An article in the Business Post a while back covered the fact that RTE, Today FM and the regional radio stations are uniting to do an ad campaign to promote radio ads. This is the first time ever it’s happened. Shame it took a recession and many of them on deathwatch for it.
Why aren’t companies in the same industry doing this? Why aren’t hotels in a certain tourist location uniting and talking up their area? Why are so many companies now doggedly fighting over a smaller and smaller patch instead of making the patch bigger? Cooperation works if you want it to. The businesses in Washington Street in Cork did this a while back as did a number of other pubs running “decades’ nights in various pubs.
Do businesses in Ireland take things too personally so much that they couldn’t be a uniting force to build their whole industry? Thoughts?
Photo owned by comedy_nose (cc)
Hotels have ITIC and Tourism Ireland to do it for them.
Are you not eagerly awaiting your €50 cheque from Discover Ireland Damien?
Fo’shame…
I read a few weeks ago (can not remember where?) that a lot of hotels and restaurants in Kerry (Killarney area especially) were teaming up to promote their area and the benefits of visiting it. The pubs are also doing it (Vintners Association of Ireland) with the quirky radio ads.
However I agree, there is scope for more partnerships to be struck up in Ireland. I guess in good times businesses do not want to show their cards to their competitors but when the well-documented recession comes about and the general consensus out there is that everyone is in the same boat, people are more willing to work with anyone who they think will improve their business.
Kevin
Cheques, how much did they send you?
The book publishing industry has done this type of thing plenty of times: next month you’ll see Great Irish Book Week (launch on 1 October — we’re on Facebook now, with other social media to follow) when all Irish publishers are getting together to pay for a joint promotion across the retail trade (and media!) in Ireland.
There is also World Book Day, the Children’s Book Festival etc which are industry-wide and largely paid for by the companies involved. It’s an essential strategy for cash-poor, but publicity-friendly, industries who can’t afford substantial amounts of conventional advertising.
Ivan
They’re giving away a 50 squid voucher at the weekend but they’re calling it a “cheque”…
This seems like one of those ideas that is so simple and obvious that it has been over looked. I was also kicking around the idea of barter advertising where agencies would be paid a simple “matchmaker” type fee for fixing people up. eg a product launch needs a venue, gets to use a hotel and gives the hotel some of the new product to use in their own marketing. I think it’s time people group together to market themselves and no concentrate so much on staying individual.. safety in numbers an all that
Wasn’t one of the most famous ‘collaborations’ of this kind when the concrete industry industry spent a fortune advertising “concrete bult homes are better built homes” during the property bubble?
If only they had those millions now!!
That was cartel mafia Seamus… The sort stereotypical Italian American gangster types would be proud of…
Best soundbite of that entire campaign was some genius on the radio saying that timber houses were ripe targets for criminals as you simply saw through the wall…
The “dont’ you be looking into my copybook and cogging me” ethos is alive and well here!
It’s very difficult to get businesses to pull together in this country or to put the common good above personal profit. I’d be very interested to hear your ideas on how to instill openness and collaboration…
PS – thanks for the fluffy link