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 Centre 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

- Engaging Press and Influencers

By hosting an invite-only VIP press launch we could both showcase the work and generate interest and excitement among press and influencers

Multiple stories kept interest fresh at home and abroad - even the local papers of each Paddy's homeplace in Ireland were recruited.

Timeline

There was just a few weeks to engage media in the U.S.A. and Ireland. St. Patrick's

The campaign generated:

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

7.51M TV viewership

1000 - avg. onsite QR code activations per day

It was in Time Out's 'Best Things To Do In New York for St. Patrick's Day', second only to the parade itself

New York Times made it the top story in its daily newsletter to New Yorkers

CBS, NBC, BBC World, BBC News, Guardian international print and online editions, and local TV news Spectrum 1 and Pix 11 all covered the story extensively.

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.

96 pieces of coverage with an AVE of €614k

Hundreds of millions saw the Paddy stories in person or online, with tens of thousands experiencing the outdoor exhibition at its iconic location in Central Manhattan.

St. Patrick's Day is the festival celebrating St. Patrick, 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 - excessive drinking.

Devising an accessible but intelligent cultural experience would run counter to the majority of mainstream messages of 'green pints' and 'shamrocks' and even. more importantly create some distance between Irish identity and the partying excess that can be seen on the day.