A couple's heart rates edited Tourism Ireland's 'Fill Your Heart' film

Launch the new proposition 'Fill your heart with Ireland', steering visitors to less-visited regions and off-peak travel rather than the postcard staples.

The first ad cut from tourists' biometric data: a couple wore covert heart monitors, and their strongest reactions chose the footage.

A real married couple who had never visited the island travelled it wearing custom-made heart monitors and a head-mounted camera; the heart-rate data determined which footage featured. The film showcases 16 lesser-known locations — kayaking on Achill Island, Devenish Island's monastic sites, the cliffs of Slieve League — set to 'Home Again' by Dublin band Delorentos, directed by Patrick Gyllström at B-Reel.

The campaign launched in cinemas, TV and social across Great Britain, the US, France and Germany, rolling out to Canada, Australia, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Scandinavia in the new year. Mark Henry said the ad 'researched extremely positively' because viewers found it authentic and credible.

In December 2018, Tourism Ireland launched 'Fill your heart with Ireland', its first major global campaign since 2011, created by Publicis London with an industry-first method: the ad was cut from the heart-rate data of two of its visitors.

A real married couple, neither of whom had visited the island of Ireland before, took a trip wearing custom-made covert heart monitors linked to a head-mounted camera that captured everything they experienced. The spikes and dips in their heart rates determined which footage made it into the advertising — an edit powered by emotion rather than an editor's taste.

The result showcases 16 less-well-known locations, from kayaking on Achill Island to the monastic sites of Devenish Island and the cliffs of Slieve League, all of which measurably moved the couple's pulses. Central marketing director Mark Henry called it 'the world's first-ever marketing campaign to use tourists' biometric data to design an advert', and ECD Dave Monk framed it as making Ireland 'the world's first heart-rated country'. The film, featuring Delorentos' 'Home Again', launched in key markets with further rollout planned.

Authenticity was the strategy: footage chosen by physiology cannot be accused of art direction, and viewers' positive research response bore that out.

Hidden gems benefited most — the data showed unfamiliar places excited visitors as much as famous ones, supporting the off-peak, off-the-beaten-track push.

A measurable claim sets the campaign apart in a category where every destination claims to be breathtaking.

If your promise is a feeling, measure the feeling: biometric proof turns a tourism tagline into evidence a viewer can watch happen.

As of the December 2018 write-up the campaign was live in Great Britain, the US, France and Germany, with rollout to Canada, Australia, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Scandinavia planned for the new year; Tourism Ireland targeted another record year for overseas tourism in 2019.