Wild Atlantic Way
The Wild Atlantic Way is Ireland’s first long-distance driving route – working its’ way from the West coastal road to the wildest stretches of the sea coast.
Challenge
Tourism is a critical component of the West of Ireland’s economy. The region faced a major challenge with international tourism numbers and its share of holiday visits to Ireland dropping significantly over the period 2007-2010 – a performance which was exacerbated by the impact of the global financial crisis and Ireland’s challenging economic circumstances at the time. Urgent action was required.
Solution
The branding created awareness that attracted national and international visitors to the area. For the Wild Atlantic Way to be a success, we need each community along the route to take ownership of their own part of the project whilst remaining part of the overall vision. Our goal was to allow space to integrate their ideas, stories, pride, culture and personality into the brand identity.
Approach
This project involved several partners and communities working together to promote tourism. We collaborated with the strategy team and clarified the brand story which focused on people, places and stories. We designed a flexible logo that represented the road, the land, the sea and the wildness of the region. The colour palette was inspired by nature. The graphic language includes stone textures, topographic lines and weather symbols. The photography is broken into macro, mezzo and micro shots to show the scale of the region. The idea behind this kit of parts is to create a consistent texture to the identity while allowing freedom for the tone of voice and visual to change depending on the author and their use for it. It is a living identity, one that has the ability to adapt and change with culture, people, nature and the West coast of Ireland.
List of services
Brand strategy, branding, logo design, brand identity guidelines, brochure design, advertising, brand development.
Value
In the two years since its creation, Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way has become a well-established brand, won numerous awards and generated significant international awareness; targets that would take most other international tourism products years to achieve. The 9 coastal counties on the route from Donegal to Cork provided 3.6 million international bed-nights, worth €1.9 billion to the Irish economy.
Collaborators
Photography: Sean & Yvette
Strategy: Place Matters