A new advertising research initiative designed to provide evidence-based insights into the effectiveness of Irish language advertising and audience comprehension has been established by Amárach Research and the Sligo-based marketing consultancy Bua Marketing.
Called Súil Feasa, the new research initiative has published the findings of a pilot research survey that points to significant barriers that undermine campaign performance.
Súil Feasa is positioned as a tool to help advertisers make more informed strategic decisions as Irish-language advertising investment continues to grow.
Woking with Javelin, the research analysed four Irish language campaigns and found a disconnect between investment and audience accessibility.
The research comes against a backdrop of rising spend in Irish language advertising with an estimated €19m investment made in 2024, a 34% increase on 2023.
Despite this growth, the study indicates that much of the content remains inaccessible to large sections of the intended audience, often due to complex language and direct translations from English.
Comprehension Gap
The pilot revealed a stark contrast in understanding between English and Irish executions with the former.
According to the research, “English-language versions achieved high comprehension scores, averaging 90 out of 100, while Irish-language equivalents averaged 47. Among fluent Irish speakers, however, the gap narrowed sharply to just 10 points.”
With just 1.4% of Ireland’s population speaking Irish daily and around 10% rating their fluency as “very good,” the findings suggest advertisers face a strategic choice: develop accessible creative that accommodates varying competency levels, or produce more sophisticated Irish-language content aimed squarely at high-fluency audiences.
Aoife Porter of Bua Marketing said that while exposure to Irish-language advertising has increased, accessibility has not kept pace.
“Much of it consists of complex, directly translated English that remains inaccessible to all but the most competent speakers,” she said.
“Creative approaches can make content more accessible to those with lower competency, focusing on fun, everyday usage rather than technical language.”
Evidence-based Strategy
The Súil Feasa pilot tested English and Irish versions of the campaigns using the COM-B behavioural change model. It found that capability- specifically comprehension- was the primary constraint on Irish-language advertising effectiveness, in contrast to English-language campaigns where motivation is typically the main barrier.
The findings suggest that addressing comprehension could significantly lift Irish-language campaign performance, potentially bringing it closer to English-language benchmarks. The study also points to clearer audience segmentation, enabling advertisers to move beyond one-size-fits-all translations towards more targeted and culturally resonant communications.
