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Tourism Ireland appoints Grey London to handle creative

Tourism Ireland has appointed Grey London to oversee its global creative work in place of Publicis.

The tourism agency said it sought an agency with a track record of influencing audiences across languages and markets while also working effectively in Ireland.

WPP-owned Grey London has extensive experience in developing global campaigns and has worked with Vodafone and Bank of Ireland . The company will work closely with a range of suppliers and production partners in Ireland.

Tourism Ireland is tasked with growing visitor numbers to the island of Ireland from more than 13 overseas markets in partnership with counterpart bodies on both sides of the border. The agency is required to re-tender for creative services every seven years.

In March, Tourism Ireland initiated a publicly advertised competitive tender process for the provision of its strategic and creative services. Following a staged procedure, a final outcome was reached in September.

“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Grey London as our new creative agency and strategic partner," said Aidan Power , director of marketing at Tourism Ireland.

"They have extensive experience in creating global campaigns and together, we look forward to creating impactful new advertising campaigns and creative content to inspire holidaymakers in our key overseas markets to choose the island of Ireland.

"Overseas tourism was worth €6.4bn to the island of Ireland in 2023 and Tourism Ireland is targeting +5.6% year-on-year growth per annum on average to 2030, to support growth of the industry to over €9bn per annum at that point.

"Inspiring holidaymakers and winning visitors and spend for the island of Ireland from other competing global destinations is critical and Grey London, working with Tourism Ireland, will play a key role in realising our ambition.”??

Sponsorship deals for Room to Improve and Laura Fox Show

RTE has secured new sponsorships for Room to Improve the Laura Fox Show on 2FM.

Electric Ireland will sponsor the ongoing 16th series of home renovation show Room to Improve while The Maxol Group will sponsor the Laura Fox Show on a 12-month deal.

The Room to Improve deal includes 90 Electric Ireland credited stings on RTé One and RTé One +1 as well as during series repeats.

It also covers live broadcasts on RTé Player, all available catch-up episodes, and sponsor logos on all dedicated promos across television and social media channels.

Maxol's deal, which was brokered by Core, includes 9 x 10-second sponsor-credited stings per show, as well as sponsor-credited promos across the 2FM seven-day schedule.

There will also be listen-back and homepage sponsorship which Maxol said will give the company "a unique opportunity to engage with audiences in their homes, in their cars or at work."

Donal McCabe appointed executive chair of Lauder Teacher

Donal McCabe has been appointed executive chairman and chairman of the international advisory board of Lauder Teacher , the London and Dublin-based strategic communications and investor relations consultancy founded late last year.

McCabe will work alongside founders Colm Lauder and Andrew Teacher , offering board-level counsel and strategic direction on senior client engagements.

The company was launched last year to fill a gap in the market for strategic advisory services that combine the technical expertise of investment banking with the creative and strategic approach of leading communications firms.

“I’m excited by the unique proposition Lauder Teacher is offering which I believe responds neatly to the convergence of traditional corporate communications and public affairs with investor relations and the trusted advisory roles investment bankers used to routinely provide," said McCabe.

McCabe began his career in media relations with London Underground in 1990 before becoming director of communications for Railtrack in 1996, and then head of financial media relations at Boots from 2003 to 2006.

In 2007, McCabe joined Landsec, where he was director of corporate communications, working closely with Teacher, before moving to Ladbrokes as director of communications.

More recently, he served as communications secretary to Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace, leading royal communications during the late queen's platinum jubilee and her death in 2022.

Catherine Madden made MD of Dublin Gazette

Catherine Madden has been announced as the new managing director of the Dublin Gazette Newspaper following the retirement of founder Michael McGovern .

Madden joined the local newspaper last year as group sales manager after a year with media analytics company Onclusive as business development manager and seven years in ad sales at Hot Press .

The Castledermot, Co Kildare woman has also worked for Irish Independent Directory and Buy & Sell during her nearly 30-year career.

McGovern founded the free community newspaper in 2023 following a career in advertising with O'Kennedy Brindley and 盛世长城 , and he will remain on in a consultancy role for a short time.

Speaking to the Leinster Leader/Kildare Live, Madden said: "It’s an honour to take on this role and continue Michael's legacy.

"The Dublin Gazette is more than a newspaper; it’s a cornerstone of the community. I’m excited to explore new opportunities in the digital space while staying true to the values that have made this publication special."

Social commerce now more popular with Millennials than Gen Z

Research by the Retail Technology Show has found that Millennials are outshopping Gen Z across TikTok, Instagram and Meta .

On average, Millennials made 21 purchases on TikTok, 20 on Facebook and 19 on Instagram compared to 20, 14 and 18 among Gen Z consumers, and there has been a 36% increase in purchases made on social commerce by Millennials year-on-year.

According to the research, TikTok is the top social channel for making purchases with the average shopper purchasing items on the platform 11 times in the past 12 months, and more brands are flocking to the platform as a result

“The rise and rise of the social media channel has been well-charted, and it shows no signs of stopping," said Matt Bradley, event director at RTS.

"As shoppers’ seemingly insatiable appetite for content-led commerce continues to grow, this has given rise to a new cohort of ‘TikTok made me buy it’ consumers, an increasing valuable shopper segment that retailers want to tap into.

“However, with mass adoption and a wider demographic of consumers outside of just Gen Z now driving this growth, retailers will need to adapt how they engage and retain social shoppers, requiring data-led decision making in order to optimise targeting and engagement.”

David Hayes announces resignation from Wavemaker

David Hayes , chief operating officer at Wavemaker , has announced he will leave the?GroupM?company at the end of June.

Writing on LinkedIn, Hayes said it had been a big decision as he had spent "a big chunk of [his] working life" in various roles at?WPP, the multinational communications group that owns GroupM and Wavemaker.

"I’m genuinely sad to leave as I feel very strongly attached to the people and the company. But I’m also very excited and energised about opening a new chapter in my career," he added.

Hayes started his career as a media buyer for DDFH&B in 1987 before moving to Wilson Hartnell as a media manager the following year.

In 1991, he joined CDP Associates as media director then joined MEC Ireland in 1996 before the company merged with sister agency Maxus to make Wavemaker.

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