On That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin, Co-Creative Directors Sam Moorhead and Mikey Fleming talk about the current state of advertising. They dive into the sheer volume of ads, the explosion of platforms, and the evolution of targeting. They also share their thoughts on how small businesses can build their brands – by using distinctive assets, choosing the most suitable platforms, and leaning into humour and a strong personality to help people connect.
Catch the full episode here.
This year, on International Epilepsy Day, Epilepsy Ireland and Connelly Partners joined forces once again to launch a powerful nationwide campaign focused on one clear message: Time. Safe. Stay. It’s a simple mantra — but one that could make all the difference if you ever witness someone having a seizure.
Turning Stats Into Stories
How do you take a public health message and make people really care? You make it personal.
Backed by robust research from Amárach, the campaign centred around the lived experiences of people with epilepsy. Research showed that 88% of people in Ireland believe there’s a lack of understanding of epilepsy amongst the general public. So we got to work – putting real voices, real faces, and real emotions front and centre. These weren’t just testimonials. These were open, honest conversations about life with epilepsy. Fear. Frustration. Strength. Hope.
By showcasing these stories, we aimed to create empathy, spark curiosity, and ultimately, leave a lasting impression about the importance of seizure first aid — Time. Safe. Stay.
A Multi-Platform Approach That Hit Home
To maximise impact, we launched a multi-channel campaign — from powerful digital storytelling to social media, DOOH and more – ensuring visibility at both national and regional levels. Media volunteers bravely stepped up to share their experiences with press. Interviews delivered a deeply human look at epilepsy’s daily challenges.
Listen to the full Supercharged (RTE Radio 1) interview here.
A video campaign, voiced by legendary Radio DJ Rick O’Shea, was broadcast on Sky Television.
Digital out-of-home adverts brought the message into busy shopping centres and high-footfall areas throughout the Capital and regionally, as well as in Galway’s Eyre Square.
Digital Display ads featuring our media volunteers ran across various digital platforms, providing lots of touch points for the Irish public to engage with this important message.
Social media lit up – and were amongst the most successful strands of this multi-faceted campaign. TikTok alone delivered 1M+ impressions, reaching 538k accounts with an exceptional 17.36% engagement rate — well above platform norms.
Across META (Facebook and Instagram), the campaign reached 570K users, blowing past the original goal of 157K, with an impressive 2.78% engagement rate, significantly above the 0.20% industry benchmark.
Our Digital Audio campaign over-delivered – achieving a 90% Listen Through Rate (LTR) and reaching 40K+ unique users.
The results proved that human connection is still at the heart of effective storytelling.
Read The Irish Times feature here.
Alexandra Ergas, Brand Coordinator
Introduction
Upon my arrival in Boston, as a true West Coaster, I had a realization that this was only the second time I had been to the American East Coast in my life. I thought, what an amazing opportunity to explore a city and region I had never spent time in, as well as make friends and network with the CP Boston office! I couldn’t wait to explore and learn as much as I could.
Getting to Know CP Boston!
After a messy travel journey with a layover in Chicago, I was ready for an exciting day in the office, exploring the beautiful 3-story space and meeting a majority of the friendly faces at CP. I set up one-on-one coffee catch-ups with someone from each department over the course of the month, as this was one of the best ways to learn the team structure within the company. By the end of my month abroad, I came to understand the intricate workings of an advertising agency and the real teamwork it takes to keep the machine running smoothly.
Historic Sightseeing
While in Boston, I took advantage of the rich history the area has to offer, including the Gilbert House Museum and Salem, my two favorite spots. The Gilbert House took me deep into the historic neighborhood of Back Bay, where I had the chance to tour a fully preserved Victorian-era brownstone home, including all rooms and an overview of the Gilbert family history. My other favorite experience was visiting Salem, home of the infamous Salem Witch Trials, where I explored multiple museums and funky, Halloween-themed shops. These experiences are much different than what I’m used to, and have become fond memories. I also explored the Museum of Fine Arts, Harvard University, the North End, the Boston Public Library, and more!
Things I Learned About Myself
During my time in Boston, I was exposed to a much different work environment than I had been accustomed to in my career over the past few years, the majority of which was remote. I came to the realization that I thrive in a social and in-person office environment. I am more of an in-person and hands-on learner and strongly believe I have the ability to learn at twice the speed while surrounded by those who have been working in the role for some time before me. I also learned I have the ability to be far more independent than I had thought previously. Living completely alone in a new city is only as scary as you make it – and it’s easy to fill your days with meeting new people and building your own adventures. I am forever grateful for the wonderful opportunity I had with CP Abroad, and could not recommend it enough to anyone considering this wonderful program!
Connelly Partners has bolstered its creative team, appointing Sam Moorhead and Mikey Fleming as Co-Creative Directors. This follows a strong start to 2025 as the agency has won competitive pitches including Waterways Ireland, University of Galway, The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth (DCEDIY), and been added to The Health Service Executive (HSE) agency framework.
With a 50 person team in Dublin, the independent advertising agency provides an end-to-end, full-service offering for clients, within both the Irish and global markets.
Moorhead and Fleming have been a creative team since 2011, partnering at TBWA/Ireland, Boys + Girls, and later founding Verve’s in-house agency, Showrunner. Their work for brands like Three Mobile, Aldi, SKODA, Lyons Tea, Tayto, VHI, and LEGO have earned multiple awards.
They join legendary Executive Creative Director (ECD) Mike Garner and digital specialist and Creative Director, Chris Preston. This powerhouse creative team makes up part of Connelly Partners’ global offering (with other hubs in Boston and Vancouver) overseen by Chief Creative Officer (CCO) Alyssa Toro and Dublin’s Managing Director (MD) Vaunnie McDermott. This expansion marks the beginning of a period of growth for the agency with more creative roles planned for the coming months.
“Connelly Partners is on a roll, strengthening our end-to-end offering across strategy, creative, production, social and digital. Our integrated approach based on really understanding the customer journey has powered our momentum, driving strong business results for our clients,” said McDermott. “Sam and Mikey’s long-standing partnership has earned them a reputation for crafting campaigns that are anything but ordinary and built on solid strategy. Their creativity combined with the power of AI is exactly what we need to continue driving commercial success.”
Connelly Partners has been appointed as the creative agency for Waterways Ireland, the organisation responsible for managing and promoting Ireland’s inland waterways across the island of Ireland. Connelly Partners will be responsible for developing a new corporate identity and advertising communications to build the tourism and recreation credentials of the brand, in order to encourage greater use of and participation in everything that the waterways of Ireland have to offer.
In addition, the agency has been selected to work with University of Galway, one of Ireland’s leading higher education institutions, to strengthen its brand communications with the goal of increasing CAO applications.
Connelly Partners has also recently been appointed the creative agency for The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth (DCEDIY), which plays a crucial role in shaping policies and programs that support children, families, and social inclusion across Ireland.
This growth follows additional wins and campaign launches for brands including Birra Moretti, Coors, ESB & Electric Ireland, Expressway, Epilepsy Ireland and My Milkman, in what looks set to be an exciting 2025 for Connelly Partners in Ireland.
Additional coverage:
AdWorld: Sam Moorehead and Mikey Fleming Join Connelly Partners
Business & Finance: New and notable appointments at Mercer Ireland, Neotas Limited, McGill and Partners, Forvis Mazars, Connelly Partners, BDO Ireland and Deloitte Ireland
Business Plus: Moorhead and Fleming join Connelly Partners
Valentine’s Day hits differently when you’re newly single, but hey—heartbreak has a way of teaching some unexpected lessons. My girlfriend recently broke up with me, and let’s just say I’ve had plenty of time to reflect. Here’s what being single has taught this CPer about contextual targeting.
Contextual targeting focuses on hitting consumers at a time when they’re primed to receive your message. When approaching a girl you’ve never spoken to before, you want to make sure the time and place are right to make the biggest impact.
Reaching niche audiences can be very difficult, but contextual targeting allows you to place your brand around the content that this audience would be consuming. Similarly, when you have a very specific type of girl in mind, understanding what they like can make it much easier to create a connection.
With cookies eventually being sunset due to consumer privacy restrictions, advertisers have utilized contextual targeting to reach their audience. Nowadays, there is a much greater emphasis on safety around strangers. Buying a drink for someone (the human equivalent of sharing cookies) might not be the way to approach a girl.
When using contextual targeting, your ads will always show up around relevant content. When looking for someone to approach for a conversation, it will always be easier if you have similar interests to focus the conversation around.
Contextual targeting allows you to show up around keywords that otherwise might show up on a blocklist. For example, the word “shooting” might appear on a traditional blocklist, but for a brand looking to advertise around basketball content, it takes on an entirely different, brand-safe meaning. Similarly, an ex-girlfriend might have enjoyed being called “honey,” but this won’t be the case with everyone you meet.
Signed, Anonymous
A young mayoral candidate for New York City has set himself apart on social feeds by mixing big policy proposals with silliness to try to draw voters to his campaign. Alyssa Steven’s explains that this strategy doesn’t always lead to votes, especially when candidates focus on creating buzz or going viral without tying it back to their policy platforms.
Alyssa shares that Zohran Mamdani’s age plays a key role in his success. His content comes across as more genuine, making it easier for people to connect with his message.
Read more here.
Steve Connelly argues that while AI is a valuable asset in marketing and advertising, it should complement rather than replace human creativity and emotion in strategy. AI enhances capabilities and benefits clients, but it cannot fully replicate the intuitive and emotional elements crucial for building strong brand connections and customer loyalty. Integrating AI with human intuition and experience maximizes its effectiveness, preserving the essential human touch needed to foster meaningful customer relationships.
Read more here.
Erin Mullaney, Media Director
Courtney Marlow, Senior PR, Social Media & Influencer Marketing Manager
The potential TikTok ban is shaking up the short-form video landscape, leaving creators, marketers, and brands holding out hope or scrambling to explore alternative platforms. As TikTok’s highly engaged audience and creator-driven approach hang in the balance, many advertisers are making contingency plans. According to recent eMarketer reports, 50.2% of marketers plan to shift their TikTok investment to YouTube or Meta if the app is banned. How do all these platforms differ? Below is a synopsis of audiences, current platform environments and performance to take into consideration of where to invest your resources amidst the uncertainty.
Short-form video consumption is on the rise, with 63% of adults aged 18+ watching these videos on their smartphones, 55% of whom do so weekly1.
TikTok has undeniably fueled this trend, but it hasn’t yet surpassed longer-established platforms in adult audience reach. YouTube leads the way, engaging 63% of the adult population, closely followed by Facebook at 62%. Instagram captures 44%, while TikTok trails with a reach of 33%.
A18+ Reach by Platform2:
Sources:
1A18+ Resonate – Jan 2025
2Average across MRI Simmons, Emarketer, and Resonate A18+ Penetration %
The disparity in reach largely stems from generational engagement with each platform. TikTok has surpassed Facebook among adult Gen Z users and has been steadily approaching Instagram’s more mainstream appeal. Meanwhile, YouTube and Facebook, with their longer presence in the market, maintain broad reach across generations, particularly among Gen X and Boomers. In contrast, Instagram’s core audience skews heavily toward Millennials and Gen Z.
Source: eMarketer Platform Population Penetration, US 2024
TikTok has become infamous for its ability to pull users into endless scrolling on their For You Page, delivering content that uncannily aligns with their current interests. As users potentially move away from TikTok, they’ll likely seek similar entertainment on other platforms. This means these platforms will need to bridge the content gap, with their current areas of focus and user experiences outlined below.
YouTube stands out as a platform with the broadest reach across age groups, making it a versatile choice for connecting with diverse audiences. With its integration into Google’s ecosystem, YouTube leverages extensive search data, allowing content, organic or paid, to reach users with precision and intent. While long-form horizontal videos remain prominent, YouTube Shorts, introduced as of 2021 in the U.S., represents a significant evolution. Shorts are increasingly featured in search results, offering users the flexibility to consume shorter, bite-sized content. The platform’s dual focus on search-driven discovery and content variety makes it a powerful tool for brands and creators alike.
Instagram Reels is integrated into the Instagram app, where users can seamlessly transition from their feed to a TikTok-like Reels experience. While trends on Reels tend to be slightly delayed from TikTok, Instagram has evolved from a personal “highlight reel” to a discovery-focused platform, offering content tailored to user interests. Similarly, Facebook Reels appear in users’ feeds, and once clicked, users enter the Reels feed. Facebook is also pushing Reels content in an effort to drive more engagement on its platform.
The most significant distinction between TikTok and other platforms lies in user engagement time. TikTok’s finely tuned algorithm captivates users for an average of 51 minutes daily, far outpacing other platforms. By comparison, YouTube users spend an average of 36 minutes per day, Instagram users 35 minutes, and Facebook users 32 minutes1. With potentially freed-up consumption time following the potential TikTok ban, it will be interesting to see if consumer behaviors shift—and whether one platform, through user preference or ongoing updates to enhance engagement, begins to close the gap.
1Source: eMarketer Time Spent, US 2024
While the activity of scrolling through short-form videos is similar across platforms, performance in the paid advertising space varies. Across campaigns, a few trends have emerged. YouTube Shorts is the most cost-efficient in terms of CPM, likely due to slower adoption and lower advertiser demand since rolling out Short-specific paid ads in late 2023. However, it falls behind Meta Reels and TikTok in average watch time.
TikTok strikes an impressive balance, offering the highest CTR, lowest CPC, and moderate costs, while maintaining competitive video watch times. Meta platforms (Instagram and Facebook) deliver slightly lower action metrics but benefit from marginally higher average watch times.
For conversion campaigns, Meta Reels appears to be the better alternative, while YouTube Shorts is ideal for cost-effective reach. If advertisers reallocate budgets amidst the TikTok uncertainty, Meta is predicted to see more reallocation dollars and thus increased competition. Therefore YouTube Shorts could remain a cost-efficient alternative.
As the potential TikTok ban looms, it’s important for brands and marketers to adapt by exploring alternative platforms, encompassing both organic and paid social strategies, as well as influencer marketing. Each platform offers nuances and unique advantages, and TikTok’s dominance in entertainment will undoubtedly be missed. However, with engaged and diverse audiences spread across multiple platforms, there are ample opportunities to evolve your strategy and connect with users where they are now—and where they’re headed in the near future.
A survey conducted by Pixability, a company specializing in AI-driven contextual targeting, brand suitability and performance advertising on YouTube and CTV, revealed insights from U.S. & UK Media Agency executives, buyers and planners about their current video advertising behaviors and their predictions for YouTube and CTV budgets and strategies in 2025.
Erin Mullaney, Media Director at Connelly Partners, emphasizes that brands need to recognize YouTube’s dominance in the CTV space. YouTube is not only the top streaming platform in terms of viewership and reach but also distinguishes itself with its ad-supported model, unlike competitors such as Netflix, which rely heavily on ad-free subscriptions.
This shift in the landscape has led agencies to adapt by unifying their TV, YouTube, and CTV teams.
Read more from MarTech Cube and StreetInsider
The advertising industry in 2025 is rapidly transforming. From AI-driven personalization, to shifting consumer dynamics and unprecedented cultural fragmentation, brands are facing both monumental challenges and unparalleled opportunities.
In this AdAge feature, Steve Connelly shares his predictions for the industry this year. He foresees a backlash against superficial AI, leading to the reduction of lazy, gimmicky AI marketing and a push toward more meaningful applications. We’ll also see a focus on AI’s true benefits in analytics, media and enhancing search, rather than empty, concept-less ads.
Check out all the 2025 predictions here.