BBDO Dublin Turns a A Step into a Giant Adventure with Tourism Northern Ireland

BBDO this week announced the launch of a brand-new cross-platform campaign for Tourism Northern Ireland: its first major work for organisation since winning the business earlier this year. 

“We are so excited to unveil this campaign,” said Naomi Waite, director of marketing at Tourism Northern Ireland. 

“We knew when we first saw it presented during the pitch process that it was a distinctive and creative way to showcase what Northern Ireland has to offer for visitors, and now that vision has been realised, it has lifted us to another league. We launched our new EMBRACE A GIANT SPIRIT brand at the start of this year and we are delighted that BBDO have been able to bring that giant spirit to life as well as show how accessible Northern Ireland is,” she continued. 

The campaign, which is going live across social, digital, radio, print, OOH and TVC, seeks to challenge the perception about travel in Northern Ireland. For too many people Northern Ireland hasn't been at the top of their holiday to-do list, despite all that it has to offer. BBDO sought to tackle this head on by showing how epic and how effortless a holiday in Northern Ireland can be. 

The TVC—written and art directed by Ben Clifford and Kirk Bannon—was produced in-house by BBDO, directed by Noel Byrne and produced by Andrew Counihan. 

Set to the surging beat of ‘Let Go’ by Northern Ireland’s house music pioneers, The Japanese Popstars, the spot is a fast-cut featuring a real family of five enjoying many of Northern Ireland’s tourist attractions. 

The family are seen having a whale of a time at attractions and experiences as varied as Marble Arch Caves and Let’s Go Hydro, before the pace slows to reveal a shot that reads, “Only two days earlier…”. At this stage, we see the family looking bored at home before the Dad asks, “Have they anything on next week?”, to show what a small step they were from such epic fun.  

The outdoor and print work features ‘forced perspective’ images of iconic Northern Irish landmarks. Said BBDO Account Director, Katie Cunningham, “Our aim was to avoid the clichés you see in traditional travel ads, and speak the language of true holiday fun instead. So instead of the usual tourism tropes, we simply showed a real family having epic fun only an hour or so up the road. This spot focuses on our family segment but we have plenty of other activity on the way which targets our other segments too. Northern Ireland really does have something for everyone so we can’t wait to showcase it all.”