Jameson is running a global St Patrick’s Day party for online and real-world fans over 48 hours across four continents and seven time zones. The Jameson Global Party will take place in 18 different venues across the world, including Dublin, Sofia, Johannesburg, London, Montreal, Berlin and Astana. Using a range of digital initiatives, the Jameson Global Party will link the events at varying levels of connection, from photostreams and video greetings right through to a full three and a half hour TV-style broadcast live from the Mansion House in Dublin, Taboo in Johannesburg and The Military Club in Sofia. The broadcast will be headlined by Groove Armada and supported by Irish acts Codes…

US adult internet users who follow a celebrity on a social networking site are four times more likely to follow a brand than the average American internet user, according to research from The Nielsen Company. Apparently, 64pc of adult internet users who follow a celebrity on the likes of Facebook or Twitter also follow a brand. Nielsen also reveals that such fans are also more likely to offer advice and opinion to fellow online consumers. This is particularly the case when it comes to entertainment topics where 32pc of celebrity fans online provide advice on movies (making them 44pc more likely than the average online user to do so), and 28pc provide…

UK retailers’ websites are failing to meet consumer expectations for engaging e-commerce experiences, according to a new study from EPiServer. The ‘Developing your e-commerce strategy: how to deliver what customers really want’ study is based on a survey 2,000 consumers and explores the online shopping features they look for regarding overall web experience, browsing, buying and after-sales. The report also benchmarks how 25 top UK retailers measure up to these consumer demands. The research finds that while retailers are ticking the boxes regarding the fundamentals of e-commerce, such as providing clear product images and active search, they are not providing the engaging online shopping experience that consumers are demanding. It…

Ireland’s over 50s are generally tech-savvy and affluent, consider good health to be important, and are unlikely to have much brand loyalty for anything other than staples, according to new research from Amárach. The first National 50+ Consumer Survey, released to coincide with the Business of Ageing conference in Dublin’s Royal Hospital Kilmainham on Wednesday 9 March, reveals that while 71pc of people over 50 report a significant decrease in their income over the last 12 months, 67pc claim the recession has not had a strong impact on their lives. In addition, six in 10 over 50s currently have a pension and 65pc have not made any drastic changes to…

Cadbury is spending £6.5m on its latest Spots v Stripes activity – Race Season – which launches today in the UK and Ireland. As part of the Race Season event, the company launched a new chocolate wafer bar, the Big Race bar, yesterday. Spots v Stripes Race Season presents nine challenges that are designed to inspire people to play more games. According to Cadbury, these problems aim to see if people can be genuinely speedy at tasks they do every day, giving every person in the UK and Ireland a chance of breaking a world record. The nine challenges are split into four online races and five offline races. The…