A good wheeze? This airy slogan didn’t f it Dublin
DUBLIN is neither ‘A Breath Of Fresh Air’ nor ‘Europe’s Natural Capital’ – according to market research, at least.
Fáilte Ireland road-tested half a dozen slogans for the capital, but potential visitors complained that some were either arrogant or not credible.
Market research found that ‘Europe’s Natural Capital’ rated worst of all and was chosen by just 10% of people.
According to those surveyed, it sounded like Dublin was claiming to be the capital of Europe and this could be perceived as ‘untrue or even arrogant’.
One man asked how it could be ‘Europe’s Natural Capital’ when it wasn’t even on the continental mainland, while another said: ‘I think Europeans might question this.’
‘Dublin: Outside The Ordinary’, was also ditched according to the internal Fáilte Ireland report, which was obtained under a Freedom of Information request.
Those surveyed agreed that it set Dublin apart from other cities, but it was chosen by only 15% as the best way to promote the capital.
Fáilte Ireland had introduced the tagline, ‘A Breath Of Fresh Air’ in October 2015, but it did not do too well in the research, scoring 18% of first preferences.
It was most popular with Americans who often think of ‘Ireland’s greenness’ and that this fit in with their general perception of the country.
However, for many, it simply was ‘not credible’ for a major city and was ‘particularly weak’ among Irish people.
Some suggested that ‘traffic fumes in a capital city do not make the air fresh’ and that it was inappropriate given Dublin’s congestion problems.
‘City Of Surprises’ was enticing for visitors and it performed particularly strongly among British and Irish audiences who felt it ‘fits their experience the best’.
However, not all visitors liked surprises – particularly American audiences – who said this was not what they wanted in an unfamiliar country. That tagline was favoured by 30%, the same number who chose the combination tagline of either ‘Surprising By Nature’ and ‘Naturally Surprising’, which together topped the rankings when people’s second and later preferences were taken into account.
‘Clearly the word “surprises/surprising” is liked,’ said the Fáilte Ireland briefing.
It said the final decision would have to be whether they should include the word ‘nature’ or not.
This did not work with everybody, with people in Britain and Ireland who know Dublin being ‘not convinced’ that Dublin offers nature.
In the end, Fáilte Ireland went with ‘Surprising By Nature’ with this – and all of the other options – scoring well when compared with other European cities.
Among the taglines they asked people about were Edinburgh’s This Is Edinburgh, Berlin’s The City Of Freedom, and Warsaw’s Fall In Love With Warsaw.
Some of these, people felt, restricted certain cities to romantic couples or didn’t offer enough mystery.
Talking about surprises made ‘Dublin sound like a hidden gem compared to competitors’.
‘Surprising by Nature’ was ultimate choice