Fáilte Ireland

INQUIRY

In 2020, amid the  global COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism and hospitality industry sent out an SOS – ‘Save Our Summer’ – and Fáilte Ireland responded by focusing on showcasing the breadth of domestic experiences available in Ireland to turn what could have been a disastrous season, into a ‘survive to thrive’ moment for many.

Make a Break For It was Fáilte Ireland’s domestic marketing response to assist the tourism and hospitality industry in promoting itself to face the challenges in 2020, that were a  result of Covid19. The objective of the campaign was to provide much-needed support and promotion for the industry as the country emerged from lockdown in the summer of 2020. The campaign needed to provide reassurance that it was safe to travel within our island, with the intention of driving short holidays in Ireland, encouraging people to book a well-needed break.

As we emerged from lockdown, there was a clear desire to fulfil the fundamental needs of human connection, to reengage with everyday behaviours, but also to escape – to have a holiday and to travel. At the time, travel intentions were more aspirational – including bucket list destinations and greater discovery of Ireland. Central to these experiences were enjoyment, personal fulfilment and creating memories.

After initially falling with the growing scale of the crisis, travel intentions in the summer of 2020 plateaued and remained positive. Pre-Covid there was 58% intention to take a short break in Ireland, which fell to 47% intention that summer. However, while intention was there reassurance was needed to move to conversion.

INVENTION

Through a real-life storytelling campaign, Fáilte Ireland highlighted that Ireland is open for business, safe to travel and full of amazing destinations to discover. Working in partnership with the client, we created a mulit-layered approach to the campaign including a robust influencer programme with 17 high profile ambassadors, who each went on the road around the country to experience a short break, adhering to the new safety guidelines.

Ireland would be our canvass with its idyllic landscapes, magical experiences, and amazing people. We aimed to inspire the nation to ‘Make A Break For It’ through a persuasive testimonial-style communications approach, incorporating media relations and influencer marketing at its core and igniting peer-to-peer testimonials as a result. Irish experiences would provide brilliant subject matter for content across earned media and social channels to remind and inspire the nation that Ireland was open and safe to discover again.

The Strategy

As the country was preparing to come out of its initial lockdown, the team took account of three trends that had emerged within Irish society:

• Counteract Social Shaming – Covid-19 restrictions had made us vocally critical of others – including open shaming of our own family and friends! From a negative remark in a WhatsApp group or a public scolding of a neighbour, social shaming had gotten personal.
• Decrease Travel Anxiety – From domestic and international travel to routine daily public transport, travel anxiety had become prominent amongst Irish consumers. According to Deloitte research at the time, only 25% of Irish people said they would feel comfortable staying in a hotel in the next three months.
• Work/Life Rut – Working from home full-time had seen many people clocking up an additional 3-4 hours per day. People were stuck in a rut. The absence of normal social cues and traditional holiday occasions meant that people needed to be enticed to take a break. Nudge theory would be incorporated into our approach, and we set out to prompt people into action.

Strategic Approach

• Inspire – used the rich tapestry of beautiful, magical Ireland to awaken people to the possibilities that lay ahead.
• Reassure – real-life storytelling content communicated that Ireland was open for domestic business, safe to travel and more amazing than ever before.
• Convince – instilled confidence among consumers through a ‘seeing is believing’ approach harnessing the power of testimonial style content. Through demonstration, we alleviated consumer concerns, reassured and excited them about a holiday in Ireland.
• Amplify – through a coordinated and strategic heavyweight media and influencer relations campaign.

We created bespoke itineraries to promote local trade and tourism across each region, highlighting the unique experiences available right on our doorstep. This was one of the largest and highest reaching influencer campaigns in 2020.

In addition to this, we created a bespoke Make A Break For It Spotify playlist, partnering with Ireland’s leading forecourt retailer Applegreen to drive awareness, and Fáilte Ireland made its debut on TikTok with their first user generated content campaign involving some of Ireland’s famous TikTok influencers. Underpinning the various activity was a robust earned media relations strategy, driving cut through and awareness of the campaign.

WH created an extensive media relations campaign to support the sector during summer 2020. This was delivered through the following approach:

• Compelling Editorial – We secured four national earned editorial agreements with top media outlets. The value proposition we offered them was brilliant content and experiences for their journalists in exchange for major, feature spreads attracting a wide cross-section of readers in Ireland. The Irish Times Magazine, The Sunday World, ie and The Irish Daily Mail.
• Constant Content – We created a detailed media target list, which was mapped against our key audience demographics with laser focus. Using the latest data on consumer media consumption habits for our audience groups, we supplied key target media with rich and relevant content, driving the message of taking a short break in Ireland.
• Army of Ambassadors – We mobilised the largest ambassador programme of any campaign that year. Celebrities and influencers that our research tool had shown resonated with specific audiences were recruited, and bespoke itineraries were designed. Ambassadors reached hundreds of thousands of people daily on their active social media platforms and the WH team worked to secure a number of high-profile media interviews and feature opportunities to discuss their Make A Break For It experiences across daytime TV shows, national newspapers and online media outlets.

IMPACT

The activity created an output that included;

• Total campaign reach – 9.7 Million

• • Earned Media Reach – 5.017 Million
  • IG Reach – 3.2 Million
  • TikTok Reach – 996.1K
  • IG Reach – 506.4K

• Total TikTok Followers- 3.5 Million
• Ambassadors engaged (IG)- 17
• Influencers Engaged (TikTok)- 11
• Earned media coverage secured- 34 pieces
• 36 pieces of earned coverage received.

This resulted in an impact that;

• 59% intention to take a break amongst audience following the campaign (compared to 42% pre-campaign).
• 85% of people who holidayed in Ireland during the campaign reported they had an amazing time and will holiday in Ireland again.
• Domestic overnight occupancy rates increased at the height of the campaign to 74% compared to pre-campaign period.
• ie was the call to action for our activity and domestic traffic to the homepage increased by 46.23%compared to the previous year for the duration of the campaign.
• There were over 32,000 trade referrals, this is 166% higherthan the same period in 2019.

• 100% positive tourism industry feedback was received in relation to earned media activity.
• Led the national effort to drive short breaks in Ireland in 2020.
• Drove industry first activity including creation of Spotify playlist, and TikTok campaign.

The resulted in an impact that;

• Led the national effort to drive short breaks in Ireland in 2020.

• 59% intention to take a break amongst audience following the campaign (compared to 42% pre-campaign).
• 85% of people who holidayed in Ireland during the campaign reported they had an amazing time and will holiday in Ireland again.
• Domestic overnight occupancy rates increased at the height of the campaign to 74% compared to pre-campaign period.
• ie was the call to action for our activity and domestic traffic to the homepage increased by 46.23%compared to the previous year for the duration of the campaign.
• There were over 32,000 trade referrals, this is 166% higherthan the same period in 2019.
• 100% positive tourism industry feedback was received in relation to earned media activity.
• Drove industry first activity including creation of Spotify playlist, and TikTok campaign.

And the industry was thankful for the support;

• “Niamh Cullen’s trip was very effective, once she tagged us within the first hour there was 110 new followers of the same demographic, some of those ended up booking on the same day and we had phone calls asking to do the “same trip as Niamh Cullen”. Bantry Boat Hire 

• “Overall, a major thank you for sending Terrie our way. It was brilliant, our Instagram reach went up 139% in the past week!! So, we’re delighted, and it was with a demographic that often think Kylemore isn’t for them which is even more exciting as we move into the Winter.”-Kylemore Abbey