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