Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

Forgot to mention this after attending the IIA conference last week. The IIA (Irish Internet Association) has launched a quarterly newsletter with AMAS which will detail online activity in Ireland. It’s quite useful given that the statistics that are usually quoted at us are from the UK.

The statistics show that we’re pretty much in line with our cousins across the pond, in that travel and accommodation are the top purchases for Irish consumers online. This is closely followed by film/music and ticket purchases.

What better than the top ten search terms for some whimsical info:

1. Currency convertor
2. Funny pictures
3. Ireland
4. Banking
5. Jessica Alba
6. Budget travel
7. Horoscopes
8. Cheltenham
9. Liverpool
10. Cheap flights

Which can be pretty much translated as:

1. We’re travelling a lot outside of the EU or buying stuff from Amazon.com
2. Still haven’t discovered YouTube, but waste valuable work hours surfing the web like the rest of the world
3. Possibly aren’t sure exactly where we are after a heavy night’s drinking on a Saturday…otherwise your guess is as good as mine
4. Looking for cheaper interest rates or terrible misspellers
5. A lot of thirteen year old Irish boys are using the net
6. Again the travel…also there is a company called Budget Travel
7. So many people bored at work, doesn’t say a lot for our productivity
8. We like gambling and horses
9. We like soccer and booze cruises. At least this gives Liverpool fans something to cheer about
10. Ah the travel once more. Either that or people don’t know how to spell Ryanair.

Joking aside, why is this information important for Irish companies to pay attention to? Just look at one of the news headlines in Irish papers this week - ‘Holidays and entertainment top SSIA lists’.

For those unfamiliar with the term SSIA, it’s a special government savings scheme set up by the Irish government which is now starting to mature and will fuel consumer spending over the next two years in Ireland. Read my second paragraph again, specifically the lines “travel and accommodation are the top purchases for Irish consumers online. This is closely followed by film/music and ticket purchases.” Now read the headline again - ‘Holidays and entertainment top SSIA lists.’

With some many companies eager to get their hands on consumers’ savings, the key learning here is to ignore the Internet at your peril. You can flick through the papers every day and spot yet another news story or photocall from someone eager to attract SSIA savers attention. Irish companies need to broaden their focus and not forget about all those eyeballs on the net.

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