It's not all about the money A referral for The Arbutus Hotel, Kilarney, came to me from Gerard Tannam of Islandbridge Brand Development. It was not for a muscle flexing multinational company, nor did it translate into a lucrative roll out program. But... ‘WOW WOW WOW!!' was the response of Sean Buckley, owner manager of the Hotel - that is what made this referral so enjoyable for us. We delivered a two day brand characterisation workshop, which allowed staff and managers to understand the new brand Gerard had developed for the hotel, and how it applied in their daily interactions with customers.

I loved working on this workshop as I scripted the history of the hotel through the eyes of Tim Buckley, the founder of the hotel and Sean's Great Grandfather. Tim was a local of Killarney, who left his homeland post famine, and travelled to America by ship to make some money and fulfil his dream.

Before Tim left Ireland, he decided that he would return one day and buy, what was then, the Russell Hotel. He returned 15 years later, bought the Russel Hotel and named it the Arbutus, which is a strawberry tree indigenous only to Ireland. His pride for his work and his attention to detail saw him create a masterpiece, a hotel work of art, and an ethos that is sorely lacking in today's hubbub of all things disposable and virtual.

The story is one of life's inspirations, and I was forced to put the pen down 15 pages later. We loved working on this workshop, delivering it, and seeing people on the day experience this powerful story, brought to life by our actors.




Contact Jethro from Jikijela, a unique and innovative company at:

Tel: 01 822 4716. Mobile: 087 279 9822. Email: jethro@jikijela.com Web: www.jikijela.com