Food Safety Authority of Ireland

The challenge

The FSAI Learning Portal launched in April 2024 as a free, expert-led resource to help small and medium food businesses meet their legal training obligations. Awareness was still low against a market of roughly 51,000 small food businesses across Ireland, most of them run by people with no time to go looking for a training portal, let alone register for one. The campaign also had to work within a modest media budget and Government advertising rules that require a minimum share of spend in the Irish language, which meant reach and compliance had to be solved in the same plan.

The thinking

Food business owners care about doing things right, but they're so busy keeping the doors open that they just want someone to make food safety simple, clear and doable in the middle of the chaos. The campaign couldn't lecture or warn: it had to feel like a helping hand at the right moment. Food safety culture, the shared attitude that food safety matters here, became the creative anchor, broad enough to cover everything in the portal without feeling like a checklist.

We tested four message angles: culture, expert-led credibility, flexible learning and business protection. Culture led.

Targeting made sure that message landed with the right person. On YouTube, we targeted people who visit specific industry sites, such as food suppliers, alongside exact-match search terms and job title targeting, keeping spend efficient and slowing creative fatigue. On Meta, we split employees from managers and owners, testing each separately.

Irish-language placements through Tuairisc.ie extended reach while meeting Government advertising requirements.