THE BRIEF

Presented by Cork City Council and the Inter-Departmental Marine Coordination Group (MCG), 2019 was the first of three years SeaFest was being hosted in Cork. Springboard Communications were tasked with devising a marketing and PR strategy that would attract more than 100,000 visitors to the Port of Cork in June 2019 for SeaFest.

THE EXECUTION

Springboard devised a SeaFest communications and marketing campaign strategy including media relations, brochure design and development, advertising design, email marketing, media buying including media partnership management, and social media planning and content creation including photography and video management.

We worked closely with stakeholders including BIM, Marine Institute, Port of Cork, Cork Harbour Festival, Commissioners of Irish Lights, Defence Forces, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bord Bia, Sea Fisheries Protection Authority and Pure Cork. This involved regular meetings and liaising with all parties involved on event content for brochures, and digital content.

Springboard engaged local schools with a scripted visit from the Lord Mayor of Cork, and Cork businesses and organisations, including Cork Chamber of Commerce and Cork Business Association, to effectively activate key target audiences.

THE RESULTS

All KPIs were successfully achieved, including a target of 100,000 people to attend the three-days. There were 214 pieces of coverage of SeaFest in print, broadcast and online, while TV coverage included a dedicated RTÉ Nationwide programme, interviews with SeaFest speakers on Virgin Media One’s Six O’Clock Show and a Virgin Media News report.

• There were 214 pieces of coverage of SeaFest in print, broadcast and online.
• There were over 100,000 attendees across the three days
• #SeaFest19 was trending at #1 on Saturday, 8 June
• Instagram followers increased by 43%

Here are some of the media that featured SeaFest over the opening weekend and many tagged SeaFest in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts.

Some of our favourite tweets from the weekend included:

If you would like more information on how Springboard Communications can help you meet your communications objectives, contact info@springboardcommunications.ie