Journalism should be designated as an “essential service” should there be any future restriction of public movement during the Covid-19 pandemic, NewsBrands Ireland has told the Government. The national press representative group wrote to Taoiseach Leo Vardakar saying that in the event of any new measures to stop the spread of the virus, allowances should […]
ArchiveMarch, 2020
Netflix reduces bandwidth to avoid gridlock
Entertainment brand Netflix has temporarily reduced bandwidth used by its streaming service in Europe, cutting video bit rates by a quarter at the behest of the EU to ease the load on internet networks and avoid gridlock. The move, which applies until mid-April, follows talks between the EU industry chief Thierry Breton and Netflix chief […]
M&S teams up for a new Neighbourly approach
Marks & Spencer (M&S) has launched a new customer initiative its Neighbourly Community Fund (NCF) charity partner. The British retail chain is rolling out the fund with an investment of €50,000, allowing NCF to put the monies into an emergency fund and distribute in phases to its existing charities and community groups across Ireland. M&S […]
Life coach shares ideas on coping with Covid-19
Irish life coach Lara Cullen has compiled a top 10 of the best ways to cope mentally with the growing impact of the current Covid-19 coronavirus public health crisis. Cullen, who runs a specialist consultancy for businesses in London called The People Person, had her top 10 suggestions published online by leading British women’s magazine […]
Concannon leads Covid-19 information campaign
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has seconded Marketer of the Year 2010 John Concannon from his development role at NUI Galway to manage the Government’s campaign on the Covid-19 coronavirus public health crisis. Concannon was a central part of the the Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) which was wound down amid some controversy in 2018. Concannon, who implemented […]
Covid-19 sees big rise in Ireland’s grocery sales
Shoppers in Ireland spent €316 million on groceries in the week ending March 8, an increase of 2.4 per cent on grocery spend compared to the previous week and 7.6 per cent versus the same week last year, new consumer data released by Nielsen indicates. The significant jump in grocery sales is attributed to increasing […]
Thinkhouse creates Covid-19 youth idea for RTÉ
Youth marketing agency Thinkhouse created #CreateDontContaminate for RTÉ to help in the prevention of the spread of Covid-19 among young people. The social media campaign addresses the importance of social distancing among Ireland’s youth by engaging Irish celebrities and influencers with challenges over two-weeks and urging followers to take part. Nora Torpey, head of marketing […]
Irish Distillers to make hand sanitising gel
Pernod Ricard-owned Irish Distillers is branching out into the large scale production of hand sanitising gel. The company’s Midleton distillery plans to supply the gel for free to the HSE in partnership with Cork firm Mervue Laboratories. Irish Distillers spokesperson Rosemary Garth said it will use its expertise to help the national response to Covid-19. […]
Unique sounds out Covid-19 phone message
As a way of helping Irish businesses during the current Covid-19 coronavirus public health crisis, PR and training agency Unique Media and Audiocom.ie have teamed up to produce an on-hold message which can be uploaded to telephone systems. With many companies seeing an increase in call volume, it is leading to prolonged hold times for […]
Verve’s 20-second soap to tackle virus
Events and experiential agency Verve Agency has invented a soap to educate people on clean hands. While handwashing is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of the Covid -19 coronavirus, only five per cent of people are washing them for the 20 seconds needed to get them safely clean. The new Verve […]
JWT Folk’s Brown calls for #PermitToSaveLives
In response to the current Covid-19 coronavirus public health crisis, JWT Folk’s executive chairman Gary Brown is calling on the Government to immediately introduce new measures to help frontline medical staff go about their work. In a bid to help stop the infection spread, Brown is also advocating free public transport for workers during off-peak […]
Tourism Ireland asks for extra €20m in ad spend
Cross-Border marketing body Tourism Ireland is asking the Government to provide an extra €20 million in advertising spend on top of its annual budget of €45m in a bid to lure international visitors once the Covid-19 pandemic is over. Tourism Ireland started cancelling its international ad campaigns at the start of March when demand began […]
Diageo appoints PHD for its media
Diageo has selected the Omnicom Media Group-owned PHD as its media agency of record across most of its global account, following a protracted review launched last September. The incumbent was Dentsu Aegis Network’s Carat. In a statement, Isabel Massey, global media director at Diageo, said the move to PHD covers both media planning and buying. […]