Ennis’ shop local campaign shortlisted in national competition

ENNIS’ Shop Local campaign has made the shortlist of RTÉ’s The Business Christmas Towns Competition, The Clare Champion can reveal.

The town is now in with a chance of having the television show presented by George Lee broadcast live from Ennis and the national broadcaster will be in town this Thursday filming exactly what Ennis has to offer.
Businesses from Ennis Chamber and Ennis Development Forum came together to explore how the traditional sense of giving at Christmas could be harnessed to encourage people to support local jobs by shopping in Ennis, Clare’s county town. They entered the campaign into the nationwide competition to find the place with the most innovative ideas to promote business.
On Wednesday, they received word that Ennis has been shortlisted in its category. Aoife Madden of the Development Forum commented, “We are absolutely thrilled to have been shortlisted. RTÉ will be here in Ennis filming so I’m urging the people of the town and traders to help us showcase exactly what a great town Ennis is by looking their best for the cameras.”
Rita McInerney, CEO of Ennis Chamber added, “This is great for the community spirit of the town. The message of the Shop Local campaign is about giving something back this Christmas, with the traders having giveaways for customers and the town council with their parking incentives. It has been fantastic to see everybody getting behind this campaign.”
Councillor Johnny Flynn added, “This is fantastic news for the town and a great boost”.
The Shop Local Christmas campaign comprises three elements, including the Share the Feeling three-minute viral Christmas video of Ennis, which has had close to 17,000 hits. Also proving popular with both locals and visitors to the town has been the pop-up street radio and, of course, last week’s visit of Santa Claus to the traders of the town.
It is hoped the innovative and imaginative nature of the three elements of the promotional campaign, which have been entered, along with the phenomenal hit rate that has been received since the video went live on various social media sites on Friday night, will ensure the further promotion of Ennis.
According to Aoife, the response to the campaign has been incredibly positive. The reaction from businesses, local people and the local authority was so overwhelming that it was decided to enter the RTÉ competition.
If Ennis’ campaign is successful in the competition, the show will be broadcast live from Ennis on Monday, December 19. 
“Everybody has really come out to support this campaign, it’s just been amazing. The traders have really come out and supported this and the town council even turned on the Christmas lights early so that we could include it on the video and they have given money for the street radio. Businesses involved in the initiative have donated over €8,000 to the project, including thousands of euros worth of giveaways to customers,” said Aoife.
“The RTÉ competition is looking for the best innovative and imaginative ideas to get people shopping in the run-up to Christmas and we are very hopeful the efforts that have been made by so many people here in Ennis will be successful. We all have our fingers crossed. We have already had lots of positive feedback from as far away as America and Australia and we’re even thinking of sending the DVD out to Irish clubs in America for Christmas to give them a taste of home,” she said.
When the idea for the campaign first formed, the group set about seeking support from both the local authority and businesses to enable the promotion of Ennis for locals and visitors to be realised. Local businesses and business organisations contributed financially to cover the full cost of the video and the gifts being given back to shoppers. Ennis Town Council came on board to match-fund with the businesses the ‘pop-up’ radio element of the project, which had a total cost of €5,000.
The Ennis Town – Share The Feeling video, which can be seen on www.vimeo.com/33035402, as well as YouTube, came from the idea of a video showing the enchanting streets, interesting characters and businesses demonstrating community spirit by giving back at Christmas in recognition for their customer’s loyalty. The video has received a huge outpouring of response from the general public and particularly from the Ennis and Clare diaspora around the world.
The ‘pop-up’ Ennis Street Radio is a non-commercial temporary broadcast on the streets this Saturday, as well as the full week running up to Christmas from Saturday, December 17 to Saturday, December 24 to continue the message of the shop local campaign. It will broadcast Christmas and upbeat music, as well as promote loads of giveaways for the customers and shoppers of Ennis during the Christmas shopping period, with over €4,000 worth of gifts and vouchers from Ennis businesses as prizes during its 80 hours of broadcasting. The local authority’s pedestrianisation of the town centre streets will be promoted through the radio. Free parking for customers and alternative parking for employees will also be promoted as an incentive to shoppers and as a way of giving back to the customers of Ennis, who support businesses and the local authority by shopping local.
“The message from Ennis is one of the retailers and hospitality businesses, as well as the local authority, giving back to their customers in the traditional sense of Christmas and in appreciation for shopping locally. The giving back to customers to encourage them to shop local this Christmas is demonstrated in the video clip and continues with the businesses in Ennis giving these gifts to their customers. By including lots of great giveaways for the customers and shoppers to Ennis over the Christmas shopping period through the ‘pop-up’ radio, it spreads the word of what Ennis has to offer. With its wide range of businesses and product offerings in the friendliest town, Ennis offers that unique shopping experience,” said Ms McInerney.
Ennis Town Council is also promoting the town as a place to shop through a parking incentive over Christmas, which includes free parking before 12pm every day until January 7.