The 26^th June is the night that PR people in Ireland all convene in the Mansion House in Dublin for a night of sober reflection on the year that was and a joyous celebration of the year to come. I speak of the the annual PR awards for excellence which are the equivalent of the Irish Film and TV Awards or the PPI Radio Awards.

By subjecting our best campaigns or projects to independent benchmarking, assessment and judgement - and to furthermore make the results of this process available for others to learn from - is undoubtedly beneficial, as it continues to have the desired outcome of raising professional standards across our industry as a whole.

You can browse through the short list on the PRII website here. There’s an absolute ton of campaigns there, and it’s a pity the institute didn’t link to them so we could all have a look at the work of the various companies and individuals involved. Maybe they think that nobody is interested and just couldn’t be bothered presenting the short list in a more attractive and engaging way.

The “Integrated Campaigns” category had instantly recognisable (to me anyway) campaigns up for the award:

The launch of itsyourmoney.ie for the financial regulator (Website)

Ferry Marketing Campaign for Dublin Port (Pen Ire blog link about the campaign)

Mr. Tayto “Looking for Love” for Tayto/Hunky Dory (Mr Tayto’s Blog)

Keep Recycling – Let’s get it sorted for Repak (Further details)

Of all the campaigns listed I think the Ferry Marketing Campaign was the least successful. I saw the posters many times, but I really didn’t know what Dublin Port were trying to communicate to me. I genuinely thought it was some literary promotion they had going.

For my money, the winner of this category must surely be itsyourmoney.ie – just take a look at youtube and the number of spoofs of the “I don’t know what a tracker mortgage is” ad on a bus. I also liked the money monster ad.

What do you think yourself about the various campaigns listed – which one do you think will win the award next month? I’ve set up a poll below so you can have your say!

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Photo in header image owned by Tom Harwood and adapted under a creative commons license.

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I’m really liking the idea that Bernd Biege of About.com’s Ireland travel blog has. He read that a fourth Zepellin had been built for a company in San Francisco which will use it for sight seeing trips over the city. He has a vision for Zepellin flights in Ireland.

I think that’s a fantastic idea. It’s the type of idea that sounds fantastical but wouldn’t it be brilliant? He suggests flights over the Cliffs of Moher, Slieve Leagure or the Boyne Valley. I’d suggest Glendalough of course and I couldn’t resist doing a mock up of what it might look like

Bernd, I’m with you on this one, and would book a flight right now if it was available.

Something for a go getter like Michael O’Leary to consider maybe?

Photo of Glendalough by le craic. Zepellin photo from flightglobal.com

I’m sure this is the answer to every woman’s dreams but can any woman explain the need to wear heels. They don’t impress me much.

Via the Redfoot Revolution Blog.

The best of advertising from a local freesheet. Announcing the new location for a computer store in Wicklow town, the butcher next door conveys his best wishes. Where better to advertise your bargain prices on chicken fillets and sirloin steak? It tickled my ribs anyway

Via Damien Mulley’s fluffy links is a new blog Frugal Ireland that aims to help us all save a few bob. I registered a domain some time ago called thecutefox with the intention of doing something similar, but I never got it off the ground. Ths happens to me quite a lot. I have a notebook at home called “Half Baked” full of ideas for website, products, services and general scribblings. For thecutefox I even had caricaturist extraordinaire Niall O’Loughlin design a mascot for it, but I’m sure I’ll find some use for it in the future. Well done to Deborah for putting it together, it’s going on my sticky sticky list!

Another new one that I found (and I think I’m the first) is Loudmouth Lad whose intro is classic

“Got an opinion? Yeah, well so do I! Livin’ in Ireland with me red hair, freckles, and didly feckin’ aye, there are things that get just on my nerves and there are things that I overhear on a daily basis that need to be repeated. Loudmouth Lad is dedicated to delivering the very best in informative rants, direct to your doorstep, and no holds barred. That there be my mission statement, oh big corporate speak, I’m an internet person now.”

He has a post on the Lesbian Treaty also. Go have a read, leave some comments and let the lad know there are people reading!

Not content with inflicting himself on people through the medium of Television, the “fabulously funny and quick witted” Brendan Courtney, has only gone and set up a makeover business in the UK along with Nick Ede.

I Hate My Look is on two man mission to “help women of all ages, shapes and sizes to find a new look, a look they will love”, provided they can come up with the €1,800 or so it costs to have the 2 boys get out of their respective beds.

I can vaguely remember his show on TV3 and thought it was dire. Wanderlust wasn’t a whole lot better and as for “Celebrity” / Charity You’re a Star, words fail me. Am I being bit harsh in my assessment of his TV work? Does he display an “obvious intellect” (quote Irish Indo)? Ladies, would he be your choice to help with a makeover?

(Update 9th June 2008 - Win a Coke Side of Dublin poster here)

Best ad I think I’ve seen in a long while. Original Flickr image is here. You really must download the large size to get a really good look at all the detail – right down to the guy taking a whiz against a pillar at Croke Park It would be great if this was released as a full size poster, either with or without the coke branding.

It’s produced by Eboy posters and Croke Park is included on their just released Buildings poster here. I’m sure this going to be a must have for Architecture lovers everywhere !

Photo by 1541 and reproduced here under a creative commons license.

Typical reaction in Ireland I must say.

A rather snazzy new nightclub is opening in Wexford next week and has raised the heckles of a Joe Duffy-ite.

The reason for the raising of heckles is the fact that this nightclub has a couple of private rooms that people can hire. One of the rooms has 3 king sized beds. A letter of complaint was sent to the gardai, the vintners association and the council. The complainant said “I am concerned that the beds are being used as an advertising gimmick and their purpose will be misinterpreted by the alocohol-fuelled clientele… I find the idea of a bedroom in a public house/nightclub to be rather disgusting and I can only assume it will be used with immoral intention”.

Pity the Joe Duffy-ite didn’t bother to consider the fact that the private room can accommodate 60 people and has glass walls that people can see in and out. The bed isn’t a traditional bed either – it’s one that is designed to lounge around on, rather than anything else.

It may very well be that the owner of the new nightclub has hired someone to send a letter of complaint to maximise the coverage of the venue. In which case, I say bravo. It popped up on my radar and got me interested enough to write about. Job done! If, on the other hand, the letter was not a PR concocted invention – it’s a rather sad and pathetic response to what is going to generate jobs and business in Wexford. Only in Ireland…

The Music Factory Website | Bebo Page | Wexford People BED ALERT!