Sailing North

Case Study

The Project

Sailing North opened in 2019 as a brand-new sail charter and sail training business – the first to set up in Derry and on Lough Foyle. The focus of the business is on sail charter and sail training trips from Derry to the Scottish Hebrides, to Belfast and along the north coast.

The challenge for Inis Communications was to establish a profile and online presence as quickly and professionally as possible.

The Response

We started by working closely with Sailing North to develop a PR & marketing strategy which met the needs of a new marine tourism business, based on our considerable experience in both the marine and tourism sectors. We then implemented a PR action plan, which tackled the following priorities:

  • We drew together a creative team and worked with them and Sailing North to establish a logo, branding and website which reflected the agreed profile we wanted to communicate
  • In consultation with Sailing North and the creative team, we developed and edited the website content
  • We created and developed social media profiles, to promote the website and Sailing North packages and services
  • We boosted their PR presence and profile with a PR trip to the Scottish Hebridean island of Islay which generated national newspaper and radio coverage
  • We combined this trip with a photography session which we arranged and managed, and which generated a database of top-quality professional pics for the website and PR purposes

The Results

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Within the first 4 months of Sailing North’s establishment, we secured media audiences of over 620,000 and media coverage worth over €27,000

Media coverage included both print and broadcast outlets

As well as local media coverage, we secured features in the Sunday Times, the Irish Examiner and the RTE Radio 1 marine programme, ‘Seascapes’

Sailing North engaged the services of Inis Communications to design our web page and run our marketing campaign and from the outset the experience has been nothing but top drawer professionalism. Trish will lead you through all aspects of the campaign, giving you “the client” a clear understanding of what is best for your business and how it can be achieved. Having worked with Trish and her team at Inis Communications, I can rest easily in the knowledge that the Inis Communications team are steering our business on a safe course through the complex world of media and digital marketing.

Dan Gallagher

Company Owner, Sailing North