One million pints of Guinness are sold in Britain every day with St Patrick's Day being the brand's biggest earner. Last year, seven million pints were sold on that day and the brand hopes to boost that figure this year with a £5 million sterling (€8 million) marketing drive.
It is the brand's biggest-ever St Patrick's Day promotion and all the creative work features the ballad Danny Boy. The six television advertisements, which were created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, feature various groups of people in the same Irish pub singing versions of Danny Boy.
The advertisements end with the familiar "Good things come to those who wait" strapline. The high spending campaign includes Danny Boy text messages to 9,000 mobile phone users as well as in-pub promotions.
As part of the promotion Chris Evans's Virgin Radio Breakfast Show will broadcast from the Guinness brewery in Dublin on March 16th.
Aer Lingus will replace Nissan as sponsor of Today FM's Last Word drive-time programme. The sponsorship aims to promote the firm's new ticket-buying website. Commenting on the all-important "sponsorship fit" Aer Lingus's commercial director, Mr Mark Mortell, said the programme was part of a target market for the website and that "both brands differentiate strongly from their respective competitors".
It's too early to count the cost to the advertising industry of the foot-and-mouth scare but campaigns are being deferred or cancelled, most notably any travel-related ones such as the Northern Irish Tourist Board campaign. It's a nervous time for commercial sponsors and Meteor, particularly, must hope its first foray into sponsorship doesn't incur negative PR. It is sponsoring the Ireland Music Awards in the Point on March 16th and must be looking nervously at the flak Westlife have got for going ahead with their Point concerts.
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