New brand is the Big Apple of Limerick’s eye at New York launch

LIMERICK! Limerick! It’s a hell of a town!

That was the celebratory vibe last week when a delegation of public representatives and officials launched the long-awaited Brand Limerick marketing campaign in New York city. 

‘Limerick: Atlantic Edge, European Embrace’ will showcase Limerick as a globally competitive, international city.

It follows months of research by creative agency M&C Saatchi between late 2018 and early 2019, which cost around €70,000.

The result is a massive new campaign that will focus on Limerick’s strengths in areas such as tourism, business, and education. Now, Ireland’s third-largest city has declared a bold ambition for US inward growth and investment with the unveiling in New York of a new brand positioning and international marketing campaign.

The brand was unveiled to an audience that included representatives from the New York business and arts communities, Tourism Ireland and the Limerick diaspora at the Irish Consulate on Park Avenue on Thursday night. 

The creation of the Limerick brandmark involved key inputs from a range of stakeholders, from members of the public and business community during early-stage focus groups through to students of the renowned Limerick School of Art & Design – one of the top 50 third level art and design institutions in the world.

In addition to M&C Saatchi, the creative process also saw a number of local companies, including True Media, Limerick Printmakers, Treaty City Brewery, and Limerick Chocolate Shop, engaged by Limerick City and County Council. Ireland’s largest marketing communications company, Core Media, will be involved in rolling out the programme nationally and internationally with a bespoke media buying campaign across traditional and social media.

A major multi-market campaign, ‘Percentages’, is a cornerstone of the programme which aims to quantify Limerick’s combination of edginess and friendliness.

The character and culture of Limerick will also be articulated through a roll-out of Limerick ‘local heroes’, which will see inspirational people tell their stories on video and become faces of the campaign to amplify the sense of edge and embrace that typifies the city and county.

Speaking at the US launch, Mayor Michael Sheahan said it was a “real milestone”. The council’s head of marketing and communications, Laura said  “a huge amount of work has gone into getting us here today but today is really just the start”.