Marketing Campaigns for St. Patrick’s Day 2017
Holidays are the perfect excuse to mix up your business’s usual ad campaigns and have a little fun with them – especially a holiday as joyous and good-natured as St. Patrick’s Day. With shamrocks, leprechauns, pots of gold, and more to choose from, Irish culture offers plenty of opportunity for your business to create a fun and memorable marketing experience. But if you’re looking for a little inspiration, here are some cool campaigns that bigger businesses rolled out to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day 2017.
Bulmers Original Irish Cider is 100% Irish
Bulmers Cider is promoting their Irish heritage and making certain that nobody doubts their authenticity. The campaign is centered around a 60-second TV ad set at a Dublin house party where partygoers are having some doubtful thoughts. The ad features a girl that is only 69% sure she fancies a boy and a DJ that is 8% sure what any of the knobs on his mixer do. However, no matter how unsure they all are, they can be 100% sure that Bulmers Cider is made from Irish apples and brewed in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. You can watch the whole video here.
Jameson Irish Whiskey Embraces Snapchat Filters
Jameson Irish Whiskey is taking advantage of new ad technology by creating two geofilters for users to use throughout the day on March 17th. During the day, the filters are providing a cover for anyone who forgot to wear green with a snap message that reads, “Forgot my green. This filter counts.” After 5pm, the filter will switch to say “Cheers!” (Sorry, America. These geofilters are limited to Jameson’s Canadian audience.)
Guinness Teams Up with McBess
As a stereotypically Irish drink (an Irish dry stout brewed at St. James’s Gate brewery in Dublin, Ireland’s capital city), Guinness is a role model that businesses often look to for St. Patrick’s Day cheer. This year, the company commissioned the illustrator McBess, known for his black and white artworks inspired by classic cartoons, to create their St. Paddy’s Day branding. Guinness went all out (as usual), having the artist create not only displays, but also branded merchandise such as beer mats, hats, and t-shirts. The illustrations are meant to “imaginatively capture and celebrate all of the unique characters you’ll meet over a pint or two of Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day,” as stated by Nina Taylor, the Iris creative director behind the campaign.
Starbucks Always Wears Green
Starbucks has chosen to get a little creative with their St. Patrick’s Day advertising by going for a subtler approach. Capitalizing on the holiday’s color scheme, they’re promoting their Green Tea Frappuccino in stores and flaunting their green aprons on Twitter with the caption, “We always wear green.” Starbucks also released Irish whiskey flavored coffee a few days prior (Barrel-Aged Cold Brew and Barrel-Aged Con Crema) that’s on sale at the Starbucks Roastery store in Seattle, Washington.