We don't know the effectiveness of advertising because it didn't happen.
However, the management at Cork Airport should have pulled out all the stops for this because
- Its apparent failure will have a significant negative impact on the ability to attract other carriers
- It would also have given an opportunity to learn about the effectiveness of marketing.
Really, there was nothing tried. It costs less than €1,000 to put an ad on the back of a bus and half the city would have seen it. They don't even seem to realize that every time they put out a press release about a new route the local papers will reprint it because it saves them looking for a story.
@Una Due Tfc Cork doesn't exactly have the rural profile that you have been referring to. Unemployment has actually reduced more rapidly in the South-West than in Dublin over the last few years. What may be more relevant is that the numbers of Eastern Europeans is significantly lower than in 2007 (this actually happened by 2011 and has since stabilized) and that those who have remained tend to be more settled, with families, and less likely to take a trip home.