WATCH: #LoveMullingar launched on St Valentine’s Day

A new #LoveMullingar brand and an Instagramable Niall Horan mural are part of an initiative by Mullingar Chamber of Commerce to increase footfall in the town.

The new brand was fittingly given a Valentine’s day launch yesterday afternoon in Market Square.

Designed by local agency Studio Great, the brand was chosen by a specialised retail team established by Mullingar Chamber of Commerce last year to increase footfall and create a consistent brand for the town.

Restaurateur David Quirke, one of the members of the retail team, said that the new brand is just the first of a number of initiatives this spring.

“We set up a retail project group and as part of that project we came up with #LoveMullingar, which is a brand all around Mullingar that we are launching today. It’s to really enhance footfall around Mullingar.

“There are lots of projects involved with that, such as the creation of a lot more Instagramable spaces around Mullingar. There is going to be a mural on Dominick Street. There is going to be a lighting and umbrella feature on Meeting House Lane and lots of other key features.

“As part of that campaign, we are going to really promote products and services as part of businesses and really enhance footfall within the town.

“One upcoming feature we have is around Mother’s Day, where we will be picking products and services that local businesses offer and hopefully encourage customers to shop local,” he said.

Mullingar Chamber president John Geoghegan said the new brand and other initiatives will help attract more people to Mullingar.

“Mullingar Chamber are delighted to launch the #LoveMullingar brand. We feel this brand has the potential to significantly widen the marketing plan for the town and, in conjunction with online initiatives Instagramable features such as the new mural at Dominick Street, should form part of an ongoing campaign to market the town to a wider audience and assist in the post-pandemic recovery in the leisure and hospitality sectors.

“We really appreciate the support of Westmeath County Council elected members and executive in assisting in funding and delivering this plan and look forward to growing it over the coming years.”

In a statement released to coincide with the launch of the #LoveMullingar brand, the chamber said that “strong branding increases the value of a location, provides direction and motivation, and will add to making Mullingar a quality destination in the midlands and throughout Ireland”.

“The new branding represents people’s perception of Mullingar, its retail and hospitality services, its reputation and how we advertise and market the town. The popularity of social networks, especially the visually focused Instagram platform, has created a need for Instagramable spaces to attract visitors and entice them to spend time and money in our town as part of a wider tourism and consumer experience.

“We have a number of projects planned in the coming weeks to create more visually appealing spaces around Mullingar, including a Niall Horan mural and an umbrella fixture in Meeting House Lane displaying the town’s new brand colours.

“These selfie-worthy spaces inspire visitors to share photos and videos of their experiences, creating invaluable word-of-mouth marketing of Mullingar and also fit in with some established Instagramable images of the town, the most popular being the Joe Dolan statue at Market Square.”

To coincide with the new branding the chamber have a new website at mullingar.ie full of see and do activities and a live events page.