PR Cork

Swing By The Clarion Hotel for this year’s Cork International Jazz Festival!
August 31, 2010 by Christine
The Clarion Hotel Cork are in early preparations for this year’s Cork International Jazz Festival with an amazing line up for the ever popular weekend 22^nd – 25^th October. The main acts this year are The Jive Aces and The Slammers Maximum Jive Band on the Saturday night in the hotel’s Pegasus Suite. The Jive Aces are described as the UK’s Number 1 Jive Band and have performed on numerous occasions on TV in the UK and across Europe. They also performed in the world renowned Royal Albert Hall earlier this year. The Slammers Maximum Jive Band are a high energy group that will keep revelers rocking until the small hours of the morning. So get your dancing shoes on and grab your ticket from the Clarion for just €20. A night not to be missed!
Category: DMprTags: Christine Duggan, Clarion Hotel Cork, Cork Jazz Festival, Cork PR, DM, DMdesign, DMpr, PR Cork | Comments (0)
“BALLYHOURA DRAGONS” PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED
April 28, 2010 by Christine
Three Business to Vie for Investment in Dragons Den Style Programme

Ballyhoura Development Ltd. has announced the three successful entrepreneurs who have been chosen for the Ballyhoura Dragons project which was launched earlier this year to coincide with the 21^st anniversary of Ballyhoura Development Ltd. The three successful start up companies were chosen from hundreds of applicants who wanted to set up a sustainable business in the Ballyhoura region.

The three businesses which have been chosen to partake in the programme to be mentored are Cabby Advertising, an in-taxi advertising company to promote advertising on the move, Credit Control Covered Limited which provides credit control training for businesses by way of a tutorial delivered online, and Polar Heating Controls Limited, a new heating control system for residential and commercial buildings. Mentorship will culminate in a Dragons Den style event where each of the participants will bid for investment by well known businesspeople.

Cabby Advertising is the brainchild of Rita Shinners who recognised the surge in popularity of in-taxi advertising in New York and wanted to bring a similar service to Irish taxis in a cost effective manner. Here, LCD screens are fitted inside taxis showing moving advertisements to a captive audience. With taxis operating day and night, Cabby Advertising will provide forward thinking businesses with a more widespread audience than any other form of media.

Credit Control Covered Limited is a family run business which was founded in January 2010 and led by Anthony and Laura Kelly. Anthony has twenty years experience managing his own long-established debt collection agency All Ireland Credit Services. On recognising the turbulent times businesses are facing and the basic mistakes made by both large and small businesses in terms of their credit control Anthony decided to put his experience in to writing a tutorial for organisations to help them avoid such pitfalls. The tutorial, which is delivered online is a desktop tool which will be of undeniable benefit to any company, large or small, domestic or international granting credit in Ireland. It is a Credit Control solution which is non-academic but rather provides real-life knowledge and expertise.

Polar Heating Controls Ltd. is a new innovative heating control system which is easily installed to existing systems and enables remote control and zoning of heat use, reducing energy costs for homeowners. The product is the brainchild of Gerard O’ Brien, Eamon O’ Dea, Gerard Barron, and Tom McGuinness. The business aims to create 20 jobs in the region in the first five years of business and expand the product range to incorporate new markets.

Speaking of the announcement of the three companies, Belinda Spillane, Enterprise Officer, Ballyhoura Development Limited said, “ Each of the three chosen participants represent real hope for the future of enterprise in the Ballyhoura region. Each company offers very different services and products and the coming six months will see them build their brand with highly experienced mentors. I hope that by the end of this year they will have secured the investment they require for their business to secure the future of long term employment for the people of Ballyhoura”.

The chosen mentors for the programme are DMConsulting, Chris Fussey, Hugo Flinn and James Nix. Each of the mentors will guide the participants through strategic planning and marketing over the coming months with each of the businesses also partaking in networking events and trade fairs to test their markets.
Category: DMprTags: Ballyhoura, Ballyhoura Development Ltd, Ballyhoura Dragons, Cork PR, DM, DMpr, Entrepreneur Programme, PR Cork | Comments (0)
THE FUREYS AND DAVEY ARTHUR TO PERFORM IN WEST CORK HOTEL, SUNDAY 2nd MAY
April 26, 2010 by Christine
Nationally renowned Irish artists, The Fureys and Davey Arthur are to perform in Skibbereen’s West Cork Hotel on Sunday May 2^nd as part of the hotel’s May Bank Holiday celebrations. The concert will mark the beginning of the summer season in West Cork and is the first of a number of events happening in the hotel in the coming months.

The Fureys and Davey Arthur have been performing to audiences all over the world for the past 32 years with their music, songs and stories and are one of the most respected and best loved Irish traditional institutions in the country. They will perform all their hits on the night including I Will Love You, When You Were Sweet 16, The Green Fields of France, The Old Man, Red Rose Café, From Clare to Here, Leaving Nancy and more.

The West Cork Hotel also have special offers for the May Bank Holiday including 2 nights B&B and a three course dinner for just €124pps.

Tickets for The Fureys and Davey Arthur are priced at €25.50 and are available directly from The West Cork Hotel on 028 21277
Category: DMprTags: Cork PR, DM, DMpr, Fureys, May Bank Holiday, PR Cork, Skibbereen, West Cork, West Cork Hotel | Comments (0)
Creative Ideas Brought to Life
April 12, 2010 by Christine
Friends of the RTÉ (Vanbrugh) String Quartet Highlight their campaign to save the Cork performing Group Pic: Daragh McSweeney Provision

When The Friends of Vanbrugh got in contact to help them with their campaign to save the RTÉ (Vanbrugh) String Quartet DMpr immediately got behind the cause. The RTÉ String Quartet are hugely talented musicians and we are extremely lucky to have them in Cork. They travel extensively throughout the country, bringing their amazing talents to places that would otherwise be forgotten by the other RTÉ groups. The disappointing part is that their budget has been cruelly slashed by over 40% by RTÉ in the past while approximately 300 Dublin-based RTE musicians have had just a 5 per cent pay cut.

The Friends of Vanbrugh wanted to step up their campaign and highlight the problem so DMpr came up with the idea for the shots posted here. Daragh McSweeney from Provision was the photographer and did an amazing job. It goes to show what a creative idea and a great photographer can do. The top picture featured on page 2 of The Irish Times on Saturday 27^th March with other pictures used in other local publications including The Cork Independent bringing further support to the people behind the campaign.

You can lend your support to the campaign by becoming a fan of the “Save the Cork RTÉ String Quartet from the Dublin 4 Hatchet” page on Facebook.
Category: DMprTags: Christine Duggan, Cork Photographer, Cork PR, DM, Gerard McCarthy Photography, PR Cork, RTÉ String Quartet, Vanbrugh Quartet | Comments (1)
Intellectual Property and Proposals
March 30, 2010 by Christine
It is part of my job to meet with prospective clients to find out about their business and come up with new ways for them to grow through the use of creative PR. Creativity is the key to a successful PR campaign and is something which I feel very strongly about. If there doesn’t seem to be an interesting angle I work hard to come up with something to excite and capture the attention of the public.

In the current climate, it is unfortunately all too easy for companies to believe that there is no budget – everybody can feel the pinch of the economic environment. There is only one way to release that pressure and that is to step up, do something different and make a positive change in your mindset for the good of your business.

It seems to be an age old problem in the PR world that time and effort can be wasted on proposals as you are freely giving ideas with little comeback on the ownership of same. In an unfair world, there is little to stop someone from saying that your ideas are in fact theirs – that is unless you copyright your work…

When this is the case, PR proposals and ideas legally become the intellectual property of the creator;

“The colloquial description of intellectual property is that it comprises all those things that emanate from the exercise of the human mind, such as ideas, inventions, poems, designs, music, etc. Intellectual property is therefore about creative ideas. Dissemination of these ideas benefits society and stimulates further creative activity.” (Irish Patents Office)

The moral of the story is to copyright your work and hope that you are dealing with honest people to respect your intellectual property.
Category: DMprTags: Christine Duggan, Cork PR, DMpr, PR Cork, PR Proposal | Comments (2)
PRO·CRAS·TI·NA·TION
March 10, 2010 by Christine
Procrastination – we’re all guilty of it, in particular when it comes to business. The thought of doing something new or different to what’s been done in the past can be an unnerving experience. What if it won’t work out? Will people see us differently? Will we get a return on investment? The list of questions can be never ending – and so procrastination sets in. “Next week” becomes the word of the day and tomorrow is always too close! True, times are tough and it can be difficult to take the plunge and try something different. But isn’t that just the point? If a business doesn’t do something different then you can be sure that your competition will, leaving you even further behind. It’s a never ending spiral of time and opportunities just flying by while you are scratching your head and your business is laying dormant. Now is the time to do something different to stand out from the crowd. As the saying goes – If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten – and it’s definitely fair to say that everybody wants their business to be the best that it can be.

Today, do something different. Run a promotion, set up a twitter account, update your website, hold an event…or hire creative and unique PR and design consultants (ahem!) Whatever it is, do something today that can make a change to your bottom line – it will make you feel good and your business will thank you for it!
Category: DMprTags: Christine Duggan, DMdesign, DMpr, PR Cork | Comments (0)
The Power of Enthusiasm
March 3, 2010 by Christine
I believe one of the main factors to success is enthusiasm. I love leaving a meeting filled with positivity and drive and this really only happens when you meet people who are passionate about what they do. People who seem unafraid to do something different are usually the ones who succeed in the long term. I love my job when I meet prospective clients (as I did today) who trust that creativity can be the key to great things and I look forward to hopefully working with them in the coming weeks and months. It all involves cupcakes and gorgeous food – need I say any more?…YUM!
Category: DMprTags: Christine Duggan, Cupcakes Cork, DMpr, PR Cork | Comments (0)
The importance of open and honest communication
March 2, 2010 by Christine
As learning to communicate is one of the first skills we learn when we enter the world, one may be easily fooled in to thinking that we are all masters of it. I could speak for hours about the importance of open communication in both working life and personal life. Working with a range of clients over the past number of years, the most important thing that I have learned is to keep the lines of communication as open as possible – even when things go wrong!

It is all lovely to run to media contacts with good news and although it is of course more difficult to report bad news it is often still as important as the positive stuff. In the past number of weeks I have seen and heard of the annoyance of people who are kept outside the loop when things go awry. All of a sudden they are met with silence – nothing. How does this reflect on the company or organisation then? The fact of the matter is, the next time you have a story to tell, chances are it will be ignored because the very people you rely on will be too peeved to bother with you anymore.

Moral of the story? Keep interested parties in the loop when times are bad and good….Brian Cowen for one can take note!!
Category: DMprTags: Christine Duggan, DMpr, PR Cork | Comments (0)
QUISH’S SUPERVALU BALLINCOLLIG CELEBRATE NEW FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PARTNERSHIP
February 17, 2010 by Christine
Seán Quish Pictured at the Announcement of the Partnership Deal

Ballincollig Supermarket to will Sam Back to Cork!

Quish’s Supervalu, Ballincollig’s leading fresh food retailer and one of the country’s most awarded supermarkets are celebrating the announcement of the new sponsorship deal of the GAA’s Football Championship. The deal is being backed by over 230 retail partners around the country.

The deal will see SuperValu take up the sponsorship of the football championship for three years and is testament to SuperValu’s long standing commitment to local pride in community and sports.

Speaking of the sponsorship deal, Seán Quish of Quish’s SuperValu Ballincollig said “This is a huge coup for SuperValu and we are delighted to be a part of it at Quish’s. This sponsorship is a great fit for the GAA and for the SuperValu brand – we are both integral to the value system of the Irish people and are at the pulse of local communities all over the country. At Quish’s we are passionate about Gaelic Games and already support Dripsey GAA club so hopefully we can have double the celebrations this year when Sam Maguire returns to Cork and Dripsey achieve another title! We will also be running special promotions in-store to compliment the partnership.”

GAA President Christy Cooney welcomed SuperValu’s support of the organisation saying “”This is a major boost to the Association and we are delighted to officially welcome SuperValu on board as official sponsors of the GAA. The arrangement is an excellent fit in so many ways. Just as we are proud of our own GAA network, SuperValu and its retail partners are justifiably proud of their presence across Ireland.”

Also speaking of the partnership, Donal Horgan, Managing Director, SuperValu said “The GAA is a natural fit with our brand. Our organizations share common values through focusing our approach on relationships, honesty, hard work, achievement and of course community identity. The GAA Football Championship is not just about winning games; it is about our heritage, it is what makes us uniquely Irish; gives us our sense of ‘pride in place’ and pride in our county colours. In the years ahead, SuperValu and its retail partners look forward to building our partnership and bringing it to life locally in our stores across all 32 counties.”

The deal is expected to raise the profile of the SuperValu brand and also invigorate local support for County teams.
Category: DMprTags: Christine Duggan, DMpr, GAA Sponsorship, PR Cork, Quish's, Quish's SuperValu Ballincollig | Comments (0)
KINSALE DISTRIBUTION COMPANY ANNOUNCE €500,000 DEAL WITH TRAIDCRAFT
February 16, 2010 by Christine
KDC, which was founded in 2004 is noted as one of the country’s most progressive food and beverage companies, supplying over 400 product lines to retailers all over the country. Last year, the company had a turnover of €2.2million. The signing of this deal to secure the franchise for the Traidcraft product range for the Irish market copper fastens this already strong reputation.

Traidcraft was established in 1979 as a Christian response to poverty and today is the UK’s leading fair trade organisation. Traidcraft work with more than 100 producer groups to provide 250 fair trade food, craft and textile products.

Speaking of the deal, Gerard Barry, Managing Director of KDC said “This is a very significant deal for the company and one which will no doubt increase business and employment levels in the coming twelve months. Retail sales of Fairtrade mark products have increased steadily since we began in 2004 and the core business remains buoyant in spite of the recessionary environment.

There are thirty eight towns and cities in Ireland which are certified as “Fairtrade” towns. Although the Irish population are awakening to the importance of fair trade, there is yet some education to be done on what fair trade actually means and the benefits of buying fair-trade products. I believe that this deal with Traidcraft will strengthen the Fairtrade sector in Ireland and will give retailers and consumers alike a greater selection of products to choose from.”

Also speaking of the deal, Andrew Sturgess, Food Wholesale National Account Manager with Traidcraft said “We are pleased to be associated and partnering with KDC to develop the Irish Fairtrade market. Traidcraft are Fairtrade pioneers since the late 70s and we are very excited at the opportunity to work with KDC and see Irish sales grow this year, ultimately to help and provide assistance to our producer partners in developing countries.

Products which are now available exclusively through KDC are Clipper beverages, Divine Chocolate, Dove Farm Foods, Buchanan Sweets, Percol Coffee, Natural Beverage Co, Zaytoun, and One Water.
Category: DMprTags: Christine Duggan, Divine Chocolate, DMpr, Fairtrade, KDC, KDC deal, Kinsale Distribution Company, PR Cork, Traidcraft | Comments (0)

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