The Open Championship
The excitement levels across Northern Ireland are growing once again as The Open Championship returns to Royal Portrush Golf Club in 2025. It will be familiar territory for Jago as we played a central role at the 148th Open in 2019 helping inspire domestic and Republic of Ireland visitors to embrace Northern Ireland’s giant spirit.
The Epic Journey to The 148th Open
We proposed, managed and delivered ‘The Epic Journey to The 148th Open’ across eight locations over a four-month period. The roadshows were part of a wider PR strategy to build tourism momentum for 2019 and bolster civic pride as Northern Ireland fell under a global gaze.
Backed by a national PR campaign, each stop of the tour garnered broadcast interviews, pre-communications, videography and photography. In total it achieved over 150 pieces of coverage with 100% including destination messaging.
To begin the Epic Journey, we proposed and implemented a stand-out red-carpet event in January 2019. Timed as the year opened, it emphasised the commitment to delivering an outstanding, destination-centred 2019, and pride in welcoming The Open.
We’ve Come a Long Way
To ensure a legacy, we commissioned a momentous, masterfully edited short film ‘We’ve Come a Long Way’ which incorporated destination, international accolades and new tourism highlights.
It was accompanied by a spine-tingling score composed by a Belfast-born virtuoso pianist, accompanied by the Ulster Youth Orchestra. It was also set to an original poem by a local poet with prose delivered by famous local voices, Ian McElhinney, Bronagh Waugh, Saoirse Monica-Jackson and Shaun Blaney.
The opening event was attended by 400 media and stakeholders in January 2019. Over 50 media from RTE to BBC, UTV as well as newspapers, magazines, online and social media influencers. There were over 20 live interviews with BBC Newsline 6.30pm news live from carpet.
Following the launch event, #TheOpen and #DiscoverNI were trending number 1 and 2 on social media. The video received over 100,000 views with over 10,000 engagements.
Another key element of our campaign which caught the attention of photo desks at major publications was a digital masterpiece which echoed the world-famous Mount Rushmore in America. We worked with CGI artist, Mike Campau to digitally transform the iconic cliffs of Fair Head in County Antrim into an eye-catching sculpture featuring the images of local golfing greats, past and present.
Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke, who were all competing in The Open, featured in the design alongside former Open Champion and Portrush man Fred Daly. Our work contributed to the tournament becoming the quickest selling on record with sell-outs on Championship Days for the first time in its history, delivering more than £100million of economic benefit to Northern Ireland.