Aaron Poole, Marketing Insights Manager, PML Group, with this week’s Out \ Look on Out of Home
With The Traitors Ireland back on screens, DiscoverIreland.ie is extending its sponsorship beyond the broadcast and into OOH as part of Fáilte Ireland’s wider Find Yourself on a Short Break campaign.
The activity borrows directly from the language and world of the programme, turning familiar Traitors references into prompts for domestic breaks.
Creative from Core currently on display includes lines such as “From the ring to the round table. A weekend of showdowns”, “When your mission is relaxation…” and “When you need a break from the drama…”, linking the intrigue of the series with experiences and escapes around Ireland.
Alongside the wider campaign, digital OOH is also being used to respond around the programme’s broadcast schedule, allowing copy to pick up on events in the series while they are still fresh with viewers.
PML Group’s 2026 Reminder Effect research found that 77% of Dubliners agree OOH can remind them of advertising they have encountered elsewhere. Almost three quarters (73%) say a reminder at the right moment can influence what they buy, visit or do, while 68% notice an ad more when it relates to what they are doing at the time.
The DiscoverIreland.ie activity puts that effect into practice. Audiences can encounter the brand around The Traitors on television before meeting it again outside the home, this time with creative that can reflect the conversation around the programme as it develops.
The connection also works neatly with Fáilte Ireland’s broader domestic tourism message. Find Yourself on a Short Break was launched to encourage more frequent breaks in Ireland, particularly outside the traditional summer season. Research supporting the campaign found that 66% of Irish consumers prefer taking short breaks in Ireland during the off-peak period. Some 87% say a domestic short break helps them step away from their everyday routine, while 81% say they feel rejuvenated afterwards.
The OOH campaign is appearing across Transvision, Digital Golden Square, Digital Portrait Panels and 6 Sheets, while DiscoverIreland.ie has also created a dedicated Traitors Ireland hub featuring short-break ideas ranging from castle stays and Boyne Valley experiences to outdoor activities and wellness breaks.
Value tops the Halloween shopping list
Halloween is already coming into view for retailers, with seasonal ranges beginning to appear across stores and the annual build-up to 31 October getting underway.
The occasion has particular relevance for Out of Home audiences. TGI data shows that 16% of OOH consumers spend around Halloween, compared with 13% of all adults, making them 16% more likely than average to do so. Engagement is particularly strong among 25-34s, with 18% spending around the occasion.
New research from PML Group’s iQ study with Ipsos B&A gives a closer look at what matters when those Halloween purchases are being made.
Value leads by some distance. Almost two thirds (62%) of Dublin adults aged 16-54 say price or value for money is important when deciding where to shop for Halloween purchases.
Promotions and special offers follow at 30%, closely matched by convenience at 29%. Quality of products is important to 27%, while 26% consider range and choice and 22% point to the location or proximity of the retailer.
The findings suggest that while price is the strongest universal consideration, the Halloween shopping decision is not simply about finding the cheapest option. Choice, quality, convenience and availability all play a role, giving retailers a number of different messages to work with during the seasonal build-up.
Those priorities also differ across age groups. Among 16-24s, range and choice rises to 40%, alongside 36% who consider product quality important. For younger shoppers, the ability to find the right costume, decoration or product can therefore be almost as important as price itself.
At the other end of the age range, offers become increasingly important. Some 39% of 45-54s prioritise promotions or special offers when deciding where to shop, while convenience is particularly important among 35-44s at 37%.
Family households bring another set of considerations. Among those with children under 15, one in four (25%) say product availability is important, compared with 12% of households without younger children. The preferences of children or other family members show the same divide, cited by 25% of households with children versus 12% of those without.
That gives retailers serving families an additional challenge. Value may get shoppers through the door, but having the right costumes, treats and seasonal products available once they arrive can be just as important to the overall shopping experience.
TGI also points to an appetite for higher seasonal spend among OOH audiences. Some 3% of OOH consumers spend between €100 and €249 around Halloween, compared with 2% of all adults, an index of 130.
For brands, the opportunity is therefore broader than a single Halloween message.
Value and promotional messaging can establish an immediate reason to visit, while range, quality and availability provide further reasons to choose one retailer over another. Those messages can also change as Halloween gets closer, moving from broader seasonal awareness in September and early October towards more urgent price, offer and availability messaging in the final weeks.
OOH is well placed within that journey. Retail, roadside and transport environments can reach people as they move between home, work, school and shopping destinations, while proximity-led messaging can connect seasonal communications directly with nearby stores.
Digital OOH also allows retailers to adapt messaging as the occasion approaches, from early reminders and range messaging through to countdowns, promotions and last-minute purchase prompts.
With OOH consumers already more likely than average to spend around Halloween, the opportunity is not simply to remind people that 31 October is approaching. It is to give them a clear reason to choose where that spend goes.
The Reminder Effect: Full Report Now Available
Following our three-part Reminder Effect series, we’ve brought the research together in a new full report exploring how advertising memory builds, returns and becomes useful.
Conducted with Ipsos B&A across three waves of PML Group’s IMPACT research, The Reminder Effect looks at the role repeated encounters play in building memory, how advertising can return to mind when a brand or need becomes relevant, and why clear, consistent creative cues matter in connecting those encounters.
The full report brings together the findings from all three stages of the research, alongside the implications for how brands plan and create for Out of Home.
