The overriding feeling among teenagers is that Facebook is no longer cool and kids are using Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to share photos and stay in touch with each other, away from prying eyes. Sky News is declaring the social network dead and buried (something we blogged about last summer) and The Huffington Post has11 reasons to quit Facebook this year.

Silicon Republic is predicting that the adage “work is what you do, not where you go” will never be truer than in 2014 and Social Media Today is forecasting a killer year for social media and small business with 11 web marketing and social media trends that will shape 2014

For the movies buffs among you, Movie Insider is predicting a year of sequels and remakes and Pinterest has a world of fashion trends. The BBC asked its panel of experts for the big news stories of 2014 and the International Business Times takes a look at the travel trends for the coming year. Wherever 2014 takes you, have a good one! And, whatever your resolutions, just remember…

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Tifamade

We love this from Tifamade – sandwiches and cakes on two wheels. Tiffany Iung started delivering sandwiches in and around Paris in 2010 when she was looking for a way to combine her two passions: feeding people and riding her bike.

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It’s homemade food with ingredients carefully chosen from the farmer’s market, all wrapped up in ecological packaging. The sandwiches and cakes are presented in a lovely old suitcase, which is very cute indeed.

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For a cool and quirky alternative closer to home, we love The Cake Cafe in Dublin

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