How far would you travel for a pint of beer? Dubliners from Ireland crossed the Atlantic Ocean to share a pint with fellow Dubliners in Ohio.
The Other Dublin campaign offered free pints to anyone who made the trip from Dublin, Ireland to Dublin, Ohio for St. Patrick’s Day last year. What started as a fun idea to get people talking about the city led to people making the 3,500-mile trek and the campaign winning a prestigious award.
The Other Dublin
Visit Dublin Ohio
The campaign launched three weeks prior to St. Patrick’s Day 2024 with the goal to get people to start talking about Dublin, Ohio.
Sara Blatnik, marketing director of Visit Dublin Ohio, says even though they had a small budget, they were able to gain a lot of attention.
The organization bought billboards in downtown Dublin, Ireland and used pictures of the billboards to gain media attention. The billboards led people to the campaign’s dedicated landing page that highlighted everything Dublin, Ohio has to offer including direct flights between Cleveland and Dublin, Ireland.
Ten people made the trip from Dublin, Ireland to Dublin, Ohio. Some visitors had connections already in the area, while others came for the St. Patrick’s Day events.
“The local community loved the campaign. I think sometimes because the nature of what we do is bringing people in from out of town, a lot of times residents or people in central Ohio won’t see ads or something from us,” says Blatnik. “So, when people see their hometown name in the media, on TV, online, they get excited about it.”
Adrian Award
Visit Dublin Ohio
Visit Dublin Ohio was recognized by Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) at the annual Adrian Award celebration.
The team won a Bronze, Best of Category Adrian Award, in the Integrated Campaign – Innovation category. This is the first time Visit Dublin Ohio has won an Adrian Award.
Blatnik highlighted how meaningful this award was, especially for a city like Dublin, Ohio competing with campaigns for cities such as New York City and Las Vegas.
“There was a lot of local pride around it,” says Blatnik. “I had more people than ever in my 12 years come up and say, ‘Oh, we saw that campaign,’ which is always exciting, especially that people locally can connect with what we do with the community”
Other projects
City of Dublin
This year for St. Patrick’s Day, Visit Dublin Ohio ran an engaging campaign called the Luckiest Pat. Open to anyone named Pat, the contest invited participants to prove their luck.
From 300 entries, the competition was narrowed down to the top three Pats, each of whom created a video to showcase their charm and luck. The community then voted to select the winner. The Luckiest Pat was crowned and proudly marched in the St. Patrick’s Day parade.
In May, Visit Dublin Ohio launched its newest regional campaign that encourages people in Ohio and surrounding states to explore Dublin, Ohio.
Korrigan Craddock is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
