‘SHOP LIMERICK’ Initiative Keeps Small Irish Business Trading

Limerick City and Council has unveiled SHOP LIMERICK, an initiative to help local businesses to continue to trade during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The push was developed in partnership with creative agency M&C Saatchi, following its launch of Limerick’s new brand positioning earlier this year, which was accompanied by a major multi-market campaign.

Limerick has been one of Ireland’s greatest success stories during the last decade, seeing steady foreign investment revitalise its economy, but like other communities globally, its businesses have been impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak. Many of its local enterprises, particularly those in retail, do not have the ecommerce infrastructure to counter the unprecedented pressure that Covid-19 has placed on the sector. Meanwhile, the local community has become more conservative in its spending habits. 

To address the challenges faced by local businesses during the outbreak, Limerick City and Council and M&C Saatchi have created SHOP LIMERICK, a series of free initiatives to help local businesses continue to trade safely through the current crisis and prepare for the re-commencement of normal trading conditions.

A new digital platform, limerick.ie/shop, will enable retailers across the city and county to showcase their offering online. Visitors to the site can browse and buy from homegrown Limerick businesses, purchase a local business voucher, and find out about local neighbourhood food deliveries from shops and restaurants.

Alongside this, Limerick City and Council and M&C Saatchi have also developed a campaign to encourage the Limerick community to continue to invest in their local economy. Activity includes a direct mail pack containing a customisable poster for local residents to display in their windows, in order to show solidarity with local businesses. Bearing the campaign line, ‘SHOP LIMERICK, SAVE LIVELIHOODS’, the poster features some of the county’s iconic landmarks, as well as visually signposting the types of businesses who find themselves most affected by the impact of Covid-19. The piece also promotes a secondary message: a nod to the valuable work being carried out by front-line workers.

The poster is supported by social media activity across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn; and local press advertising.

Laura Ryan, head of communications and marketing, Limerick City and County Council, said: “Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on local economies across the world, and Limerick is no different. We wanted to do something to open up trading channels for our businesses, and to inspire the community to continue to shop locally. We hope that by offering local businesses a place to showcase their offerings digitally, and by inspiring the people of Limerick to support them, we will be able to give our economy the boost it needs in order to weather this crisis and prepare for the return of normal trading.”

Mary Harris, managing partner, M&C Saatchi, said: “This campaign reinforces the community-driven spirit of Limerick’s bold new brand: Atlantic Edge, European Embrace. Working with Limerick City and County Council, we have landed on an efficient and community-led campaign to build on January’s brand launch, using comms to combat the impact of the economic crisis. This is an organic solution to the problem at hand, intended to protect the community in a manner that feels authentically Limerick - where grit and resilience are matched by a community spirit.”