Saint Patrick's Day: March 17th Marketing Madness

Another Saint Patrick's day has come and gone and for some the effects can still be felt both from financial sense and physical sense. In Dublin alone,over the weekend, there was an estimated 500,000 people lining the streets to watch the parade with an Irish diaspora of around 70 million, major cities across the globe were also holding their green-inspired galas. The Irish economy benefited,as it has in recent years, from the large number of people coming to take part in the festivities as around 240,000 passengers were expected through Dublin Airport over the bank holiday weekend. Both terminals were decked with balloons and bunting to welcome visitors and jugglers, stilt walkers, bands and school children will give the travelers a taste of the roaring revelry they could have expected over the weekend. In recent years Tourism Ireland have undertaken various marketing drives to ensure that the March 17th was celebrated by the Irish diospria around the world by using innovative means of both online and offline marketing. 

All around the world various landmarks were lit up green to show the spread of the Irish to each corner of the globe as the Prince’s Palace in Monaco and the Sydney Opera House were lit up in honor of St Patrick, as well as Niagara Falls, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Burj al Arab hotel in Dubai. Tourism Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day ‘Greening’ initiative has captured imaginations across the world in recent years, creating buzz and excitement and generating extensive media coverage at little to the actual organisation. 

Sydney Opera House

Another example of Tourism Ireland's innovation when it comes to Saint Patricks days advertising can be seen from the Riverdance flashmob video that was released in 2011 and which went onto become a massive viral sensation. The video was made in conjunction with tourism Ireland and Sneaky Steppers  from Australia who surprised Commuters in Central Station in Sydney Australia by  performing Irish  dancing in front of them. The flashmob starts off quietly enough before ending up with 100 people performing the Riverdance routine in a grand finale. By the end of March of 2011 the video was in the top 10 most viewed videos on the Contagious Viral chart. 

But it isn't just tourism Ireland who have, in recent years, used Saint Patrick's day as a means of appealing to the Irish population at home and abroad. With over 90% of Americans alone saying that they plan to celebrate the day, many brands have seen the date as becoming a key one for both gaining new customers and rewarding existing ones. Angry birds, one of the most successful smartphone games of the last number of years, released a special edition of its game to coincide with March 17th.The St Patrick's Day version of Angry Birds includes shamrocks, pots of gold, a Celtic soundtrack, 'Go Green, Get Lucky' levels and pigs sporting leprechaun hats.

Three of the brands most associated with Ireland have also used this date as a launch pad for many of their marketing events over the last number of years. The ability to create campaigns and advertisements which may go viral has become one of the key elements associated with any output from Guinness, Jameson and Baileys at this time of the year. 

Guinness have used their Facebook page in the past number of years as an offline means of driving sales. Virtual gifts are something that are normally free on Facebook and although they do not normally take on the format of adverts one clever campaign by Guinness  to mark the250 celebration allowed users to give their friends a free pint of the black stuff which resulted in thousands of people around the world passing each other virtual pints of Guinness and displaying them on their profiles. This year to take part in Guinness’ St Patrick’s Day campaign and join in setting a world record, fans of St Patrick’s Day, Guinness lovers and generally friendly folk can make an online pledge via Facebook or www.guinness.com or join a St Patrick’s Day party to celebrate true Irish friendliness.

From a viral view point Guinness have been one of the most shared brands on www.Youtube.com over the last number of years with the number one shared Guinness ad having over 64,756 shares all-time and nearly 2 million views on YouTube since the launch of the ad. Their most recent ad has gone viral thanks to its unique take on a night out. The ad features a group of befuddled-looking male mates being guided into a pub by a specialised sheepdog. Along the way they are herded away from other distractions such as a night in watching the big game, an indian restaurant and a nightclub where scantily-clad girls dance enticingly.

The most popular Irish brand on Facebook, with over one million user  is Baileys and they launched a novel means of Saint Patricks day fan engagement over this period. The US Baileys site has the most traffic and so it encouraged fans to send their friends a Kiss Me I´m Irish customized photo to win a free Baileys t-shirt! It engaged Fans all over the world by saying: "Share your love for Baileys Original Irish Cream, because we´re all a little Irish on St. Patrick´s Day!“

The final Irish brand, while has targeted Saint Patrick's Day as one of their key opportunities for brand growth,is Jameson. Jameson decided to hold a huge party taking advantage of several social media platforms. The Jameson Facebook Page launched the Slainte-o-meter motivating Fans to make an authentic Irish toast and spread the word to make them attend the Jameson party in their city or to watch the best of the Jameson Global Party 2012 on YouTube, tune into one of the 35 radio stations from 11 countries broadcasting from the Old Jameson Distillery and to make Fans share the festive atmosphere via Twitter.The official website has also prepared a St. Patrick´s Day Guide including party decorations, cocktail recipes, party banners and even a guide to Irish slang!

But its not just these major brands that have embraced Saint Patrick's Day as a means to reach a larger target audience. Over the weekend if you visited the Facebook pages of 4FM, RTE Player, Visit Dublin and the 2FM DJ Rick O'Shea they had rearranged their Facebook timeline pictures to show their festive side while Renault Ireland did not go as far as redesigning their website they did alter their profile page to include a shamrock on their logo.

As the dust has settled on another Saint Patricks day many people are returning to their normal daily routines albeit with some sore heads and some sore limbs from all the celebrating. Most people will have either seen or attended a parade at some point during the festivities as well as donned some shade of green to showcase their Irishness. But it was the digital shadow cast by certain brands which could potentially have the greatest impact on how people recall the whole period. Brands such as Guinness and Jameson have chosen to  take advantage of this holiday´s social media potential by targeting through their respective Facebook pages while Tourism Ireland have chosen to target through both on and offline methods. 

Jamal Edwards:Generation Vexed Media Entrepreneur.

Richard Branson and Jamal Edwards

Its now a little under three months since Christmas and what ever presents I got over the period are gathering dust or have been used and thrown aside. Like a young child, once the novelty of that new "toy" has worn off the gift usually gets taken out every once in a while to make sure that I am seen to be using the thing. No where in the back of my mind could I imagine that a gift bought over that time could be used to create an online broadcaster of music promos, video interviews and impromptu live performances. But this is what Jamal Edwards did with a video camera he received a video camera for Christmas in 2007.

Edwards was 15 when he received a camera from his mother and in the beginning he used it to film foxes on his estate, which once uploaded to Youtube was a modest success getting nearly 1000 views. With an interest in the grime music scene in the UK and spotting the lack of an actual channel dedicated to showcasing some of the most interesting acts coming out of the UK at that time, Jamal set about  recording local grime, urban artists and freestyle rapping with his handy cam, which he would then upload to his YouTube account. This want and desire to showcase up and coming acts lead to the creation of "SB.TV", taking its name from Jamal's alter ego's "Smokey Barz" initials, which formed part of his Twisted Visions production company. Unlike polished mainstream music videos, Jamal's approach was to film London rappers freestyling on the street, backstage at gigs or in the back seats of cars. These performances, delivered straight to camera without studio gloss and posted online within days, were seen to be raw and thrilling and so they immediately began to strike a chord with music fans in the UK who were growing tired of the mainstream output and reality talent shows monopolising the media's attention. 

From 2007-2010 Edwards videoed up and coming acts who have today gained mainstream attention. Acts such as  Black The Ripper, Little Dee, Griminal, Wretch 32, Skepta,  Kano,  Dizzy Rascal, Wiley, Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder have all come to the public's attention thanks to their association with "SB.TV". During this three year period the reach and popularity of the Youtube channel enabled Edwards to diversify their production remit and offer  lifestyle interviews and event coverage through "SB.TV". This expansion in offerings and increasing professional nature of the videos lead to the creation of a dedicated production team which consists of ten staff and finding his own  commercial property to operate out of. 

With a larger production crew, came the opportunity for the company to vary its music tastes by incorporating other genres of music, aiming to be a ‘diverse youth lifestyle broadcaster’. In recent times the channel has showcased acts such as Jessie J, Nicki Minaj, Pixie Lott, Ellie Goulding and Bruno Mars.  Justin Bieber and acoustic artist Ed Sheeran have been profiled on the site which showcases Edwards' dedication to ensuring that his company offers something other than grime artists. 

2011 was the year that Edwards made his mark. He established www.sbtv.co.uk, a dedicated site for his "SB.TV" video output, and he also become the face of Google Chrome UK with the resulting video, seen above, leading to www.sbtv.co.uk crashing as over a million people Googled his name after watch the ad but the site racked up 50,000 subscribers and a total of 39 million video views. Edwards expanded the SB.TV brand further by signing a record deal with Sony, their own online clothing store and an online public discussion forum called DB8.

Taking that once off Christmas present and using it become one of the most influential 20 year olds in the UK took a lot of perseverance and dedication. What started out as a one man guerilla operation, videoing around London has now enabled Jamal to rub shoulders with Richard Branson, Simon Cowell, David Cameron and P Diddy. A founding corner stone of "SB.TV" was to give young people a platform to voice their opinions, to allow them and Edwards a place to show what was really happening in their lives. From humble beginnings on his council estate to aspirations of growing his channels subscribers to a million could be seen as an impossible dream for someone who is seen to be part of "Generation vexed" but as Jamal has stated on numerous occasions the word impossible is not in his dictionary.

21st Century Spielbergs

J.J Abrams & Steven Spielberg on the set of Super 8

The age of the amateur film maker is upon us. Although in most cases many of the "amateur" or "found footage" films that have been released in recent years have had more people working on them than their marketing campaigns would lead us to believe. Many of our modern movie makers have a background in making their own special effects, sound recording and editing. What they learned during their youthful exploits enabled them to develop and hone their skills so that we, the audience, could benefit from these formative years.


During the summer of 2011 the film "Super 8" was released which brought together two pioneers from the movie making industry. Through the imaginations of Stephen Spielberg and J.J Abrams, producer and director of "Super 8" respectively, we, the audience were treated to one of the summers better movie adventures. From anyone who didn't get a chance to see it, Super 8 is a 1970s-set thriller wherein a group of teenage filmmakers witness a devastating train crash - only to learn that there may be even more destructive forces threatening their town. It was a bit like "ET" only the alien wasn't as friendly. 


Spielberg, throughout his career, has been inspiring young movie makers to reach and exceed their aspirations in terms of movie making. From the first short he made, "Fighter Squad", right through to his work on "Tintin", the capacity to use what technologies were available at the time to create something for others to see and enjoy was evident in all his works. For Spielberg, his movie "Fighter Squad" was the beginning of a love affair with movie making and editing that in its amateur beginnings shares a great amount with many of his contemporaries. 


John Landis, the director of "The Blues Brothers", "Trading Places" and "Coming to America" was inspired to make movies after seeing "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad". His amateur ambitions when it came to making movies was limited only by his imagination. Much like Spielberg, Landis used his surroundings and friends to his advantages to make movies in different genres. From using his parents swimming pool to film sea battles, to making a James Bond parody using his friends, Landis was showing at an early age a capacity to entertain and enlighten through the medium of film. 


A movie with the title "The Ultimate Disaster" could not be seen as being very subtle introduction for any director to the world of film making. This feature was the first made by J.J Abrams when he was beginning his movie making career. He followed up his first attempt by branching out into different genres to continue his learning process. "High Voltage" was his attempt at a superhero movie made on a budget, "The Attic" his first foray into horror. 


Rolf Harris as an action hero who in the two movies "Rolf Harris Saves The World" and "Rolf Harris 2: The Bearded One" fought terrorists in a play on "Die Hard" is an unique idea brought to the screen by Edgar Wright. Wright, the director of "Shaun of The Dead" and "Hot Fuzz", showed in his early work the same imagination and skill set as those mentioned already. 


Creativity and editing skills played an important role in the early movie making exploits of Spielberg, Landis, Abrams and Wright. Each director used the same camera type when starting off, the Super 8, and combined this with the a desire to produce something that they deemed fit to share with the world. 


For the modern film maker, the video and editing options available allow them to produce something,which although more technologically advanced, shares a kindred spirit with those that have come before them. The years spent creating various special effects, arranging storyboards and bribing friends and family members to appear in their movies has enabled the above mentioned movie makers to achieve fame and placed them in a position of authority in the eyes of amateur movie makers. Imagination afforded Spielberg, Landis, Abrams and Wright the opportunity to entertain the masses  throughout the years and in a sense they are torch bearers for those to come who have a passion for creating a story.