Bud Light is Back and Lighter Than Ever

New light beer now has 82 calories

Bud Light has announces its comeback to Ireland with a re-launch across the nation. The No. 1 selling light beer has been reformulated for the Irish market and now contains only 82 calories per 330ml bottle. Designed to appeal to men and women who are searching for an alternative beer that offers fewer calories, Bud Light now has an even smoother and refresher taste.

The new Bud Light is brewed to 3.8% ABV and is golden in colour with delicate aromas of malt and hops. Subtle fruity and citrus taste notes, all giving the smooth and refreshing taste. It is brewed using only the finest ingredients of barley malt, rice, hops, yeast and water.

Bud Light will be available in selected bars, off licenses and supermarkets nationwide in both 330ml bottles and 500ml can format.

Carlsberg launches new TV ad ‘Spartacus’

Irish Market the First to Air New Ad Themed Around the 1960 Box Office Smash ‘Spartacus’

Yesterday, Carlsberg unveiled their latest TV ad with an Irish market exclusive. The ad, called 'Spartacus', follows Carlsberg's 'That Calls for a Carlsberg' creative / brand route and sees a modern interpretation of the 1960's film of the same name. Set in an ultra-modern skyscraper office with hundreds of people working in an extremely regimented and drone-like environment, the ad is the story of one workers mini rebellion and the revolt that then ensues.

The film starts when the overbearing company boss enters the room in a fit of rage. He shows a YouTube video depicting him as a dancing monkey, created by the user, Spartacus. He demands to find the culprit of the prank. Reluctantly, the hero ‘Spartacus’ stands up and identifies himself with a bold 'I am Spartacus'. In quick succession his fellow colleagues decide to support their friend and join him one by one claiming to be Spartacus as well. Within in seconds the entire room is standing up in force to take the heat.

‘Spartacus’ ends with the team of workmates heading to the bar for a well-deserved pint of Carlsberg – underlining the brand’s positioning, That calls for a Carlsberg.

Speaking about the new ad, Julie Allman, Senior Brand Manager at Carlsberg, said: “We’re delighted with our new TV ad ‘Spartacus’ which will hopefully excite the Carlsberg drinker and reiterate solidarity amongst friends, something which is embedded in the brand ethos. To coincide with the launch we will be running a themed competition on the Carlsberg Ireland Facebook page, starting on 18th February, to give away Expedia holiday vouchers worth €1,500 and €500 spending money.”

The ad was created by London-based creative agency Fold7, in partnership with Carlsberg's International Brand Marketing Team. The ad will be rolled out across Carlsberg's global markets, starting in Ireland. It will be aired across traditional media and digital channels and will be complemented by a suite of activations, based on the same theme of standing up for your mates, The ad will be supported by substantial media spend in the Irish market.

Hailo To Be The Taxi Driver To The Silver Screen

Hailo to distribute €100,000 worth of taxi vouchers in partnership with Jameson Dublin International Film Festival

Hailo has teamed up with The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival (JDIFF) to giveaway 20,000 vouchers during this year’s festival. That's over €100,000 worth of taxi vouchers to be distributed throughout the festival’s venues; Cineworld, the Savoy, Screen, Irish Film Institute and Light House Cinema in Smithfield. Hailo will issue the vouchers for €5 off your first Hailo taxi throughout the eleven day festival.

Rob Cumiskey, Marketing Communications Manager, Hailo Ireland commented, “We’re delighted to partner with The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival as it will transport cinema goers from the television screen to the cinema screen. The line-up this year is stellar and showcases the talent and scope of Irish and international cinema. We feel the vouchers will encourage the Irish audience to try something new—the most essential app on the market and the best entertainment in film.”

You can pick the vouchers up in any of the participating JDIFF cinemas (Cineworld, the Savoy, Screen, Irish Film Institute and Light House Cinema in Smithfield.) To get €5 off your first taxi, just download the Hailo app from The App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android), register an account with a credit or debit card, enter the promo code on your card and choose ‘Pay With Card’ for your next taxi.

The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival is Ireland’s premier feature film festival taking place each year in February. This year it boasts acting legends Tim Roth, Gabriel Byrne, Frank Langella and Danny DeVito, directing heavyweights Costa-Gavras and Joss Whedon, and screenwriting big hitters Robert Towne and Tobias Lindholm all coming to town. And that’s on top of 130 feature films, shorts, master classes and special events happening over 11 days from February 14th to February 24th.

Founded by three taxi drivers and three internet entrepreneurs, Hailo has raised over $50M from the best investors anywhere, including Union Square Ventures, Accel Partners, Wellington Partners, Atomico Ventures and Sir Richard Branson. Hailo is available as a free download from the iTunes App Store and Google Play. Simply search on "Hailo".

Guinness Storehouse Welcomes Jasmine Guinness Home to Launch Ambassador Programme for ‘The Gathering’

Jasmine Guinness at the Guinness Storehouse

Yesterday, Jasmine Guinness launched the Guinness Storehouse Ambassador Programme as part of the year of ‘The Gathering’. The programme invites Irish residents to apply online for 1 of 50,000 exclusive ambassador cards entitling them to complimentary admission to the Guinness Storehouse throughout 2013. Friends and family who come home for ‘The Gathering’ will also receive a 10% discount off admission.

Paul Carty, Managing Director of the Guinness Storehouse commented that “during the year of ‘The Gathering’, Irish people are encouraged to invite family and friends ‘home’ to Ireland. We want to reward and encourage those who get behind this special year for Irish tourism by opening our doors to them, free of charge, throughout the year. The Guinness Storehouse is the ‘Home’ of Guinness, and in celebration of ‘The Gathering’, our 50,000 ambassadors are welcome to make our home theirs”.

Welcoming the announcement, Jim Miley, Project Director of the Gathering Ireland 2013 said “we’re delighted to see that the Guinness Storehouse is rolling out the green carpet for visitors to Ireland throughout 2013, the year of the Gathering. The concept of the Gathering is based on a personal invitation from the people of Ireland to our friends, family and connections overseas. The Guinness Storehouse ambassador programme will facilitate those of us hosting gatherings to offer our guests a unique experience at one of Ireland’s most popular attractions”.

Throughout the year, active ambassadors will be entered into a competition to win their own Gathering party for 100 of their friends in the Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse with food, refreshments and entertainment provided. Card holders will also be offered a range of benefits during 2013 including exclusive competitions to win tickets to Guinness events, Guinness merchandise and a range of special Guinness Storehouse experiences to be won throughout the year.

Bitbuzz Freedom a success in Dublin

Shane Deasy, Managing Director, Bitbuzz

Six months since the introduction of the complimentary Bitbuzz Freedom Wi-Fi service to Grafton Street, Bitbuzz is observing excellent user figures. Bitbuzz Freedom provides a fully managed complimentary Wi-Fi service to the public and is so far available on Grafton St, parts of Henry Street, Temple Bar and the Hibernian Way.

On Grafton Street alone over 1,500 people are using the service and downloading over 10G of data each month; Bitbuzz even recorded Wi-Fi users on Grafton St on Christmas Day 2012. The service is particularly useful for international tourists who use the service to check maps, research transport services, confirm bookings and research local shops, restaurants and tourist attractions on their smartphones, without paying roaming charges. Bitbuzz Freedom allows Wi-Fi access at full broadband speeds and does not have a speed cap.

Bitbuzz Freedom expanded its service to the Hibernian Way, Temple Bar and parts of Henry St just before Christmas and is now in the process of being deployed on further parts of Henry St.

Shane Deasy, Managing Director, Bitbuzz, said: “We are pleased with the take-up of the Bitbuzz Freedom service so far. Our aim last year was to introduce complimentary Wi-Fi to both Dublin City residents and tourists visiting the Capital and we believe the initiative so far has been a success. We look forward to rolling-out the service in other key cities across the country this year.”

Bitbuzz Freedom is an expansion of the Bitbuzz service and offers the same quality of service the Wi-Fi company currently provides in hotels and coffee shops. Designed for smartphone users, Bitbuzz Freedom provides multiple complimentary 20 minute Wi-Fi sessions. Bitbuzz uses multi-band wireless point-to-point backhaul technology to provide a much better performance than traditional "mesh" solutions. This enables users to move around and continue surfing the internet as they walk down the street.

The Bitbuzz Freedom initiative is 100% funded by Bitbuzz and the company has received no financial support or assistance from the local authority or any state agency.

SoundCloud Sound Banner

Today, Monday January 28th, SoundCloud will be advertising the platform (for the first time) in online outlets such as The Guardian, selected domains from Vice Network UK and US, and ad network placements ranging from MTV.com, to Cosmopolitan, to BBC Music with the message: "Hear the World's Sounds."

What makes the new advertising campaign interesting is that SoundCloud developed - internally - a sound banner. A sound banner is a radical new format developed by SoundCloud's Creative Technologist to broaden brand awareness by maximizing the power of audio, SoundCloud's signature waveform, and the visualization of sound. Audio is at the heart of the message, is in alignment with the company's "sound first" outlook, supplementing the visuals in the banners.

The sound banner uses an advanced audio-enabled HTML5 specification and CSS3 animations (vs. Flash). The infrastructure of the sound banner uses the same SoundCloud SDK as our widgets, allowing them to easily communicate with and pull sounds from the wider SoundCloud platform.

iD Staffing Comes to Ireland

Guinness launches second installment of 'Made of More'.

iD Staffing, part of leading UK experiential marketing agency iD Experiential, is bringing its unique staffing auditions to Ireland. The agency is hoping to attract the cream of promotional staffing talent north and south of the border to join its 5,000-strong team supplying staff to brands across most industry sectors.

The auditions will launch in Dublin on January 28th before moving to Belfast on January 30th. Over the past 12 months, iD Experiential’s work in the Irish market has seen substantial growth. Successful candidates will be working across the agency’s client portfolio including perfume, coffee and electrical brands.

As part of the iD Staffing training scheme staff will be given the opportunity to develop their key skills via a bespoke training course led by Alex Kramer (QVC Presenter). Once sufficiently trained in retail selling techniques, brand ambassadors will be invited to work for established global brands, demonstrating and selling in leading department stores. The programme further reinforces the agency’s position as the home of the industry’s highest calibre of demonstration and promotional staff.

Additionally, iD Staffing will be introducing marketing scholarships to all brand ambassadors, engaging field staff and encouraging personal development.

To reward brand ambassadors, iD Staffing has established the Golden iDOLS scheme. Each month for a year, two of the top brand ambassadors will be rewarded with a £250 Virgin Experience. Furthermore, one lucky brand ambassador will be awarded the ‘biggest achiever of the year’ accolade and receive a £1,000 Virgin Experience voucher to reward their success.

Gemma Murton, Auditions Manager, iD Staffing, said: “I am incredibly excited to be bringing our staffing auditions to Ireland for the first time. 2012 was an incredibly busy year in mainland UK, Northern Ireland and the Republic. It doesn’t look as though that will be slowing down anytime soon. Here at iD we are always on the lookout for fresh new talent to join our agency books and I can’t wait to see what Ireland has in store for us!”

Auditions:
Monday 28th Jan - University College Dublin
Tuesday 29th Jan - The Button Factory Dublin 9.30am
Wednesday 30th Jan – Belfast - The Black Box 9.30am & 5pm