Ballygowan Launches 'Drink It In' Campaign

Ballygowan has just launched a brand new campaign, "Drink It In", celebrating the brand's new look and design and driving uptake within the 20 to 30 year old market. The campaign not only features a TV ad, but also utilises radio, PR and social media.

Speaking today at the official launch of the new campaign, Head of Marketing for Ballygowan, Leonie Doyle said “Water boasts so many benefits to both body and mind that help you to feel your best inside and out, and we wanted to celebrate this power and brilliance with a whole new look for Ballygowan, encouraging the nation to drink it in."

She continued: “Our ‘Drink It In’ campaign brings this celebration to life. We wanted to create something that would resonate with our target consumer and the result is a really uplifting, positive and engaging production that we are really excited about sharing. It shows water doing some amazing things and people having fun with it.”

Meeting House Square in Dublin’s Temple Bar was selected as the location for the ad for its fresh new look, offering an undeniably Irish contemporary backdrop. The advert dives into the everyday lives of modern Irish people who have been delighted and captivated by the power and brilliance of water using an innovative water display mechanism called “Aquagraphics”. The technology creates aqua visuals which tell the story of Ballygowan’s journey from rainclouds to the bottle.

Speaking about the making of the ad, Director, Gavin Kelly of Piranha Bar said “Ballygowan set us an exciting challenge and we are thrilled with how the piece has come together. We searched for something that would allow us to use water in an impactful way and decided to let water do the talking. Using Aquagraphics are telling the powerful story of a great Irish brand – the clouds coming in from the Atlantic, filtering through limestone for centuries and flowing into Ballygowan, the pure mineral water as we find it today. The end result is an outdoor water spectacle that celebrates both Ballygowan and water itself, and is the centrepiece of the ad that we believe will draw viewers in.”

The chosen track to accompany the ad titled “Outdoors” by up-and-coming County Down band Kowalski, was selected for its “sense of vibrancy and flow that works in perfect harmony with the movement and energy of the water”.

The Ballygowan campaign was developed by Irish advertising agency Cawley Nea TBWA and post produced by Piranha Bar, a Dublin based Creative Content Studio and Production Facility.

“Drink It In” will air on television screens for the first time tomorrow, Thursday, 12th April 2012.

For more details and behind the scenes footage log onto Facebook.com/BallygowanIrishWater.


Making of the ad FACTS:

• It was filmed over a 15 hour shoot day. It required two days transcoding, 4 days editing and several days compositing and grading, together with several days animation time also.
• It is a sophisticated blend of high end digital film with green screen compositing, computer generated assets, relighting tools and skilled retouching.
• The final look of the film is created with Lustre - a film grading tool regularly used on blockbuster films like Lord of the Rings and King Kong!
• The ad would not have worked using CGI along - which augmented the real thing, so when people get wet in the ad – they really do get wet!
• The Aquagraphics installation consists of two layers made up of 380 separate nozzles per metre (the main screen was 9 metres long!) which are linked to a computer which then triggers the action of the nozzles by scanning the lines of a computer image. The nozzles trigger on and off in a fraction of a second, creating 'water pixels' which cascade downwards in the pattern of the original image.
• The Aquagraphic screen recycles all of the water it uses from a small reservoir making it completely sustainable.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning claims the lives of approximately 75 people each year in the UK and Ireland. In the UK it is estimated that 20% of homes have a working CO alarm installed while in Ireland only 10% homes are thought to have an alarm.

CO is totally invisible to the human senses and can be produced by appliances that use gas, oil, wood, coal, or other solid fuel. It is a highly poisonous gas with no colour, taste or smell, and the only reliable way to detect CO is with an audible EI Carbon Monoxide Alarm.

I was recently given a Carbon Monoxide Alarm to try out by ElectricIrelandStore.ie. It's a small device and resembles a Smoke Alarm very closely in appearance. The CO alarm constantly monitors the home, providing an early warning of any CO presence.

The alarm is compliant with BS EN 50291:2010 and BS EN 60335-1:2002 safety specifications and incredibly easy to install with no wiring of any kind. The heart of the unit, the sensor, has an operational life of 6 years, and most importantly the alarm is incredibly loud. Just to wrap it all up nicely, it's also an Irish made product.

The alarm is available directly from the Electric Ireland Store and is priced at €37.99.

ElectricIrelandStore.ie focuses on energy-saving products designed to reduce home energy costs, while also providing consumers with a wide range of items to make their home warmer, safer and more secure. The online store also hosts applications developed by Electric Ireland such as the appliance calculator that help consumers understand what drives home energy use and how best to reduce it.

Katy Perry Sweetens Life For The Sims

Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that the next collaborative project between The Sims and Katy Perry will be available this June on PC/Mac. In The Sims 3 Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats, players can sweeten up their Sims’ lives with Katy Perry-inspired, candylicious items that will enhance their game experience such as décor, furniture, objects and of course, fashions and hairstyles.

Players will sink their sweet tooth into all new in-game goodies and turn the homes and neighborhoods of their Sims into a whimsical Candyfornia, complete with cupcake-themed guitars, candy playground equipment and delicious cotton candy trees. Outfitting their Sims in an array of new clothing and hairstyles, players will make their Sims look good enough to eat! Three pre-built venues will help transform the world for the Sims characters with a game packed full of Katy Perry-inspired content.

“I’m delighted to bring you more with The Sims 3 Sweet Treats," said Perry. "I love some of the accessories so much that I am going to get some of them made in real life! It's one of my small life goals to sit on a banana split couch."

Additionally, players will rock out to a Simlish version of Katy Perry’s hit song, ‘Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F),’ which she recorded for The Sims 3 Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats. Simlish is the official language of The Sims.

Perry comments on singing the Simlish version of the track, saying, "'Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)' is a really fun song to sing along to in any language, so I thought why not in Simlish?"

In The Sims 3 Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats, players can indulge their Sims in an array of exciting and colorful items to turn their surroundings into vibrant candytopias. From banana split sofas to lavish fountains made of candy, and even a waffle cone picnic table, this game really captures Katy Perry’s spirit. New sugar-coated fashions and hairstyles really sweeten this game. The fashions are straight from Katy Perry’s red carpet appearances, music videos and concert performances, which have now been recreated for The Sims in a true to life way.

Even more delectable are the pre-built venues that are included. Players can take their Sims for a dip amidst the sweet surroundings of Patty’s Natural Baths, an all-new pool venue, complete with bubble gum pink lounge chairs and a licorice-themed slippy slide. They can stroll over to the Bonbon Lawn Park where they’ll find loads of fun-for-all-ages, candy playground equipment. Players can also take their Sims to the Cake Pleasure Dome, the town’s charming local hangout, where even more tasty sweet treats await.

Samsung Galaxy Note & Peter The Elephant

TVF have just launched the above video to promote the Samsung Galaxy Note. The Galaxy Note is Samsung’s smartphone / tablet hybrid featuring a much bigger screen than your average smartphone. Based on the idea that “bigger is better”, and inspired by recent videos like the frog and lizard playing with smartphones, TVF took the Galaxy Note to Thailand and gave it to Peter the elephant.

The footage is apparently all real, and to prove it TVF uploaded some unedited out-takes as well.


Campaign Credits
Project name: Elephant plays with Galaxy Note
Client: Samsung
Creative agency: The Viral Factory
Director: Matt Huntley with The Viral Factory

Guinness's Green Carpet For All The Patrick's

Tomorrow, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, Guinness Storehouse will be putting out the green carpet again for all the Patricks and offering them free entry into the Storehouse. As you may remember, last year everybody by the first name of Patrick, Patricia, Paddy, Padraig, Trish, Tricia or Patsy and all the variants thereof, were treated to a special VIP Patrick experience in the Guinness Storehouse on St. Patrick’s Day.

This year will be no different!

On arrival at the Storehouse, Guinness's VIP Patricks will receive a specially designed Very Important Patrick Pass, free entry, complimentary food tastings and Pour the Perfect Pint Sessions during the day. The exclusive St. Patrick’s Day menu offered will be complete with authentic Guinness beef stew specially designed by the Guinness Storehouse cuisine team on FIVE.

Aside from great food and delicious pints, the three day St. Patrick’s Festival will play host to a fantastic selection of live music from home grown and international talent including Four Men and a Dog, bluegrass collective Tupelo, vocal ensemble Eclectic Spree and London jazz band Brassroots plus many more.

Storehouse visitors will also have the oportunity to take part in a global Guinness World Record Attempt to create the biggest welcome and make St. Patrick’s Day the Friendliest Day of the Year. Part of this will see a friendly Phone available for Patricks to call family or friends for free anywhere in the world.

For full details on the festival and the World’s Friendliest Day Guinness World Record Attempt log onto www.guinness-storehouse.com.