This is the story of how a simple idea reclaimed a name for a whole nation

And reached 830M people

- Brought every marketing and creative advertising discipline together

- Delivered the greatest goal - mass national and international reach.

- Set out to be the biggest in New York City for St. Patrick's Day 2023.

And it was.

Only by getting the story out to the world through trusted media outlets could we create a new conversation, and create a cultural moment that reframed Ireland and Irish people in the eyes of the world.

Those with Irish American descent (34.5 million) represent the biggest single target demographic for Tourism Ireland, the body that promotes Ireland as a tourist destination.

New York has the most concentrated Irish population.

However research by the Clinton Institute of 18-30 year old Irish Americans found:

- more than 50 per cent had never visited Ireland

- and only 31 per cent were in close communication with Ireland.

Our communications challenge: To engage a younger demographic and raise their interest in Ireland.

Our marketing challenge: We had a small budget - just $150k for fees, production, media, PR & TAXES! How would we reach all of New York never mind the whole U.S.A.?

Objectives:

The primary objectives:

1. Awareness - As many people as possible to meet a new Ireland

2. Engagement - To start to forge a deeper emotional connection

3. Search - Our story to create organic SEO

We needed to reframe Ireland away from the dated - and often dangerous - stereotypes and associations of an older generation, and meet a younger generation with a story of activism and pride that would inspire them to see Ireland as an ancient people but a young and contemporary nation.

We set out to change what 'Paddy Irishman' meant forever.

To challenge the ‘Paddy Irishman’ stereotype, associated with a million jokes of drunks and other slurs, we partnered with photographer Ross O’Callaghan to find and share the diverse and inspiring stories of real Irish men…called Paddy.

We found film directors, activists, strong men, make up artists, astrophysicists, illustrators and actors. Any many more. All proud to be a Paddy. All proud to be Irish.

For St. Patrick’s festival 2023 we would introduce New York and the U.S.A. to the real Ireland through 50 real Paddies.

Our target audience - those 18-30 are a generation of Irish America that the Clinton Institute asserts is at a stage which sociologists called “late generation ethnicity” – an identity no longer fuelled by new emigrants, traditions and institutions and more with emotions and values.

They are a highly educated from an activist generation and would respond to a story with news, art and cultural appeal rather than overt brand advertising

Our insight: How could we show Ireland as a 'brand for me' for this audience

By partnering with an artist and using the medium of a multi-location, multi-media interactive exhibit would give us multiple touchpoints:

- Editorial Outreach (Press release, news reel, video interviews)

- VIP Launch with projection mapping (Invite)

- Purpose built plinths for the Outdoor Exhibition

- A dedicated website

- Social

The PR Execution relied on key pillars:

The endorsement of Ireland, Irish America and New York City:

- This project which was supported by the Irish Consulate. Deputy Consul General of the Irish Consulate in New York, Dermot Fitzpatrick, opened the VIP showcase on March 14th.

- Partnering with the New York Irish Center as community partner, we could harness their media network

- By applying to have the exhibition endorsed under the NYC (DOT) Public art programme ARTerventions we could access their media contacts

Multiple ways to engage Press and Influencers:

- An invite-only VIP press launch experience with projection mapped portraits

- Ensuring we captured celebrity Paddies to maximise interest

- Multiple stories to appeal to special interest publications and the Paddies papers

- A live press office for the week

Timeline

St. Patrick's Day is topical. There was only a few short weeks to sell in.

The campaign generated:

831M Total Campaign Reach (TV, radio, print, online)

7.51M Viewership

1000 - avg. onsite QR code activations per day

An average of 40,000 people per day was the footfall at the main exhibition site in Pershing Square Plaza

Media Highlights

Time Out's 'Best Things To Do In New York for St. Patrick's Day' (79.4K Est. Views 35.7K engagements)

New York Times 'An Irishman reclaims the word Paddy' top story in its daily newsletter to New Yorkers - Reach 141M Estimated Views 408K

BBC News Homepage 'The Paddys and Pats tackling Irish Stereotypes' - Estimated Views 433K Social Engagements 634

CBS 'Ways to celebrate Irish pride this St. Patrick's Day' - Reach 40.9M Estimated Views , NBC, BBC World, BBC News,

Guardian international print and online (Reach 90M Estimated views 239K Engagements 777)

NY TV news Spectrum 1 and Pix 11 all covered the story extensively.

96 pieces of coverage with an AVE of €614k

The power of the story led to the donation of a Times Square billboard to showcase the portraits - with 2 million impressions over the 2 weeks it was live.

Tens of thousands experiencing the outdoor exhibition at its iconic location in Central Manhattan.

The real Paddies featured who travelled to New York were the first to be invited to walk in the parade under their own official Paddy Irishman Project banner

The City of New York has invited the project to return in 2024 to exhibit a new collection of Paddies.

Total Budget $150k including fees, production, PR & Taxes

All fees below including taxes:

VIP Press Launch Projection Mapped Exhibition - $30k

Outdoor Exhibition Build & Install - $75k

Audio Visual Production - $25k

Fees - $20k

Since the 1800s the word 'Paddy' has been a slur on Irish males.

A shorthand for a drunk. The punchline to a Paddy Irishman joke.

This doesn't help increase affinity for Ireland among the target audience, or rouse their interest in a visit.

Only on March 10th 2023, a furore broke out surrounding parodies on Saturday Night Live and comments made by host Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars that diminished the achievements of nominee actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson - by mocking their Irish nationality.

St. Patrick's Day is the festival celebrating the patron Saint of Ireland.

It is known as a celebration of Irishness but too often is associated with those very activities that are unattractively associated with Irish culture - drinking, excessive partying.

Devising an accessible but intelligent cultural experience would run counter to the majority of mainstream messages of 'green pints' and 'shamrocks' and 'Paddywhackery'