Reel deal as film festival sponsor targets men

Young male cinemagoers are the target of a new campaign by whiskey brand Jameson created for its sponsorship of the Dublin film festival, which begins today.

This year’s sponsorship is designed to help brand owner Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard build on signs of renewed interest in whiskey from 25- to 34-year-olds.

“We’re calling it ‘revivalism’,” says the spirits group’s marketing manager Richard Brickley.

“It’s about guys going back to what’s real. Jameson is becoming more cool and trendy as a brand, which, in Ireland, it hasn’t been for years.”

Three-year sponsorship

The campaign centres on two television advertisements, Bank Heist and Cabin in the Woods, that begin by parodying film genres, only for a popcorn-clutching male cinemagoer sitting in a director’s chair to burst in on the action.

The advertisements invite viewers to “get closer to great movies” and take their seat at the festival.

“It’s not just any type of movie in the ads – it’s a very specific lads kind of movie,”explains Brickley.

The production costs for the two advertisements, which will also be shown in cinemas during the festival, takes the Jameson owner’s investment in the festival and its associated campaign to €1 million.

This is the first of a new three-year sponsorship arrangement that runs until 2015, and the advertisements will make a reappearance at the next two festivals.

The advertising agency Boys and Girls won the pitch for the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival account late last year in a four-way contest that also included Cawley Nea\TBWA, Publicis Dublin and Rothco.

Print element

The previous advertisement, by Cawley Nea\TBWA, showcased computer graphics to a soundtrack of the song Ghosts by electronic band Ladytron, and it was a conscious decision to move back to putting people at the core of the advertisement, according to Brickley.

Meanwhile, the print element of the campaign is focused on premium lifestyle print and national broadsheets. There is also outdoor and online activity.

The festival opens tonight with a showing of Broken, starring Cillian Murphy and written by Mark O’Rowe, and the festival runs until February 24th.