Aaron Poole, Marketing Insights Manager, PML Group with this week’s Out \ Look on Out of Home.
As dawn approaches this Saturday, Electric Ireland is once again live on Outdoor in support of Darkness Into Light, encouraging people to sign up, donate and share a walk.
This year’s campaign is built around Electric Ireland’s new Share a Walk platform, inviting people to take part with someone they love. The creative is simple and direct, set against a sunrise gradient that links the work immediately to the 4.15am walk.
The annual 5km walk has come a long way since 400 people set off from Phoenix Park in 2009 to raise funds for Pieta. What began as an Irish fundraiser has grown into a global movement, with this year’s Darkness Into Light taking place across 177 walks in 18 countries. The campaign’s Irish-language copy feels appropriate in that context, reflecting an event that began here and continues to grow through communities at home and abroad.
The campaign is now in its final week of activity, with digital and full-motion creative carrying the reminder message across roadside, retail and leisure environments as Saturday approaches. That final DOOH push follows a broader Cycle 9 presence across classic formats including 48 Sheets, Adbox and Commuter Point, helping to establish the campaign in the earlier build-up period.
Planned by PML and dentsu with creative from Publicis, the campaign spans Digital 48 Sheets, Digipoles, Digital Uprights, Adshel Live Roadside, mall digital and lifestyle panels, extending the message across commuter journeys, roadside movement, retail visits, high street settings and local leisure environments.
For a fixed-moment event like Darkness Into Light, the timing of the media matters. Classic Outdoor helps establish awareness in the build-up, while DOOH keeps the campaign visible in the final days, when people may still be deciding whether to register, donate or take part. For an event built around collective participation, visibility in public space reinforces the sense of a shared national moment.
Pieta describes Darkness Into Light as its biggest annual fundraiser, supporting free suicide and self-harm prevention services. In 2025, funds raised through the event helped Pieta manage almost 100,000 crisis helpline calls and texts, and deliver more than 40,000 hours of therapy.
Lisa Browne, Head of Marketing and Customer Insights, ESB, said: “We are proud to mark 14 years of Electric Ireland’s partnership with Pieta’s Darkness Into Light. Our new platform, Share a Walk, reaffirms our commitment to this special event as we renew our sponsorship for a further three years. We invite everyone to Share a Walk with someone they love on 9 May and help make this another successful year of fundraising for Pieta.”
Our IMPACT Attention research found that 88% of consumers believe OOH is effective for informing people about new services and initiatives. For Darkness Into Light, that role is particularly relevant, with Outdoor helping to keep a major fundraising moment visible, public and present in the final days before the walk.
Summer Gigs Put Dublin Audiences on the Move
In recent weeks we looked at summer gig season as one of the clearest examples of how OOH can meet audiences as anticipation builds, journeys begin and live moments unfold. New iQ research conducted with Ipsos B&A now gives us a sharper read on the audience movement behind that opportunity.
Respondents in Dublin were asked about their interest in attending live outdoor events this summer, including concerts, stadium gigs and festivals, whether in Dublin or further afield. The topline gives a clear sense of scale, with 79% saying they would be interested in attending live outdoor events this summer. That rises to 87% among 16-24s and 83% among 25-34s, but this is not only a younger audience story, with interest remaining high among 45-54s at 75%.
The useful planning point is what sits around the gig itself. Live events create movement before and after the main moment, as people plan journeys, meet friends, travel through transport hubs, stop for food or drinks and, in some cases, travel beyond Dublin for the right act.
Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium lead the venue list, with 54% of Dublin respondents interested in attending events at either stadium this summer. Between them, the 2026 calendar includes major concert dates such as Metallica, Take That, Dermot Kennedy, The Weeknd and Bon Jovi, alongside the usual pull of big sporting fixtures. Interest in Croke Park and Aviva Stadium is also up 20 points year on year, rising from 34% in 2025.
These are not quiet parts of the city at the best of times. On major event days, they become even more valuable from an audience movement point of view, with crowds building across approach routes, transport links, nearby streets, pubs, bars and wider city-centre meeting points.
The park venues follow closely, with Marlay Park at 42%, Fairview Park at 40% and Malahide Castle at 39%. Across those venues, artists including Olivia Dean, The Cure, Calvin Harris, Florence + The Machine, Kasabian, David Gray, Two Door Cinema Club, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Kodaline, Katy Perry, Michael Bublé and Maroon 5 point to the breadth of audiences moving through Dublin’s summer live events calendar.
There is a positive year-on-year story across several major venues too. Marlay Park is up 16 percentage points, rising from 26% to 42%, while Malahide Castle has moved from 33% to 39% and St Anne’s Park from 26% to 36%. Rather than pointing to a narrow gig-going audience, the data sugests stronger interest across both stadium and parkland venues.
There is also a strong city and parkland story beyond the largest venues. St Anne’s Park records 36% interest, while Iveagh Gardens stands at 31% and Royal Hospital Kilmainham at 27%. From Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Elvis Costello and Johnny Marr to Bell X1, Damien Dempsey, Garbage, Charlie Puth and the Paddy Power Comedy Festival, the calendar is broad enough to reach well beyond one version of a summer gig audience.
Outside Dublin, the numbers are smaller but still useful. Palmerstown House Estate records 14% interest among Dublin respondents, with events such as At The Manor, D8 In The Garden, Tom Jones and District X Festival, while Live at the Marquee, Virgin Media Park and Thomond Park also feature in the research. The point is not that these venues rival Dublin’s largest event sites, but that major acts and festival-style line-ups can pull Dublin audiences beyond their usual city routines.
The travel data adds another layer. When asked how they would be most likely to travel to these events, 25% of Dublin respondents selected car, 24% selected bus or coach, and 23% selected train, DART or Luas. Taxi or ride-share and walking both stood at 13%.
That is a useful spread from an OOH planning perspective. There is no single dominant route into the summer concert audience. Some will drive. Some will move by rail, Luas, bus or coach. Others will pass through the city on foot before or after the event. The audience is moving through different environments at different stages of the day, which naturally supports a mix of formats rather than a narrow venue-only approach.
Roadside formats can build anticipation along approach routes. Transport formats can reach people as plans become more immediate. City-centre formats can connect with audiences before and after the event, when groups are gathering, moving between locations or deciding where to go next. Venue proximity still matters, but the journey around the venue is often where the broader OOH opportunity sits.
The age profile also gives brands room to think beyond one type of summer gig audience. Younger respondents are highly engaged, but 45-54s also show strong interest overall and over-index for several venues, including Croke Park and Aviva Stadium, Fairview Park, St Anne’s Park and Marlay Park. The summer live events audience is broad, and the venue mix reflects that.
For brands, the appeal of the summer concert calendar is partly scale, but it is also mood and context. These are days people plan around. They are social, high-energy and often built around shared routines before and after the event itself. With 79% of Dublin respondents interested in attending live outdoor events this summer, and interest rising across several major venues year on year, OOH has a clear role across the journeys that bring audiences from street to station, road to venue and city centre to stage.
