Following a review of its creative and media buying services, Irish Rail-Iarnród Éireann, has reappointed Publicis and OMD. Irish Rail recently invited BBDO Dublin, Boys+Girls, TBWA\Dublin and the incumbent, Publicis, to make presentations. The CIÉ group, comprising Irish Rail, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus, put its media buying out to three agencies.
Havas and Spark also presented. The review was handled by Claire Cluskey at Empirica.
Elsewhere on the CIÉ front, three main contractors in Ireland’s out of home advertising market will be notified in the coming weeks about the tender for the estimated €45 million CIÉ commuter network estate currently with Global. The company, which up to last year traded as Exterion Media, has managed the contract since 2014, including a two-year extension option.
JCDecaux and Clear Channel also pitched for the contract.
The highly-lucrative contract comprises all ads run on Dublin Buses, Iarnród Éireann trains, Dart services, Bus Éireann services and the fixed sites at railway bridges and bus and rail stations. It also covers Transvision digital screens in designated train stations, along with ongoing investment in CIÉ’s ad properties throughout the course of the contract.
During its contract tenure, Global implemented an investment programme in both traditional and digital formats in support of the rail network’s ad formats. The out of home (OOH) company also launched new bus advertising formats on the Bus Éireann fleet, extending the availability of double deck formats to Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.
