Edelman

In December 2008, Dublin’s Point Theatre was renamed ‘The O2’ in Ireland’s first-ever music venue naming rights deal.

The Challenge: To announce and drive awareness of the name change and to ensure that this unprecedented deal did not alienate music fans.

Key Insight: “The Point”, while a well-known venue, was generally viewed as outdated. Consumers in Ireland were now looking for enhanced music experiences.

Strategic Approach: Edelman’s approach was rooted in the power of relationships and aimed to establish a groundswell of positive opinion and support amongst the right communities - from music journalists and radio DJs to taxi drivers and concierges - who could later act as third-party advocates for the new venue.

We wanted to let the venue speak for itself, by allowing key audiences to experience it first-hand, right from the development and building stage, with regular updates thereafter. To demonstrate the success and effectiveness of O2’s participation in music, we also let those audiences experience other O2 properties around the world, such as London and Berlin.

Results: Edelman’s programme delivered over 60% awareness of the venue name change at time of opening and headline media coverage across the full gambit of national newspapers, glossy magazines, radio and television over a period of two months prior to venue opening.