DMblog

Put Your Back into this Good Cause!

Siobhan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:48:30 +0000

I recently designed this campaign for Optimal Chiropractic in Ballincollig. It deserves special mention for their chosen charity; Breakthrough Cancer Research and Cork Cancer Research Centre (CCRC). I am aware of the great work CCRC do from my time as JCI Cork President in 2010 when one of their researchers Dr. Mark Tangney was nominated for JCI Ireland “The Outstanding Young Person of the Year” (TOYP). He was recognised that year as one of the Top 30 Young People in the World for his work in Cancer research.

Spread the love and help CCRC continue the fight against cancer and at the same time have your back (or your loved one’s back) checked at Optimal Chiropractic for only €20 (it is St. Valentine’s Week next week after all!)

http://www.optimalchiro.ie/love-your-back-this-valentines

See, we do work!…

Siobhan — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:55:39 +0000

Recently a close friend asked me; “So what is it exactly that you design?” At first I was surprised by the question as I ‘assumed’ that everyone knew what Christine and I do! (Wrong assumption). Sometimes it is our closest family and friends that really don’t know what we do day in day out as we tend to not ‘talk shop’ when we spend time together. However, they are the very people, who in a heartbeat, will recommend us to others. So, Christine and I set about rectifying this by putting together a year at a glance (reeling in the years style!) in the form of a newsletter. We had some difficulty choosing from all the projects we did in 2011 and narrowing it down to 8 pages was more difficult than we thought. So, here it is attached, we hope you enjoy reading it and we look forward to creating more in 2012.

Have a great Christmas and an even better 2012!

Christmas 2011 Newsletter

Bras for Breast Cancer

Christine — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:26:14 +0000

It’s been a bit of a busy week but I can’t let it finish without writing a quick post on a very special campaign being run by a local shop in Skibbereen. Sean Murray Fashions is looking for the women of Ireland to send him their old bras with a donation to The Irish Cancer Society.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Sean aims to cover the town with bras to raise awareness and round out October with a fashion show in aid of the charity as well as a tug of war with the bras on Main St. The tug of war is a fun event but will symbolise the struggle against breast cancer Irish female sufferers face on a daily basis. Each year more than 2,500 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and although women are more aware of it there is still much to be done.

If any ladies reading this have old bras (which I’m sure you do) lying around the house please send them to Sean Murray, 5 Main St., Skibbereen along with a small donation – the pennies make the pounds (or cents make the euros!). Sean Murray’s is also donating 10% of sales of bras sold throughout October to the Irish Cancer Society as well as giving ladies 10% off for themselves – everyone’s a winner!

Here is a link to TV3’s Midday programme where the ladies speak about the campaign

Sean also hit the national airwaves yesterday morning when he spoke to Hector live on air about the campaign!

Below is a sample of some the coverage from the papers yesterday…

Irish Examiner

Cork Independent

Hollywood Glamour in Glengarriff!

Christine — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:50:47 +0000

DMpr had the pleasure to work on the PR for the Maureen O’Hara Classic Film Festival which wrapped up yesterday after ten days of screenings, book signings special talks, Q+A sessions, music and food.

During the festival I had the pleasure of meeting Maureen; a true lady who never tired of giving her time to those who travelled from all corners of the world to catch a glimpse of their all time favourite Hollywood star.

The festival received all the media attention it deserved and even pulled a front page in the Irish Examiner on Saturday 18^th June with an article by Eoin English after his interview with Susan Bernard, former actress and daughter of Hollywood’s most famous photographer, Bernard of Hollywood. Susan was in Glengarriff to preview her new book Marilyn; Intimate Exposures which will be published by Sterling Press in October of this year.

Cork’s favourite son, George Hook also visited Glengarriff twice to interview Maureen and broadcast his Newstalk show The Right Hook on opening night before officially doing the honours of opening the festival to great laughter and applause in The Eccles Hotel.

Pic: Neil Danton

Minister Jimmy Deenihan also travelled to introduce Sé Merry Doyle’s documentary Dreaming the Quiet Man on Friday last. This was Maureen’s third time to see the documentary and if you get a chance it is well worth going to see and is sure to put a smile on your face!

Pic: John Delea

Already looking forward to next year’s festival!

It Doesn’t Have to be Serious!

Christine — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:13:46 +0000

I had the most fun on a recent photoshoot for The Clarion Hotel with photographer Neil Danton. It was great to do something completely light hearted to raise awareness of the fantastic deals that are available at The Clarion Hotel, Cork throughout the summer period for Live at the Marquee.

Three of our friends at the Clarion really got in to the spirit of it by dressing up as three of the headline artists for Live at the Marquee. Raymond channelled his inner Elton John while Mark made a youthful Christy Moore and Kasia almost really did become the beautiful Imelda May.

The entire shoot was such fun. It is always great to have a client just run with an idea – it goes to show that if you dare to be different then you will be noticed! And noticed they were in national and local media as well as on the street when they stopped traffic while on the boardwalk!

Thanks too to Neil Danton who can instantly fall in with a wacky idea and bring it to life!

Listen to your mother, she’s always right!

Siobhan — Tue, 10 May 2011 10:15:39 +0000

“If you’re not going to do it right, don’t do it at all”, are wise words I often heard my mother say and words that ring in my ears over and over again during my working life. This is especially true when it comes to logo design.

Your logo should be unique to you and reflect the values/experience of your product or service. Consistent placement of your logo on your business stationery, signage, website, literature and packaging will help your customer recognise you again and again.

It is often a temptation for start-up companies to go with a quick fix, cheap option when creating their logo. The, “sure ’tis grand for now” attitude will end up costing you in the long run. When you realise you should have done it right to begin with it is a costly exercise to have all your company literature, signage and stationery re-printed with the right logo.

My advice; get your company logo designed by a professional graphic design company right from the beginning and avoid your mother saying; “I told you so”!!

If you don't get it right first time is it a costly exercise?? ...just ask Pepsi!

Online PR – The Boost You Need for Your Small Business

Christine — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:39:56 +0000

If you own a local business there’s good news when it comes to online PR. With clever use of online web marketing and localised PR you can easily generate free messaging or promotion for your business. When a local business produces it’s own online news content, it almost always results in increased search engine rankings, traffic, and business.

The more education and informative your content is the better the results.

Below are 3 easy steps to get started with local online PR:

Put a News Section on Your Website

If your business has a news section on it’s website, you’ll have a place to publish and manage content about events, new products or services, and community involvement of your business. It’s unlikely to gain mainstream attention of major media outlets, but it does help improve your repeat business and build a loyal following of customers. In addition, it boosts search engine rankings, especially if you are writing news tailored to the region you do business in. Before you know it, your business will be known for it’s great communication and you’ll be ahead of your competitors in the search engines.

Use Press Releases To Generate Buzz

Think you can’t have a news section on your website because your company hasn’t been in the news? You can always write your own news. In fact writing press releases about your website is one of the best ways to generate a buzz for what you are doing. It gives local press a story. Even a charity walk could be newsworthy for your local newspaper. True, it’s not national front page material but it could gain exposure for your company in the community section or events of your local paper.

Connect With Your Customers Socially

With the ever-increasing popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, you can place your company’s name in front of a captive audience absolutely free. The key is to be personal and provide value to your friends or followers and think a little bit differently to your competitors.

Why Simple Ideas are often the Best

Christine — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:19:41 +0000

Last night we watched Corkman and entrepreneur Diarmaid Twomey enter the Dragons Den with one of the simplest yet brightest ideas to date – selling ad space on coffee cups. This, together with his no nonsense presentation made it impossible for the Dragons to say no and in a reversal of fortunes Diarmaid had them on their knees! In the end he chose to seal the deal with Norah Casey and Bobby Kerr.

I have had the pleasure of working with Diarmaid over the past number of weeks and it is clear to see that the Dragons have made a sound investment in him and his business. Diarmaid and Expresso Ads are destined for great things and we wish him all the very best of luck!

Check out Expresso Ads here; www.expressoads.ie

The pictures were taken last week by the wonder that is Neil Danton – always a pleasure!

You Get What You Give

Christine — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:06:23 +0000

Just like everything else in the world, the nicer you are the more you seem to get back. Therefore, the nicer you are to a service provider, chances are the better the service you will receive in return. Thinking about this made me think of how all of us tend to go the extra mile for those who appreciate what we do so here are just two quick tips for getting more from your service providers be they in PR, design, plumbing – whatever!

Be Friendly

So maybe you’re just having a bad day and you didn’t mean to sound abrupt on that call or come across short on the last email. Perhaps you’re in a hurry or you’re having a particularly crappy day – does that mean you can skimp on the niceties to those that are providing you with a service? Some people think that by being tough and/or ungrateful will make their provider work harder for them or by not giving praise means that you are happy enough with what they are doing – I suppose we can all be guilty of this.

However, it is proven that being nice doesn’t cost you anything and encourages people to try harder and go that extra step to make you even happier. Give praise, say thank you, write a card or even cheaper, an email – it won’t take long and you’ll see a marked difference in how you are treated in return. It’s karma!

Give: Friendliness and Gratitude

Get: The extra mile

Take ideas on Board – dare to be different

Don’t shoot down ideas because you’ve never done “that” in the past. This isn’t the past – it’s always a good time to step up your image and new ideas which may seem a little bit crazy are often the ones that take you to higher ground and help you stand out from your competition. I know that I am extra motivated when working on creative campaigns for clients who just get it and want to break the mould. So don’t be afraid to test the waters and trust your provider.

Give: Trust

Get: Creativity and Motivation

Some things just don’t need PR…

Christine — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:24:57 +0000

Yesterday I was lucky enough to catch the most beautiful sunset in Baltimore – some things are naturally perfect and this was certainly one of them. When something is this good it doesn’t require help with design or PR…luckily for DM, there aren’t many places or things in the world like this!!