Held annually, the Dublin Irish Festival is the second largest Irish festival in the United States with about 90,000 attendees. Fahlgren’s campaign to position the event as one of the premier authentic Irish festivals in the country not only earned results for the client, but also a “Best in Show” award from the Central Ohio Public Relations Society of America. Additionally, we created a fresh look and feel that sets the festival apart from other Irish festivals and can be evolved through the years.

Challenges

• Promoting an Irish festival months after/before St. Patrick’s Day at the height of coverage of all things Irish
• Earning pre-festival coverage of an event that’s been reported on annually for 20 years
• Working with limited resources and a large volunteer base

 Approach

•  To accompany its more contemporary look and feel, Fahlgren focused the festival’s messaging on three key experiences: music; arts, culture and history; and family entertainment.
•  Conducted primary and secondary research to determine the best look and positioning to differentiate the brand
• Created consistency in messaging and brand identity
• Expanded our media outreach to key geographic drive markets
• Developed a news release program that targeted stories to relevant enthusiast audiences, for example pet trade media
• Told the festival’s stories to the media with video and imagery to bring the experiences to life

Results

•  More than 93,000 guests attended the festival
• Overnight stays in Dublin hotels increased by more than eight percent
• Earned more than 113 media placements reaching more than 59 million readers
• Page views of the Dublin Irish Festival Web site increased by 20 percent
• The new branding was versatile enough to be used and evolved for the following years

“If you’d like to explore your Irish roots this summer, but you can’t make the trip to Dublin, chances are there’s an Irish festival near you – including one in Dublin, Ohio, that is one of the country’s biggest Irish-themed events…”

 Associated Press

Fahlgren created the Shine campaign for VISIT FLORIDA to capitalize on more than a half century of equity in Florida’s being known universally as the Sunshine State. We set out to make the emotional connection between the stunning natural light the Florida sun offers and the light brought out in everyone when they settle into the vacation state of mind.

Challenges

• Using the right imagery to set Florida apart from other beach destinations
• Developing a media plan as the landscape constantly evolves and consumers have more choices than ever
• Working with a large co-op of Florida travel partners

Approach

Knowing that our messaging had to resonate with the right audience, Fahlgren’s creative and media teams collaborated with our client and their partners to leverage the massive equity of the “Sunshine State” in the ads and deliver it through the right channels to resonant with our target audiences.

• Used light creatively in the ads to communicate that warm, sun-drenched, vacation feeling
• Researched women’s media consumption as they continue to drive the vacation decision process
• Bought against adults 25 to 54 to deliver maximum cost efficiency, while taking psychographic qualifiers (entertainment choices, brand affinities, leisure activities, etc.) into consideration to truly bring the media plan to life 

Results

• Earned accolades from Florida’s Governor Charlie Crist
• Saw a return of $3.50 in state sales taxes for every state dollar invested
• Generated more than 400 million advertising impressions on national broadcast stations and in spot markets in three months’ time; overall reach was 8.4 million households within the target audience
• Generated an estimated 153,536 incremental trips to the state of Florida

“Your work has helped promote Florida as the world’s premier vacation destination and the success of the tourism industry owes much to your dedication and many hours of hard work.”

 Charlie Crist

Governor, State of Florida

The Ohio Tourism Division is responsible for promoting tourism to stimulate in-state spending and the economy. Fahlgren Mortine has served as agency of record for 9 years and has repeatedly won national recognition for maintaining the best strategic media relations program of its kind.

Challenges

• To maintain and increase market share against key competitors (contiguous states), Ohio must differentiate itself in the minds of key influencers to earn additional exposure despite being outspent in terms of marketing budget
• Based on the funding model for the Division, program efforts and results must highlight and include all types of destinations, geographies and industry segments

Approach

Create a multi-level program focused on telling the stories of Ohio’s unique experiences, new additions, unique attractions, legendary sites and little-known hidden gems.

• Use media tours, micro-campaigns, media partnerships, social engagement and constant story mining to ensure year-round coverage
• Cultivate relationships with travel partners (CVBs, DMOs, travel agents, etc.) to build statewide collaboration
• Embrace social engagement to connect directly with consumers seeking travel information and ideas

Results

• On average, the media relations campaign is directly responsible for an audience reach of approx 190M with an estimated 20% annual increase
• The media relations campaign supports an overall marketing ROI of 12:1
• Each year, Fahlgren Mortine successfully secures feature coverage in key targets including network morning shows, USA Today, Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel, Sherman’s Travel, Travel + Leisure, Midwest Living, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, MSNBC.com, popular travel blogs and many others

“The Ohio Tourism Division is always so organized and I really appreciate the work you do for them.” — Beth Harpaz, National Travel Editor, Associated Press