100 Things To Watch In 2012

Great presentation from JWT

LG - Smart Thief

LG launched this on Youtube on 28th December to promote their new OLED Ultra Slim LED television, which they claim is the world’s slimmest TV screen.

Check out the number of views already...

Guinness Storehouse Still Ireland's No.1

With its visitor numbers increasing by 10% in 2011, it's no surprise that The Guinness Storehouse has announced it attracted over a million (1,025,677) visitors through its doors last year. Not only does this see Guinness Storehouse retain its position as Ireland’s no.1 international visitor attraction but also as the fourth largest brand visitor attraction in the world.

Speaking at the announcement today, Managing Director, Paul Carty said: “We are delighted to announce we are still the no. 1 international visitor attraction in Ireland with over 1 million people passing through the Guinness Storehouse doors last year. Over the past number of years, the Irish tourism industry has been under severe pressure and we are proud to have played a part in enticing overseas visitors to Ireland and encouraging domestic visits too.”

Mr Carty continued “all eyes were on Ireland during the high profile state visits of US President Obama Barack Obama and Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II last May and this had a positive impact on our visitor numbers. A very successful St Patrick’s Day festival and the launch of FIVE, an entirely new experience dedicated to Guinness and Food at the Storehouse also contributed to helping us achieve our second highest footfall figures ever recorded.”

Welcoming the Guinness Storehouse figures, Alex Connolly, Head of Communications at Fáilte Ireland emphasised: “Visitor attractions play a vital part in growing both tourism revenue and visitor numbers and these figures today reflect an increase in overseas visitors last year and maybe also a royal bounce from the Queen’s visit. If we can maintain this momentum in 2012, there is every reason to believe that the Storehouse, and all our other key tourism attractions, can further increase visitor numbers this year. That will be good for tourism and great for our economy”.


Visitor Breakdowns:

• 92% of all visitors to the Guinness Storehouse are from overseas.
• Visitors from the USA, Germany, the UK, Ireland and Italy were ranked as the top five visiting nations to Guinness Storehouse.
• German visitors were up 17%
• US visitors were up 14%
• Irish visitors were up 14%
• Italian visitors were up 5%
• August was ranked as the busiest month in the history of the Storehouse with 116,021 visitors.

Guinness Storehouse Facts:

• The Guinness Storehouse is ranked the fourth largest branded visitor centre in the world after Hersheypark in Pennsylvania; Autostadt, the Audi/Volkswagen Centre in Wolfsburg, Germany; and the Coca-Cola Centre in Atlanta, Georgia.
• The Guinness Storehouse has welcomed over 9 million visitors since opening its doors in 2000
• 92% of all visitors to the GUINNES STOREHOUSE are international. The top 5 nationalities who visit the Storehouse are (1) USA (2) UK (3) ROI (4) Italy (5) Germany.
• Approximately 150 people are employed at the Guinness Storehouse
• 1 in 2 holiday-makers who visit Dublin, visit the Guinness Storehouse
• The building is 125 feet high, 170 feet long and 151 feet wide.
• It would take 14.3 million pints of Guinness to fill the giant glass atrium in centre of the Guinness Storehouse building
• Over 1.6 million visitors have tasted Guinness for their first time
• Over 400,000 visitors have learned how to pour a pint of Guinness
• Gravity Bar is the highest bar in Dublin located 44 metres off the ground

Ross O’Carroll Kelly Named Ireland's Favourite Book

---Press Release---

‘The Oh My God Delusion’, Ross O’Carroll Kelly, tops Eason’s book poll as the nation’s favourite read

Wednesday 21st December: Dublin 4’s best-loved resident Ross O’ Carroll-Kelly has certainly captured the heart of the nation as ‘The Oh My God Delusion’ from the series written by author Paul Howard has been crowned Ireland’s Favourite Book.

As part of their 125th anniversary celebrations, Eason, Ireland’s leading retailer of book stationery, magazines and much more launched a search to find the nation’s favourite read as voted by the people of Ireland. For weeks, thousands have been casting their vote via Eason’s new look website, www.easons.com, from a list of 125 top titles but it was Ross O’Carroll Kelly’s ‘The Oh My God Delusion’ that came out on top, competing with classics as such James Joyce ‘Ulysses’, Oscar Wilde’s ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’ and childhood favourites such as Roald Dahl’s ‘BFG’.

Speaking about Eason’s search to find Ireland’s favourite book, Maria Dickenson, Head of Book Purchasing at Eason said “What a diverse bunch of readers we are in Ireland! Thanks to everyone who voted, it’s been incredibly interesting to watch the votes coming in and gaining an insight into what makes us tick when it comes to reading – we each take away something unique from each book we read. Ross O’Carroll Kelly was a certainly a strong contender throughout and we’re delighted to have an Irish book come out on top. Congratulations to Paul for a great win and we trust Ross will be occupying our book shelves for years to come!”

Commenting on his prestigious win on Newstalk’s Tom Dunne show, Paul Howard, author of the Ross O’Carroll Kelly series said, “I am thrilled that ‘The Oh My God Delusion’ has topped Eason’s poll to find the nation’s favourite book. I’ve been writing Ross O’Carroll-Kelly books for 13 years now and it’s very gratifying that readers still find the books relevant and funny. ‘The Oh My God Delusion’ is the tenth novel in the series, which I began writing as a way of poking fun at middle class rugby culture but which became a means of satirising Celtic Tiger Ireland.

“This book was the first recession era book, tracing the descent of Ross and his circle of friends from affluence to penury. It’s great that readers have stuck with the story and are still laughing. And God knows we need a laugh in these grim times! I’d like to say a very special thanks to Eason, who have huge supporters of Ross since the very first book, and everyone who voted”, continued Paul.

The top ten books included:
1. Ross O'Carroll-Kelly: THE OH MY GOD DELUSION, author Paul Howard
2. To Kill a Mocking Bird, author Harper Lee
3. Book Thief, author Markus Zusak
4. Lord of the Rings, author J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, author John Boyne
6. PS I Love You, author Cecelia Ahern
7. Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini
8. Room, author Emma Donoghue
9. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
10. Catch 22, author Joseph Heller


Individual Counties’ Favourite Book:

Carlow (tied first)
Hunger Games, author Suzanne Collins
Ross O’Carroll Kelly: The Oh my God Delusion, author Paul Howard

Cavan
Lord of the Rings, author J.R.R. Tolkien

Clare (all tied first)
Book Thief, author Markus Zusak
PS I Love You, author Cecelia Ahern
Kite Runner, author Khaled Hosseini

Cork To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee

Donegal (all tied first)
Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown
Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas, author John Boyne
Hunger Games, author Suzanne Collins
Ross O’Carroll Kelly: The Oh my God Delusion, author Paul Howard

Dublin
Ross O’Carroll Kelly: The Oh my God Delusion, author Paul Howard

Galway (tied first)
To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee
Book Thief, author Markus Zusak

Kerry (all tied first)
Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown
PS I Love You, author Cecelia Ahern

Kildare
Ross O’Carroll Kelly: The Oh my God Delusion, author Paul Howard

Kilkenny
My Sister’s Keeper, author Jodi Picoult

Laois
Ross O’Carroll Kelly: The Oh my God Delusion, author Paul Howard

Limerick (tied first)
To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee
Book Thief, author Markus Zusak

Longford (tied first)
Time Travellers Wife, author Audrey Niffenegger
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, author Susan Clark

Louth (all tied first)
Lord of the Rings, author J.R.R. Tolkien
Circle of Friends, author Maeve Binchy
Handmaids Tale, author Margaret Atwood
Life of Pi, author Yann Martel
Twilight, Stephenie Meyer

Mayo (all tied first)
Catch 22, author Joseph Heller
Book Thief, author Markus Zusak
Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown
The Notebook, author Nicholas Sparks
We need to Talk About Kevin, author Lionel Shriver

Meath
Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas, author John Boyne

Monaghan
Book Thief, author Markus Zusak

Offaly
The Alchemist, author Paulo Coelho

Roscommon (tied first)
Ross O’Carroll Kelly: The Oh my God Delusion, author Paul Howard
To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee

Tipperary (all tied first)
To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee
Book Thief, author Markus Zusak
Ross O’Carroll Kelly: The Oh my God Delusion, author Paul Howard

Waterford
Book Thief, author Markus Zusak

Westmeath
Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas, author John Boyne Boyne

Wexford (tied first)
Lord of the Rings, author J.R.R. Tolkien
Ross O’Carroll Kelly: The Oh my God Delusion, author Paul Howard

Wicklow
Ross O’Carroll Kelly: The Oh my God Delusion, author Paul Howard

Axe Wishes You A 'Merry Hot Christmas'

Axe's latest campaign comes in the form of a Facebook application Christmas e-card. I'm not going to say anything, just clickthrough and take a look.