Christmas 2018 Campaign

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Belfast Alive with Christmas

Visit Belfast, working on behalf of Belfast City Council, and with support from the Department for Communities and private sector partners including Belfast One, Translink, Castle Court and Victoria Square, has launched its Christmas marketing campaign for 2018 – Belfast Alive with Christmas.

This medium to heavyweight, multi-platform campaign will bring footfall and spend to the city at one of the most crucial times of the year. Against the backdrop of a challenging time for the city centre, Belfast Alive with Christmas, is a campaign which showcases the very best of Belfast at Christmas, from shopping to nights out, family fun to short breaks, as well as the additional attractions and programme of events in the city centre.

The campaign launched on 12 November across all broadcast and digital channels with a 10 second TV and 20 second radio advert across the NI and ROI markets which built anticipation and set the scene for the wider campaign. The full 30 second TV advert aired on Monday 19 November.

Belfast Alive with Christmas will run on TV, radio, outdoor, digital and social media. Read on to find out more about each of these channels, or download campaign assets at the bottom of this page to share on your own channels.

The campaign is being promoted across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland via TV, radio, outdoor advertising, PR and digital.
Online, festive messages and adverts are targeting around one million people on Facebook and Twitter, right through to the New Year. A series of Christmas consumer ezines promoting events, hotel offers, shopping and New Year’s Eve celebrations are being rolled out over the festive season. Digital display advertising across several websites will further support this activity, driving traffic to visitbelfast.com/christmas.

Marketing channels

The campaign is being promoted across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland via TV, radio, outdoor advertising, PR and digital.

TV advertising

A 10 second advert aired from 12 November across NI and ROI, including video-on-demand services in both markets. This was followed by the full 30 second advert, which aired on Monday 19 November. Watch the advert below, and please help spread the festive cheer on your own channels by sharing our Facebook and Twitter posts.



Radio

As with TV, a short, 20 second teaser advert aired in NI and ROI from 12 November. From 19 November, this became a 30 second advert with three thematic versions in NI – retail, city centre attractions and travel. The advert is airing on the Q Radio Network, Cool FM, Downtown, Belfast 89FM and U105 in Northern Ireland and FM10M, LMFM and Spin103.8FM in the Republic of Ireland.
 

Outdoor

The campaign comes alive on our digital outdoor advertising, which includes Adshel Live panels in Belfast and within an hour’s drive of the city, and a digital 48-sheet billboard on Great George’s Street – one of the main commuter routes in and out of Belfast. See the Adshel in action.
Adshel Live
   
   
Digital 48 sheet
In the ROI, we are utilising the big screen at St Stephen’s Green in Dublin City Centre, and T-side advertising on Dublin buses.

 

Digital

Visit Belfast website
All campaign activity encourages visits to visitbelfast.com/christmas, which is packed full of ideas and inspiration for festive fun around the city, as well as practical information on retail opening hours, travel and parking, right through to the New Year.

Social media
Festive messages and adverts are targeting over one million people on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland via Visit Belfast’s social media channels to encourage traffic to visitbelfast.com/christmas and engagement through user-generated content.

Video advertising
The TV advert is running across Video On Demand services in Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland including ITV Hub, All4, Sky VOD, YouTube, RTE Player, Virgin Catch Up and programmatic Video On Demand.

Digital display
Digital display advertising is running across the Goggle Display Network and several other websites which will further support the campaign activity, driving traffic to visitbelfast.com/christmas.

Animated Christmas adverts are on display on various screens in the Visit Belfast Welcome Centre as well as other locations such as Lanyon Train Station, Europa Bus Station, Belfast International Airport, George Best Belfast City Airport, Applegreen service stations on M2 and Titanic Belfast.

Digital Radio and Podcasts
Adverts are running across digital radio stations and podcasts in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.

Email marketing
Eight consumer ezines to Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Great Britain consumer databases will highlight key campaign themes including shopping, events, hotel offers, great nights out and travel.

Search advertising
Paid Google search advertising in Nothern Ireland and Republic of Ireland will further drive traffic to the Visit Belfast Chistmas web section.

Visit Belfast App
The Visit Belfast app, available from the App Store and Google Play Store, will promote key Christmas themes including events, offers and things to do during the campaign period.

Public WiFi Promotion

Using Belfast City Council’s and Visit Belfast’s public WiFi, users will be redirected to visitbelfast.com/christmas after logging in, further promoting Christmas messaging, such as Black Friday Sales and Small Business Saturday, to those in the city centre.
 

Competitions

A number of competitions will run over Visit Belfast’s own website and social media channels, including a photo competition, where we will encourage people to share their best festive photos of the city to win weekly prizes. We are also running our hugely popular city break competition, which will be promoted across all digital and social media channels, as well as a 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway.

Download our toolkit

A number of campaign assets are available to download and share on your own channels.