Digital DNA Tourism 2015

TITANIC B ELFAST 1 2 November, 2 0 1 5 www. d ig ita ld n a . o r g . u k # D i g i t al D N A

@NITouristBoard

Harnessing digital...

tourismni.com

WELCOME Welcome to Digital Tourism DNA 2015.

We have put a lot of effort into creating a conference that will have direct benefits for Northern Ireland businesses. We plan to take you on a journey of discovery where you’ll hear from global thought leaders and meet businesses from Northern Ireland who understand the role of digital technology and have embraced its power to help their businesses grow locally and internationally.

Engaging key note speeches, interactive workshops and networking opportunities with global thought leaders are just some of the great activities available at Digital DNA 2015.

The programme of events is designed to fulfil our core objective - to engage, inspire and empower your business to grow.

Digital DNA began life three years ago as a topic of a conversation with a good friend over a pint (or two) of Guinness. With very different backgrounds in business and technology and a passion for where we were brought up we wanted to explore if we could do something that could help local businesses grow beyond Northern Ireland and have a direct positive impact on our economy.

www.digitaldna.org.uk

Three years later, we’ve staged numerous events and we are proud to have empowered many local businesses to grow by understanding how technology can impact their company.

It’s been a fantastic journey so far and one that we’re thrilled to be continuing with this year’s series of events.

I look forward to hearing how your experiences today will have an impact on your business in the future. Thank you for you continued support and enjoy your day.

Gareth Quinn

Gareth Quinn Digital DNA founder

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WELCOME (CONTINUED) Turning a chat into a conference to help fuel growth for your business.

Three years ago, I was the friend having a drink with Gareth when we talked about what could be done to help businesses in Northern Ireland embrace technology to grow.

With backgrounds in technology and a passion for bringing money into Northern Ireland, we brought Digital DNA to life in a pub based not too far from here. Digital DNA was born with the simple aim of helping businesses like you grow and expand by embracing the power of digital technology.

My day job is at Google, where I head up Customer Solutions and Innovations for EMEA. It’s an exciting and rewarding role that affords me the opportunity to work with a great mix of businesses including start-ups, SMEs and the world’s biggest digital brands.

It’s this experience that I hope I have bought to Digital DNA. Whether you’re a start-up

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based in a shed in Saintfield, a growing company with lofty ambitions in an office in Omagh or you have already started to trade globally, Digital DNA will offer inspirational, workable and realistic solutions to help your business grow here in Northern Ireland and across the world.

We’ve got a fantastic programme of events this year and I’m very excited to welcome you to the event.

Ryan Owens Ryan Owens Digital DNA co-founder Head of Customer Solutions and Innovations EMEA Google

www.digitaldna.org.uk

OUR SPONSORS

www.digitaldna.org.uk

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PARTNERS

LOCAL MEDIA PARTNERS

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www.digitaldna.org.uk

Proud sponsor of DNA Digital 2015

fly from the suburbs fly from the city

6 flights daily to London Heathrow and Gatwick Flights From Belfast City Airport Flexible Fares Award winning service Mobile boarding cards Gold Circle Frequent Flyer Programme

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TODAYS SCHEDULE MORNING CONFERENCE 8:00am - 8:55am 9:00am - 9:05am 9:05am - 9:20am 9:20am - 9:45am 9:45am - 10:10am 10:10am - 10:30am 10:30am - 11:00am 11:00am - 11:25am 11:25am - 11:45am

Registration Introductions John McGrillen Stephen Murphy, Google Sean Collins, Lastminute.com & Pete Marshall, SaleCycle Stuart Bailie, Oh Yeah Music Centre Tea/Coffee - Networking Break Fergus Boyd, Yotel John Bustard, Ulster University

WORKSHOP

11:45am - 12:45pm Travel Bloggers - Friend or Foe? 11:45am - 12:45pm Is Your Digital Marketing not quite hitting the mark?

11:45am - 12:45pm Digital Visitor Interpretation… what will it deliver for you?

AFTERNOON CONFERENCE 12:45pm - 1:45pm Lunch 1:45pm - 2:05pm Kathryn Pyper, Engage 2:05pm - 2:30pm Michelle Lee, Aer Lingus

WORKSHOP 2:30am - 3:30pm 2:30am - 3:30pm 2:30am - 3:30pm

Harnessing ‘Digital’ to effectively support clustering Data Driven Marketing Digital Advertising in Tourism

LATE AFTERNOON CONFERENCE 3:30pm - 4:00pm 4:00pm - 4:25pm 4:25am - 4:50am

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Tea/Coffee - Networking Break David Tutin, Expedia Samir Bhana, Twitter

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS John McGrillen

Chief Executive Officer at Tourism NI John McGrillen took up his post as CEO of Tourism NI on 1 July 2015. A former board member of Tourism NI, John was previously Director of Development at Belfast City Council where his responsibilities included urban development, tourism, economic and international development and the management of Belfast Waterfront and the Ulster Hall. Previously he was Chief Executive of Down District Council. During his early career John worked for Short Brothers and the Industrial Development Board, the forerunner to Invest NI, before being appointed Chief Executive of NI-CO, a Belfast based international development consultancy.

Stephen Murphy Agency Lead at Google

Initially finding his calling within the printing industry, Stephen joined Google in 2006 and, since then, has spent his time supporting and advising clients across a wide range of industries on how to get the most out of their online marketing efforts. During his almost 10 years at Google, he has worked with both local and global brands in the UK Travel Industry including Airlines, Car Hire and Hotels. His current role as Agency Lead has him overseeing Google’s engagement with advertising agencies across the UK. Passionate about Digital Strategy, Consumer Behaviour, Freakonomics and Leinster Rugby, Stephen is a graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.

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Sean Collins

Head of CRM Operations at lastminute.com Sean has worked for lastminute.com for 9 years and is responsible for all CRM operations across the UK, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany and Italy. Currently he is working with a team of 14 agencies. Sean has developed lastminute.com in a huge way, most notably he enabled multi language, multi-location email retargeting and basket/search abandonment emails for the first time and Enabled push notifications to app/sms with a complete customer journey for the first time which is crucial to the Tourism industry. Sean moved from being Head of Marketing at lastminute.com where he was responsible for constructing and implementing a completely new Customer journey for lastminute.com, Travelocity and Holiday autos.

Particular focus is being placed on customer retention, customer trust, churn and attrition.

Fergus Boyd

Group Director/VP of Digital & IT at Yotel Fergus owns, defines and executes the online strategy for Yotel, including web, mobile, social media, customer experience and digital marketing. Fergus reports directly into the CEO and is responsible for driving Yotel’s company-wide digital transformation programme and for placing digital at the heart of YOTEL’s future hotel expansion plans. In addition, Fergus oversees and manages the global online sales distribution & UK pricing, and IT strategy & delivery, both customer-facing (hotels and in-room) and back office.

www.digitaldna.org.uk

www.digitaldna.org.uk

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS John Bustard

Research Associate and Doctoral Candidate at Ulster University John Bustard has a breadth of experience delivering innovative projects in the sphere of digital tourism. He has worked with clients from across the sector, both nationally and internationally and has represented Northern Ireland’s creative industries abroad. Through his former company Awakin, he delivered several award winning products including apps, games and immersive mobile experiences such as the 2011 Belfast Business Award winning Titanifacts App. Now, based at Ulster University in Coleraine, John is part of a team of Events, eTourism and Business academics focused on researching the impact of mobile platforms on the ‘experience journey’.

Michelle Lee

Director of Marketing at Aer Lingus Michelle Lee joined Aer Lingus as Director of Marketing and Guest Experience in June 2015.

Michelle has had over 15 years broad based marketing experience across the aviation/tourism, consumer goods and service industries in international markets and most recent positions were in senior leadership roles with Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways.

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David Tutin

Senior SEO Specialist at Expedia After 7 years in the SEO industry, primarily working for agencies such as MediaVest (now Carat), iSpy Marketing and Vervesearch; David made the leap to go client side and is now heading up the SEO for Expedia UK & Ireland. David has extensive experience across several industry sectors but his main passion is travel, hence when he got the opportunity to join Expedia he jumped at the chance to work with one of the biggest online travel agents in the world. In his spare time he can be found on one of the many beaches outside London kitesurfing or traveling the globe.

Samir Bhana

UK & Ireland Sales Manager at Twitter Samir joined the Twitter European Headquarters in Dublin as part of the UK Sales team in 2013. Before this he was held several roles at the SABMiller Coca-Cola bottler in South Africa, from IT, to Operations to Sales and Sales Marketing.

Having studied Engineering in college, Samir decided he wanted to get back into the world of technology. After completing his MBA from London Business School in 2013, he found his home at Twitter. He is @sambhana on Twitter.

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Kathryn Pyper

Stuart Bailey

Kathryn Pyper, Head of Digital at Engage, has over ten years experience working within the digital industries and remains at the forefront within the digital marketing arena. Her career spans all digital marketing mediums from search marketing to content marketing. She has a strategic and visionary approach to digital marketing ensuring full integration with traditional marketing techniques. Engage travel clients include: Irish Ferries, Travel Department, Group Leader and Amplify Travel.

Stuart is one of the founding members of the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast, a resource for musicians and the business of music.

He became the first CEO in June 2008. Stuart has been a music industry professional for 30 years, writing for NME, Mojo, Q, The Times, The Irish Times, Uncut, Classic Rock and Hot Press. He lived in London for 11 years and was Assistant Editor of the New Musical Express, 1993-1996, managing a staff of more than 50 and looking after editorial, marketing and consulting on special projects, such as the first NME Awards and the launch of nme. com. Stuart was Chief Coordinator of the Oh Yeah team that coordinated Belfast Music Week, 2011-13, followed by the Sound of Belfast programme in 2014 and has presented a weekly BBC Radio Ulster music show since 1999.

Head of Digital Success at Engage

Pete Marshall

Enterprise Sales Manager at SaleCycle Pete Marshall, works for SaleCycle, the world’s leading specialist in recovering abandoned online sales. Pete has a wealth of experience in setting up mutually successful partnerships within the travel space, on-boarding many leading online travel brands with SaleCycle, includinglastminute.com, Hertz, Qatar Airways and Travelodge.

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Oh Yeah Music Centre

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MORNING WORKSHOPS Travel Bloggers - Friend or Foe? 11:45am This workshop will focus on ways of finding travel bloggers online and ways of connecting with them for your travel related projects. How to find a really good travel blogger and how to best use them. Travel bloggers connect with travellers online on a daily basis and are trusted by the public as a good source of independent information. This workshop will look at a number of ways to create content with travel bloggers and how you can spot a good one from a bad one - you don’t want to work with bad ones!

Janet Newenham

Nial Toner

Freelance travel writer and blogger Head of Digital Marketing at The Tomorrow Lab

Is Your Digital Marketing not quite hitting the mark? 11:45am This workshop will look at where most digital marketing activities go wrong and lay out a simple strategic framework to help drive your future online success. Strategy is often viewed as a nice to have when you have some spare time to write a 300 page report which then lies in your drawer for the next 3 years. You will be encouraged to step back from the minutiae and find a way to deal with that constant “overwhelm” when you just don’t know what way to turn. This workshop will give you a fresh approach to strategic planning delivered in a light hearted and fun environment.

John Hogg

Mark Leslie

Managing Director at Enlighten IC

Founder of Martello Media

Digital Visitor Interpretation… what will it deliver for you? 11:45am 21st Century interpretation design – how to excite and inspire today’s visitor. What are the key elements for delivering a successful strategy? How does digital work alongside existing schemes – will I need to start again? Participation in the workshop will provide attendees with: An understanding of interpretation design and planning; Why it matters; What are the challenges of working with what I’ve already got; And how can I improve it; The opportunity to have questions answered by experts.

Mark Leslie

James Hanna

David Whelan

Founder of Martello Media Innovative Travel Solutions at Oli C.E.O Immersive VR Education

Francis Hood Project Coordinator of Sion Stables.

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AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS Harnessing ‘Digital’ to effectively support clustering 2:30pm Tourism clusters have been getting plenty of attention with many speaking about how they can unlock a region’s tourism potential. This workshop drills into the critical elements that make for a successful cluster by presenting the learning of those who have effectively harnessed the collective power of local accommodation providers, bars, restaurants and activity providers. Delegates will hear through local success stories how they considered what was the best way of growing their business without a huge budget or large resources. We will explore how clustering around a theme of destination can give the visitor more to do, more to spend money on and more reasons to return.

Colin Neil

Eleanor McGillie

Ricky Martin

CEO of Hospitality Ulster

Director of Live it Experience it

Alive Surf School & Skunkworks

Data Driven Marketing 2:30pm There is no doubt that Big Data and analytics are changing the way we market our business.

Marketers have a plethora of data at their fingertips but what matters? This workshop explores how to use data to inform marketing activity and drive business results. We will explore what data to look at during different stages of the customer lifecycle and how to use insights to plan and evaluate marketing tasks. Gain practical advice on how to use data to inform your marketing strategy, guide daily marketing tasks and predict future trends.

Kathryn Pyper Head of Digital Success

Digital Advertising in Tourism: Everything You Need To Get Ahead 2:30pm 21st Century interpretation design – how to excite and inspire today’s visitor. What are the key elements for delivering a successful strategy? How does digital work alongside existing schemes – will I need to start again? Participation in the workshop will provide attendees with: An understanding of interpretation design and planning; Why it matters; What are the challenges of working with what I’ve already got; And how can I improve it; The opportunity to have questions answered by experts.

Mark Haslam Managing Director of Loud Mouth Media

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BELFAST SHIP ON A DIGITAL VOYAGE Well look at what we have here, it’s only the world’s largest Titanic visitor experience, Titanic Belfast.

Utilising innovative design, interpretation and technology, this attraction tells the story of the Titanic, from her conception in Belfast in the early 1900s, through her construction and launch, to her famous maiden voyage and tragic end. Since opening in 2012, it has welcomed over 2.5 million visitors from over 145 countries.

Wow! Having interviewed Claire McCabe, Digital Marketing Executive at Titanic Belfast we were a little taken aback when she mentioned that Belfast and Northern Ireland are expecting to welcome approximately 1.9 million visitors and deliver £552 million to the economy, which in itself is a huge opportunity! However, for Titanic Belfast this means holding central position on the global tourism map whatever the season or competition. According to Claire, they hope to secure this position through product investment and development to keep attracting new and repeat visitors from domestic, national and international markets.

When asked about their digital strategy Claire informed us that “At Titanic Belfast, we are aware that the digital landscape is constantly evolving and as a 5-Star visitor attraction, we must harness and evolve with it to grow our business”. Digital innovation is a key part of their strategy to attract new and repeat visitors from a domestic, national and international market.

Taking advantage of all things digital, they have harnessed technology in their galleries, touch points

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throughout the building and online engagement to create a consistent and seamless user experience. With an increase in mobile usage and social media Titanic Belfast have secured greater engagement with audiences through user-generated content. It has enabled them to improve communications with customers and to disseminate key messages to a world-wide audience that is not feasible offline.

According to Claire, their strategy has been very effective, not only has it improved communication with known customers, it has developed new customer bases from both domestic and international markets. Working closely with Loud Mouth Media, Titanic Belfast have implemented strategic campaigns, which have provided high level conversions for the business. Like all digital marketing, their strategy is constantly evolving but they are looking forward to embracing future trends and further innovation.

Claire McCabe, Digital Marketing Executive, Titanic Belfast.

www.digitaldna.org.uk

Digital Screen Displays

Digital Screen Displays are digital Signage experts.

Operating throughout Ireland & Northern Ireland. Call our Sales Team today on

+353 42935 9400

Hotel Lobby / Meeting Rooms / Welcome Board Menu Board / Info Point / Upsell to existing customers

www.digitalscreendisplays.ie www.digitaldna.org.uk

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Exhibitors

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EXHIBITORS

Belfast MET Grow your Business with a Higher Level Apprenticeship in Digital Marketing through Belfast Met. How you could benefit as an Employer?

Develop a pipeline of young, motivated staff equipped with the skills required of modern marketers and much more. Visit our stand today to find out more benefits to your business.

BNL Productions BNL is a multimedia production company specialising in film production, event management, design, app development and other creative services to bring your vision to life.

Brilliant Trails Blue Monkee Digital We are a Full Service Digital Marketing Agency specialising in Websites and Mobile Apps for the Tourism and Hospitality industry. Visit us to find out how we can help you attract customers, covert leads and grow your business.

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Brilliant Trails is an innovative company developing unique products to enhance the visitor’s experience. We seek to recreate fun informative trails, creating bespoke products to enhance any location; creating historical trails, treasure hunts, eco trails, geocaching, AR (augmented reality) apps and web-based content for wide range of customers.

www.digitaldna.org.uk

Creative Spaces

Enlighten IC

Creative Spaces has evolved as a direct result of the value that writable walls both moving and static add to the innovative process in the workplace and at events.

At Enlighten IC we are an agency who help our clients to succeed by bringing a strategic perspective to everything we do.Working with a wide range of clients, from local businesses to the likes of Vodafone, we offer branding, PR and digital marketing services.We’re a pretty down to earth bunch who are passionate about marketing and how we can help our clients to WIN. Our approach is simple - we think, we create and then we deliver the right solution for you. So, before we deliver your new website, online advertising, SEO, content marketing, social media, PR or brand - let’s get your strategy right in the first place. You will be amazed at the difference! Come along to our workshop or visit our stand to find out more. Let’s see how a strategic approach to marketing can bring the right results for your business and improve the bottomline.

Engage We are Engage, a multi award winning digital agency based in Belfast, Dublin and London.

We help our clients design beautiful, highly targeted and personalised digital experiences with marketing automation across web, mobile, social, email and print. Our digital solutions make a difference, add value, have measurable impact and are made to engage.

Hospitality Ulster Hospitality Ulster is the representative body of the Hospitality Industry in Northern Ireland, an industry that sustains 60,000 jobs and contributes in excess of £1bm annually to the Northern Ireland economy. Our Remit: • Safeguard and protect our members businesses.

Our Role is to provide: • A strong voice for our industry and a champion for our member s.

• Practical support for our members business today and the development of our industry for tomorrow.

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Immersive VR Education We provide fully Immersive Virtual Reality Education experiences to help educate students of all ages. We will cover a wide range of subjects including History, Geography, Biology, Mathematics, Medicine, Astronomy and Science in an engaging and fun manor which will inspire a new hunger for learning with our users.

IVEA labs IVEA labs is a tech start-up company presenting our flagship product, Visit.

Visit is a dual-aspect technology solution for Northern Ireland tourism, providing a location-aware experience for visitors using their smartphone and nearable technology, which in turn provides vital interaction analytics to attraction owners via an online dashboard.

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Loud Mouth Media Loud Mouth Media is a leading Digital Advertising Agency with offices located in Belfast and Dublin. Specialising in Pay Per Click advertising, we provide a fully managed service across several platforms including AdWords, Bing and Social Media. Since launching in 2011, we have experienced remarkable growth to become one of the Top Ten SEM agencies in the UK (Source: Google). We’re PPC experts who strive to generate the best results for our clients by making the most of their advertising budgets, no matter how large or small.

MCS Group MCS Group is a preferred choice for talented professionals and clients in Northern Ireland, connecting specialist talent in specialist disciplines with leading employers across IT & Digital, Commercial & Business Growth, Accountancy & Banking and Technical & Engineering.

www.digitaldna.org.uk

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Oli - Outside Looking In Pioneering Product & Destination Development In the Tourism and Heritage Sectors Developing products and destinations for the tourism and heritage sectors is a complex process that involves research, planning, training and implementation.

Oli pioneers innovative approaches that bring these strands together.

The Tomorrow Lab The Tomorrow Lab is an award-winning digital marketing agency that connects you to your customers. We’re powered by analytics, research, creativity and a desire to make your business a success. Our services include SEO, Content Marketing, PPC and Social Media.

Tourism NI Quiet Arch Media Quiet Arch Media are specialists in creating engaging online video and graphic content or use in modern digital marketing campaigns.

Video content marketing is the most effective way to engage with potential customers online. Talk to us today to find out how you can get the most from your online marketing budget.

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Tourism NI is responsible for the development of tourism and the marketing of Northern Ireland as a tourist destination to domestic tourists, from within Northern Ireland, and to visitors from the Republic of Ireland. We are a non-departmental public body of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and we work closely with other tourism bodies to help develop the visitor economy here and to market Northern Ireland to incoming visitors.

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PARTNERS

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council is the second largest local authority in Northern Ireland, with more than 204,000 residents and almost 8,000 businesses. The Borough brings together the strengths of Armagh’s unique tourism and heritage function, Banbridge’s key strategic location on the Belfast to Dublin Economic Corridor and Craigavon’s strong sub-regional function and reputation for manufacturing and excellence and creativity.

The legacy Councils of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council led on the first Digital Development Programme in the South East region, positively impacting on over 800 businesses, enabling them to grow via the digital platform. The new Council strategy puts business growth as its top priority. The digital sector has been identified as a key area for growth. We are proud to be at the forefront of digital business support, and look forward to launching a suite of exciting programmes in 2015/16, including Social Media for SME’s, Digital Marketing for SME’s and Digital Teen.

www.digitaldna.org.uk

Food NI Food NI provides a single promotional voice for Northern Ireland’s food and drink. We work to enhance the reputation of Northern Ireland’s food and drink through the Taste of Ulster and Our Food So Good messages. We are a company limited by guarantee, formed voluntarily by a consortium of food sector representatives, to develop a positive identity for high quality food from Northern Ireland.

Our Board consists of representatives from across the entire supply chain. Visit our website nigoodfood.com, become a fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @Food_NI.

Institute of Hospitality The Institute of Hospitality is the professional body for individual managers and aspiring managers working and studying in the hospitality, leisure and tourism (HLT) industry. The Institute has been in existence since the 1930s when it began in the UK.

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Northern Ireland Hotels Federation The Northern Ireland Hotels Federation is the representative body for hotels, guesthouses and other accommodation providers in Northern Ireland. It is a not-for-profit limited company representing the hotel and guesthouse sectors in Northern Ireland; it’s main roles are identifying and reviewing issues affecting the hospitality industry and lobbying governments and the NI Assembly on the economic and employment opportunities of tourism.

Purple Dot Based in Dungannon, Purple Dot is a dynamic business consultancy that offers a wide range of business support services aimed at helping your business make more money and spend less. We believe that the people involved in any business are your most important asset. Our staff are passionate about making a difference in your business and take onboard your unique problems as their own. We have a range of specialism’s including Sales Improvement, Business Planning, Digital Marketing, Leadership, Bookkeeping and Financial Planning.

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Tourism Ireland Tourism Ireland is responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas as a holiday and business tourism destination. We devise and deliver marketing programmes in over 20 markets across the world, reaching an audience of up to 200 million potential visitors each year.

Targeted marketing activity includes advertising online, on TV and outdoor sites, in cinemas and in newspapers and magazines, eMarketing, overseas publicity, co-operative marketing with carriers and other partners and promotions to the travel trade and consumers.

Visit Belfast Visit Belfast is a public private sector partnership funded and supported by Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland Tourist Board and the private sector. It is the official tourism marketing agency for the Belfast City Region, dedicated to promoting Belfast as a city break, conference and cruise ship destination. It is also responsible for the operation of three gateway tourist information centres. 

www.digitaldna.org.uk

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VISIT THE MOON AT DIGITAL TOURISM 2015

Delegates at this year’s Digital Tourism conference in Belfast can look forward to experiencing Neil Armstrong’s moon landing in virtual reality!

We caught up with David Whelan, CEO of Immersive VR Education who is bringing his Apollo 11 VR experience to the event.

David’s company ‘Immersive VR Education’ is focused on providing educational and experiential content through the medium of Virtual Reality. This content enables the user

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to experience real life situations through a head mounted display. David and his team will be onsite for the Digital Tourism conference in Titanic Belfast on 12 November to give delegates the opportunity to experience Neil Armstrong’s revolutionary journey on 16 July, 1969 when he left earth’s atmosphere to become the first man to step on the moon.

“Our experiences feel so real that people come out feeling very emotional and truly believe they have walked on the surface of the moon. Apollo 11 is just the first in a long line of experiences we have planned and we have already started work on our Titanic VR experience which will allow users to dive on the shipwreck.”

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David Whelan, CEO of Immersive VR Education David explained “Our Apollo 11 VR experience has just recently won the Time Warner Future of Storytelling Award and puts users into the shoes of Neil Armstrong as he embarks on the most important journey in history. We want to educate by placing people into the centre of the action. We all know that the best way to learn is to do or experience something for yourself that’s why our company motto is ‘Learn through experience’. Virtual Reality allows ordinary people to experience extraordinary things that would otherwise be impossible to experience through any other type of media.”

Virtual Reality is one of many innovative technologies that are having an increasing role to play across the world with tourist attractions wanting to tell their story to potential visitors and have them experience a sample of what they have on offer. David is clear on the continually emerging role of technology within the tourism sector. “VR will revolutionize many industries and this includes tourism. People

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will be able to visit hotels from the comfort of their own homes or experience historical battles in famous locations or even see how famous landmarks were formed in real time. For example, imagine seeing the Giants Causeway form in front of your eyes and being able to walk over the still molten rocks.”

David founded Immersive VR Education in November 2014. As an early adopter of the technology, and with more than 10 years’ experience running his own web development company, Whelan is no stranger to working in virtual technology development. He was one of the original Kickstarter backers of the Oculus Rift back in 2012, which has been responsible for the launch of this new wave of VR technology.

“VR won’t just change the world it will also change or perception of it.”

To find out more about David Whelan and Immersive VR Education visit www.immersivevreducation.com

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DIGITAL DNA AWARDS RECOGNISING SUCCESS…

I N A S S O C I AT ION W I T H

7 APRIL, 2016 T I TA N I C B E L FA S T ww w. d ig ita ld n a . o r g . u k

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Trading in Ireland?

Anne Chapman, Jeweller.

StonechatJewellers .ie

Register your business as .ie The official web address for the island of Ireland.

Protect your brand reputation and tell your customers that your business is local.

• 32 County Domain – Proves true connection to Ireland • Safety – One of the world’s safest web addresses

32 visit www.iedr.ie

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ENGAGED YOUR AUDIENCE Ahead of this year’s Digital Tourism conference, we caught up with Orla Strumble, Head of Marketing at the Irish Greyhound Board, to uncover the key to their recent success.

The Irish Greyhound Board – Bord na gCon – is a commercial semi-state body which is responsible for the control and development of the greyhound industry in Ireland. The Board has a number of functions including regulating the industry, managing stadiums nationwide, operating a Tote betting system and promoting the sport through advertising and prize grants.

Orla’s team work to increase brand awareness of greyhound racing, positioning it as a top choice for a night out, driving consumers to their website www.gogreyhoundracing.ie where they can book online or contact our call centre.

A new strategy

Orla began by looking back to a key turning point for the business.

“Summer 2014 saw a drop in footfall to stadiums and so we recognised the need for a major marketing campaign to re-engage existing customers and attract new customers. We looked at what was unique about summer and how we could use this to sell our product and diversify our markets.

We identified our target markets as people looking to enjoy the long summer nights and families looking for activities to entertain children who were off school. This was the main message in the brief to our creative agency and led to the creation of our summer campaign

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‘Summer nights at the dogs are full of fun!’ and ‘Bring the pups to a night at the dogs!’

We worked with our digital agency, Engage, to create an integrated marketing campaign with a fresh approach with the ability to be consistent in message and yet personalised for each of the 9 stadiums the campaign would cover.”

The summer 2015 campaign began on Friday 29th May 2015, in order to capitalise on the Bank Holiday weekend, and ran until the 31 August 2015.

“We used an integrated marketing ‘right channelling’ approach that was customised for our target audiences and tailored to the customer lifecycle.”

The strategy outlined how they would: • Deliver the right message • Feature the right Value Proposition (product, service or experience) • With the right tone • At the right time or context • With the right frequency and interval • Using the right media/communication channels “Our aim was to achieve the right balance of value between us and our customers.

Our vision was to use multiple channels to reach our target markets and acquire visitors to gogreyhoundracing.ie, convert website visitors into bookings and build loyalty through relationship marketing.”

Digital technology was key to this strategy.

The team used a range of digital marketing channels, such as paid search advertising, banner advertising, social media optimisation, Facebook advertising, email marketing and partner promotions.

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A big success

The success of the strategy was clear to see.

“The months of June, July and August saw an average growth of 232% when compared to the same period last year!”

Online bookings increased by 95% resulting in 56% increase in revenue when compared with the same period last year. August 2015 saw the largest amount of online bookings since 2012. Branded search terms and direct traffic to the website contributed 23% of all traffic in campaign months.

“Our monthly email marketing achieved an average open rate of 21% and an average click through rate of 1.35%. During this time our email database grew by 14% increasing our customer CRM for future campaigns. Social Media Fans increased by 15% across Facebook and Twitter during these months.”

Top tips

Orla offers her top tips to businesses looking to take advantage of digital marketing.

1. Integration is key - A multi channel approach has been key to our success in 2015. Better results are achieved when offline and online marketing work together.

2. Customer data is crucial - Ensure that customer information is stored and built upon.

3. Map radio and TV schedules with PPC adverts for maximum impact.

4. Ensure that offline and online creative look and feel is consistent.

5. Use email to build loyalty with existing customer and social media to engage customers before, during and after their purchase.

6. For small companies try Facebook advertising, we found this a cost effective way to drive sales using Facebook offers, geo targeting and advertising to friends of fans.

To find more about the Irish Greyhound Board, visit gogreyhoundracing.ie

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www.digitaldna.org.uk

www.digitaldna.org.uk

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