AN
eight year old boy’s take on his daddy’s business has beaten some of the most
creative minds in Northern Ireland’s digital advertising industry to be short
listed for a major award.
Young
Lewis McCartney has become something of a star in his hometown of Enniskillen
since he featured in the video to promote his dad’s business, the Belmore
Court & Motel.
Father
and son were both thrilled last week when the cute video viral showing Lewis
giving his “lovely” guided tour of the Belmore court & Motel’s bedrooms,
which has been watched by nearly 3,000 people on U Tube, was short listed in
the prestigious DANI 2011 awards.
The
P5 pupil’s video is up against the might of the Belfast Giants and Derry City
of Culture in the Best Viral Campaign category at the awards. Visit www.motel.co.uk to see his tour of the
Belmore Court.
The inaugural
DANI Awards in association with Invest Northern Ireland and Chain Reaction
Cycles, aims to recognise the burgeoning creative and digital online media
sector in Northern Ireland.
The ceremony will take place at Belfast’s Hilton Hotel on Friday, November 11 when a total of nine awards will be presented but it’s way past Lewis’ bedtime so he wont be able to attend.
Terry
McCartney, owner of Belmore Court & Motel was thrilled that his simple, low
budget promotional video had impressed judges. “We are just a small company
where every pound matters and we didn’t have a big budget to blow on a video.
Lewis is always in the Belmore Court and we stay overnight regularly and the
kids love it. We just thought if we could capture some of his enthusiasm about
staying it might be infectious.”
“We
didn’t work to a script and just told him to talk and tell it in his own wee
words and he did talk - non stop. He loved doing it and especially as he
got a new big piece of Lego at the end of it. He has become a bit of star now
with people coming into the motel asking if he is there. He is modest but he is
loving it too.”
“We
are thrilled that such a small company as ours has been short listed against
such large organisations.”
Belmore Court & Motel has been
shortlisted in a total of three of the eight DANI Awards categories. The
company is also a finalist for the Best App and Best Online Strategy awards.
Naomh
McElhatton, founder of The DANI Awards said: ''The judges felt the Belmore
Court & Motel fulfilled all the criteria for the category and they
demonstrated an understanding of how and why a viral campaign would work for
them.
“The
content was very relevant to their brand, the campaign hit their target
audience, it was just the right length of footage and fitted very well with
their family business ethos, aside from that it delivered results - following
the coverage on Facebook and their own site - it was mentioned on over 30
bookings and other kids that stayed at the motel wanted to meet Lewis, the
owners son who starred in the video!''
The Motel has enjoyed a superb year of
success at major awards ceremonies where it has been recognised consistently
for its attention to quality service.
Earlier this year Belmore enjoyed the
distinction of being the only independent business in Ireland to pick up a
Silver Award in the Green Tourism Business Scheme.
The motel also left its larger
competitors standing when it was awarded House Keeping Team of the Year and
runner up in the Receptionist of the Year categories in the 2011 Northern
Ireland Hotel Federation annual awards.
And next month, the Belmore Court
& Motel will be one of the finalists in the coveted Chartered Institute of
Marketing Ireland Excellence awards; Best Marketing and Sales – Tourism and
Hospitality.
Belmore owner Terry
McCartney said: “As a small business up against much bigger companies, we are
delighted to be singled out for success.
“Having all three of our
entries shortlisted in DANI and also making the final of the CIM Marketing
Excellence awards has topped what has been a
very successful year for us. We really have a team and a product to be proud
of.”
