The week, when almost everyone around the world prepares to be Irish for a day, is a good time to consider how you can leverage Ireland in your digital marketing strategy. Incorporating Irishness into your brand image isn’t just for the sellers of Aran knits and Claddagh rings.
Ireland has a brilliant image globally. Almost 35 million Americans list their heritage as either primarily or partially Irish, which is seven times higher than the population of Ireland itself!
News reports of St. Patrick’s Day events around the world document the excitement surrounding this day. It isn’t just North America and Australia that celebrate this day with gusto – it’s a global phenomenon. Whether you have a global eCommerce website or you use a brochure site to attract customers to your local bricks and mortar shop in Ireland, you can leverage Ireland in your digital marketing.
Guinness, manufactured by Diageo is one of Ireland’s most famous and successful brands. It boasts a high profile and high sales at home and abroad. And Irishness has been a feature of the brand’s marketing for generations. Here are some of the elements of Irishness you can use in images in your brand’s digital marketing campaigns.
We have stunning scenery. We don’t always notice it ourselves as we rush from place to place and grapple with our litter problem. But nonetheless, this is a beautiful island and you don’t have to go far to find some stunning photo opportunities for your website. If you are selling overseas, you can use any of our instantly recognizable, iconic sights.
Here are some lovely free images provided for free by Ireland’s Content Pool. To reinforce your brand as part of your local community, you can use images of local landmarks such as nearby ruins, the town’s main street or square or any other well-known spots.
We’re famous for ‘the craic’. Overseas markets won’t know the word, but they love the concept. Show people having fun together, and you conjure up the whole image. Throw in some music, and you have captured the essence of what people love about Ireland. While we do indeed suffer a lot of the same pressures as everywhere else in the western world, people notice that life here is more relaxed, that people know how to have fun. And they want to be part of that.
Everyone wants to feel a sense of belonging. Ireland has traditionally been a very close-knit community. Guinness has leveraged this sentiment for some very successful ads, and you can do it too. Do you sell crafts? Picturing them in a home setting is important, but you can also include images of someone receiving your items as a gift, surrounded by friends and family. If you are selling a service, frame it as part of a larger, helpful community. Even the most modern technology can tap into this by showing how it facilitates people coming together.
This isn’t a suggestion to embrace a shallow, plastic ‘Paddy image’. However, every brand needs to hone its image to compete, and using your location is a great way to distinguish yourself from the competition.
Places tug at our emotions. We all want to feel connected to places that make us feel good, whether it is the town where we live or the country our ancestors came from or our dream holiday destination. Find out how well you know your English words from Irish by trying this quiz published by Oxford Dictionaries!
By Irene Hislop
By Conor McCaffrey