Back in 1948, the message was: if you’re going to fly to Ireland, fly Irish. Watered down a bit by the message that you could use Aer Lingus as a gateway to other European capitals.

Even with the dual message, the strategy made sense — Aerlinte Eireann (precursor to what we now know as Aer Lingus) was after all to be the first transatlantic service between New York and Shannon.

But despite the promotion of the new flight (as seen in the ad above), political and financial issues delayed Ireland-U.S. flights on Aer Lingus for another 10 years (source: Wikipedia).

Nowadays, as in many tourism ads, the Aer Lingus business strategy is to promote “value.” In fact, they tell you their strategy right on their website. They are quick to say that they are NOT in the business of promoting lowest fares. However, their tag line is: Great care. Great fare. And they are running this summer promotion, a real gem of an ad <sarcasm>:

Their Christmas efforts (below) were a lot more interesting — both visually and in their messaging. I would have liked to see them carry it over to their summer promotion. There’s nothing wrong with reducing your fare prices, as long as you present them in a way that stands apart from your competition.

As for “Fly Irish”, I think that’s a much more powerful tagline than “Great Care. Great Fare.” It’s what makes Aer Lingus special, their Point of Differentiation. People will look up fares no matter what. You may as well give your brand a strong personality so they remember who you are. That way, the ones who are willing to pay a little extra (if they even have to) for the authentic Irish experience will know that’s exactly what they’re getting.