In June 2024, Taylor Swift brought the Eras Tour to Dublin, and the whole country was talking about her. EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum had a story nobody else could tell: Taylor Swift has Irish roots.

Her ancestors, Susan Davis and Francis Gwynn, emigrated from Ireland in 1836. EPIC turned their journey into “The Love Story Before ‘Love Story'”, and Vroom ran the PR campaign and paid media that took it around the world. It went on to win the Grand Prix, the top prize of the night, at the 2025 Spider Awards.

At a glance

  • Client: EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, Dublin
  • Campaign: The Love Story Before ‘Love Story’, June to July 2024
  • Vroom’s role: PR and media relations, Meta and TikTok advertising, and paid search. Creative concept by The Public House
  • Results: 230+ pieces of coverage, 13 million+ reach, ticket sales up 43% year on year in June
  • Awards: Spider Awards 2025 Grand Prix and Best in Storytelling, European Search Awards 2025 and Global Search Awards 2025 for Best Use of PR in a Search Campaign
230 +
Pieces of coverage worldwide, including two Irish national front pages
13 M+
People reached through earned media
43 %
More tickets sold in June 2024 than June 2023

The challenge: competing with the biggest show on earth

For a few weeks in June 2024, Dublin belonged to Taylor Swift. Every brand wanted a piece of the moment, and most attempts were forgettable: a playlist, a pun, a discount code. Search and social costs climbed as the whole internet talked about one thing.

EPIC needed more than a passing mention. It wanted to reach the fans, the media and the international visitors pouring into Dublin, and give them a reason to visit a museum about Irish emigration during the busiest week of their year.

The idea: the love story before ‘Love Story’

EPIC’s researchers traced Taylor Swift’s family tree back to Ireland. Susan Davis and Francis Gwynn left in 1836, and their story of love, leaving home and starting again sat perfectly alongside her song “Love Story”.

That’s what made it work. It wasn’t a brand hijacking a celebrity. It was a genuine piece of Irish history that only an emigration museum could tell, which made it news rather than marketing.

See the campaign: EPIC’s campaign page tells the full story, with Lauren O’Neill’s illustration of Susan and Francis free to download. Comedian Garron Noone shared the news with his followers, and singer Allie Sherlock reimagined the couple’s story in a song on TikTok.

How we brought it to the world

PR first. We wrote and distributed the story to Irish and international media, with tailored pitches for news, entertainment, heritage and travel journalists. The story landed on two Irish national front pages, on TV and radio, and in more than 100 online articles worldwide.

A campaign hub. A dedicated landing page on EPIC’s website told the full story, with free downloadable artwork by an Irish artist. Every channel pointed people there, which gave the story a home and gave fans a reason to share it.

Paid social to reach the fans. We ran video and traffic campaigns on Meta and TikTok, aimed at Swift fans and heritage lovers across Ireland, built around a strong hook and a clear invitation to read the story and download the artwork.

Paid search to hold our ground. With the whole internet searching for Taylor Swift, we kept EPIC’s search campaigns steady so people looking for the museum could still find it.

Offline and live moments. Billboards and digivans with lines like “Before Taylor & Travis, there was Susan & Francis” appeared outside the Aviva Stadium on concert days, and a Facebook livestream brought the story to life in real time.

Results

  • 230+ pieces of coverage in Ireland and internationally, reaching more than 13 million people, including two national front pages
  • €572,000+ in advertising value equivalent from earned media
  • Ticket sales up 43% year on year in June 2024, and up a further 31.7% month on month in July
  • Website sessions up 16% year on year during the six-week campaign, and search impressions up 29%
  • 243,000+ video views (ThruPlays) on Meta, more than six times EPIC’s usual monthly volume
  • 66,000+ views of the Facebook livestream, and 573 artwork downloads

In a typical month EPIC gets 30 to 40 media mentions. During this campaign it got 230.

The coverage

A selection of the 230+ pieces the campaign earned in Ireland and around the world.

The Irish Times coverage of EPIC
The Irish Times
Epic tells Swift’s tale in OOH ads
A Swiftie Love Story for the Ages in Campaign from The Public House & EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum

National press

International

TV, radio and podcasts

Industry press

See more coverage

Awards

  • Grand Prix, Spider Awards 2025, the overall winner on the night
  • Best in Storytelling, Spider Awards 2025
  • Best Use of PR in a Search Campaign, European Search Awards 2025
  • Best Use of PR in a Search Campaign (Small), Global Search Awards 2025
  • Finalist, Best Integrated Campaign, Digital Media Awards 2025

Read about the wins: the Spider Awards Grand Prix in Business & Finance (the awards’ organiser) and TechCentral, the European Search Awards in Irish Travel Trade News, and the Global Search Awards in Irish Travel Trade News.

What other brands can learn from this

1. Find the story only you can tell. Newsjacking works when you bring something genuinely new. EPIC didn’t just mention Taylor Swift, it uncovered her Irish history.

2. Move early. The story was ready before the concerts, so it was there when journalists were looking for fresh angles.

3. Give the story a home. A landing page turns coverage into visits, downloads and ticket sales instead of a one-day headline.

4. Let PR and paid work together. PR made it news, paid social put it in front of fans at the right moment, and search caught the people who went looking.

5. Measure what matters to the business. Coverage is great. Ticket sales up 43% is better.

More from our work with EPIC

This campaign is part of a long partnership. See our work with EPIC, the award-winning Fairytale of New York Christmas campaigns, and This Is Not Us, EPIC’s campaign against Irish stereotypes. Planning something around a big cultural moment? Talk to our team.

See how this fits a wider approach. Read Borrowing the Spotlight, on how we turned Taylor Swift, Oasis and Billie Eilish into headlines and ticket sales for EPIC.

FAQs: tourism and travel PR

What does a tourism PR agency actually do for an attraction?
We find the stories that make your attraction news, then get them in front of the right journalists: national news, travel and lifestyle desks, international media and radio. For EPIC, that meant 230+ pieces of coverage, two front pages and 13 million+ people reached in six weeks.

How do I get my museum or attraction into international travel media?
Give journalists a story they can’t get anywhere else. EPIC’s research into Taylor Swift’s Irish ancestors travelled worldwide because it was new, true and perfectly timed. We build separate angles for news, entertainment, heritage and travel journalists so each one has a reason to run it.

How can a tourism brand use a big event, like a concert or festival, to drive visitors?
Find a genuine link between the event and what you offer, and have it ready before the event arrives. Then use paid social to reach the people travelling for it, and search to catch them when they look you up. That’s how EPIC turned Taylor Swift’s Dublin concerts into a 43% rise in June ticket sales.

Does PR actually sell tickets, or just build awareness?
It does both when it’s joined up with paid media and a strong landing page. During this campaign EPIC’s website sessions rose 16%, search impressions 29% and ticket sales 43%, compared with the same period the year before.

How far ahead should a hotel, attraction or tour operator plan a PR campaign?
For a big moment like a major event or the summer season, start two to three months ahead. Journalists plan their travel features well in advance, and the story needs to be ready before everyone else’s.

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