Tourism Ireland Turns Digital Poster Sites into Outdoor Music Festival

Tourism Ireland has turned digital poster sites from New York to Sydney into an outdoor music festival to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Championing Ireland’s music culture to a global audience, the ‘Green Button Festival’ is the world’s first ever music festival accessible through scannable digital billboards. 

Created by Publicis•Poke, passers-by can scan a QR code on the digital display to activate and control the entertainment with the Green Button on their smartphones. The activated Green Button draws a curtain and the digital display plays various acts from the festival, including acts such as the Hot House Flowers from Dublin’s Temple Bar and Kíla from Newgrange. 

The ‘Green Button Festival’ is the latest iteration of Tourism Ireland's wider Green Button campaign launched in 2021 which seeks to remind travellers of all the adventures a visit to Ireland will bring to those who press the Green Button.

Mark Henry, director of central marketing at Tourism Ireland, said: “Our Green Button Festival will bring some of Ireland’s best-loved and up-and-coming acts to millions of prospective holidaymakers across the globe. We’re using the day to show the breadth of musical talent that the island of Ireland has to offer and encouraging people to come and visit to experience it for themselves. We want to remind everyone what they’ve been missing over the past couple of years and what fun St Patrick’s Day can truly be.”

The OOH campaign is supported by an online hub on ireland.com where people can watch the performances no matter where they are. The Green Button Festival will also run on digital channels and collateral such as tote bags, photo picture frames and more will be used at the billboard sites to further bring the festival theme to life.

Dave Monk, executive creative director, Publicis•Poke, said: “By broadcasting performances from some of Ireland’s finest musicians and amazing up-and-coming talent, direct to every smartphone, the idea is a way of giving people from New York to Milan, Sydney and London, a richer taste of what Ireland has to offer, and importantly bringing them closer to booking a trip.”

The special build high impact digital OOH campaign is running in London (Westfield, White City), New York (1560 Broadway, Times Square), Sydney (Sydney Cove Overseas Passenger Terminal) and Milan (Via Dante, Largo Cairollo). 

Dave added: “The island of Ireland is a beautiful place with wild landscapes and iconic sights that many people have missed over the last few years. With green synonymous with the island’s lush landscapes – the perfect antidote to lockdown blues – and "Go", we’re making the Green Button a perfect metaphor for booking a trip to the island.”

The Green Button campaign is the most integrated campaign in Tourism Ireland's history. To date, the campaign has served up OOH, Social, Display, Influencers, PR and trade events, as well as employing Global Street Art to paint a set of three Green Button murals in Shoreditch to bring the island's lush green landscapes to the grey streets of east London. The campaign has run in a total of 14 different international markets, reaching over 150 million potential visitors.