Fáilte Ireland’s Summer advertising campaign for Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands kick-starts today (Monday 27th May), highlighting the region as the perfect place to take a short break. The multi-media brand awareness campaign worth €550k will run on TV, outdoor, radio and digital channels, showcasing how Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands is ‘Yours to Uncover’.
Over the coming weeks, audiences across the Island of Ireland will see some of the unique experiences, natural beauty and treasures Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands has to offer. The campaign features the Shannon and its Lakes, the Beara Breifne Way, Lough Oughter, Lough Key, as well as the many woodlands and bogs throughout the region. Last year’s campaign resulted in 54% of all adults being aware of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.
This extended eight-week campaign will run from Monday May 27th through to 21st July, culminating in a two-week partnership with Radio 1’s The Ray D’Arcy Show which will see Ray broadcast from Clare, Longford, Leitrim, Cavan and Offaly from 8th – 12th July.
Paddy Mathews, Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, said:
“Our Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands brand has been incredibly well received by the industry and resonated strongly during research in our target markets. It is tapping into a growing tourism trend for soft activities by encouraging visitors to be ‘active in nature’ and to explore the region by going off the beaten track. The brand’s appeal also very much lies in its offer for visitors to get away from the stresses and pressures of modern life and to experience the tranquillity of rural Ireland.
“Over the coming weeks, through our domestic brand awareness campaign, we will be reinforcing Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands as a key part of a brand in the Irish tourism offering that presents Irish consumers with compelling reasons to consider the region for their future travel plans.”
The Irish domestic holiday market is a very important component of the tourism sector providing year around activity worth over €1.1bn. Fáilte Ireland’s marketing division invested over €8m in developing and delivering creative and effective media content to bolster the home holiday market in 2018 delivering 15 bespoke fully integrated campaigns promoting the four experience brands, (Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East, Dublin and Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands), festivals and activities.
Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands is the newest regional experience brand for Ireland and was unveiled in April 2018. The brand aim is to bring to life the Midlands rich natural assets including its many lakes, walkways and blueways.
Mr Mathews continued:
“While this brand will need to evolve over time to realise its full potential, the area has some strong assets and Fáilte Ireland is working closely with key partners and communities across the region to begin developing the top-class visitor experiences that will be key to unlocking the success of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.”
The two central spines of the region are the River Shannon and the Beara Breifne Way, and Fáilte Ireland is focusing on how those two major assets can be developed to bring visitor experiences of scale to the region. This will involve identifying the range of products and experiences with strong potential along the routes as well as areas where there is a lack of product on the ground, and how this can be addressed.
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