DIANE TANGNEY ON AN OGILVY STUDY WHICH POINTS TO PEOPLE POWER
The dogs on the street knew what the Celtic Tiger meant. For them, it explained the fortuitous treats and canine pampering days that came their way. The Celtic Tiger term captured why things were they way they were in Ireland. We defined our nation with an economic term. Then came another economic term – recession, followed by another, post-recession or post-Celtic Tiger. We continue to define what’s going on in Ireland in economic terms. But we live in a society, not an economy, and it is unhelpful to continue to think in these terms in order to progress.
The Great Irish Reset is our name for the cultural change that is taking place in Ireland. It is not about the economy, it is about people. The new story of Ireland is one of recalibration and resetting. Every person, every household in this country is going through a resetting of sorts; a resetting of values, of norms, and of behaviours. We are re-aligning the fundamentals of our nation to the free-thinking values of a modern society. Some of these resetting trends are not by choice, many homes and lives are affected by unemployment and emigration, for example. But we are more alike than we are different. There is a visceral resetting of priorities happening throughout the country. The money, second homes, cars, holidays and 600 Facebook friends from the Celtic Tiger years left us feeling a little empty. People are getting back to basics, back to what is important to them. There is something powerful and palpable happening in this country right now. The balance of power has shifted from the institutions of our country into the hands of the people. And they want it.
The Great Irish Reset explores the traits that are reflective of a more permanent change in our society. We are more resilient, more resourceful and more responsible these days. These were certainly not the traits of our Celtic Tiger years. There is an emerging belief, or at the very least an acceptance that we are the ones that we must fix Ireland. This belief captures an activism that is both potent and visible across the nation; a belief that we cannot put our faith in others to fix things. This belief is born of resilience. We have overcome before. We thrive as the underdog. We love recognition for overcoming the odds. Ireland bailed Ireland out, as good auld Bono put it.
To be resourceful is to be capable of devising new ways and means. We see people trying things, fixing things, learning things, doing things that they never thought they might. And along the way, finding a contentment and more meaningful way of living, by being resourceful and making the most of what they have. Doing more with less. We are more responsible as a people. We made mistakes, individually and collectively. We would do things differently if we had our time over. We are reflective about where we went wrong, rather than in denial. This responsibility is having a profound impact on our citizenship and participation within the nation. This sense of personal responsibility also means we are more considered in the choices we make. We are solely responsible for the consequences. It affects how we spend and consume, on how we manage our money and our households.
We have identified seven trends that are a part of the Great Irish Reset, not flash-in-the-pan ‘post recessionary’ reactions, but are more permanent trends, reflective of a shift in people’s values and lives.
AUTHENTIC LIVING
If retail was the ‘new religion’ during the Celtic Tiger years, where hanging out in shopping centres was the national past-time, it is no longer. Thankfully. Replacing it is something more meaningful and fundamental to life. We are going back to basics. We are rediscovering the physical. People are flocking to the physical world, going to parks, hiking, walking, running and cycling more than ever before. We believe these behaviours reflect a desire for authentic living. There is a desire for the simple things, a desire to feel grounded. People need and want to feel connected to people, to places and to themselves. This desire acts as a counter-balance to the hyper-pace associated with the omni-connected lives we lead. By offsetting with a more rudimentary way of being, we find a more harmonious and real, or authentic way of living.
The Great Irish Reset is Ogilvy’s name for the cultural change that is taking place in Ireland. It is not about the economy, it is about people. The new story of Ireland is one of recalibration and resetting. Every person, every household in this country is going through a resetting of sorts; a resetting of values, of norms and of behaviours. We are re-aligning the fundamentals of our nation to the free-thinking values of a modern society.
CONTRACTING CIRCLE
People value meaningful relationships over social extravaganzas. We feel more deeply connected to fewer people. With social media reaching zero growth, we see individuals engaging less frequently with the broad social circles they built up over the years. Instead, we see people investing more time and energy in looking after their close circle of family and friends who are important in their lives. They continue to rank family and friends as critical to happiness. ‘People love their families’ doesn’t sound like a deep insight, but it is the nature of the relationships and the value invested in them which matters. Lack of housing supply and unemployment rates, are resulting in 40 per cent of young people (18-29) continuing to live at home. The family environment is lasting longer for many households in Ireland*.
COMMUNITY RISING
If boom-times gave us anything, they gave us almost 700 festivals celebrating some aspect of art, culture, humanity, sport or family fun. Add to this pop up anythings, artist initiatives in the community, businesses clubbing together, sports communities self organising, street parties and weekly markets. It goes on. Because we need to, want to, or feel we ought to, we are reshaping our communities, which have sustained our society in past decades. Communities around physical locations or surrounds, communities of interest groups, like-minded people, communities with shared beliefs, communities with goals and objectives. There is a resurgence of community in the modern sense of the word. We can see it at every turn.
CITIZEN I
We have a new citizen in Ireland. The one that believes they are part of Ireland’s future and have decided to behave as such. People are acting on their beliefs. They are forming alliances, expressing their views, and standing up for what they believe in more than ever before. Well, it’s more visible than ever before. We will march. We will tweet. We will follow. We will like. We will wear the t-shirt. This new citizen is finding their own way to contribute to society. We see a huge uplift in volunteering. Women and young people are driving this trend. Two thirds of volunteer sign-ups in 2012 were female and almost two thirds were under 35*. We also saw a record number of female candidates running for the local elections. Women are voicing and acting on their beliefs more than ever before.
CONTROL FREAK
We are better money managers and better household managers than we were. In fact, 72 per cent of us are active switchers now. Almost three in four people claim we are better at managing money since the recession*. We now have healthier and more mature attitudes to our personal finances. We are paying off debt, relying less on credit and are saving to reinstate the tapped out rainy day fund. We have learned from our experience and are a little wiser as a result. No bad thing. We can see the affects of the attitude shift in three consumer behaviours: money management, household management and spending patterns.
ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA
Our addiction to technology is having an effect on our relationships. It enables us to have lots of them and to feel close to those far away. But there’s another side to technology. It is pushing us away from those closest to us. They say if you check your phone before you get out of bed, you’re addicted. Hands up? The stats say that eight out of 10 of us are addicts. It is a global trend and something that is going to increasingly challenge us as technology continues to dominate our lives. It is a trend particularly potent in this country, because we are such tech junkies and we adopt technology like the clappers. Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together, says we increasingly expect more from technology and less from each other.
SELF CARE
We are beginning to rely on ourselves to look after our health, to get well and to stay well. We are fronting up to our unhealthy relationship with alcohol consumption. The importance of physical exercise and healthy eating in getting and staying well is cutting through. The success of the RTE show Operation Transformation has reached critical mass. The other aspect of our health, is our mental health. Stress is Ireland’s modern day affliction. We live in a time when one in four people will suffer a mental illness. We are miles away managing our mental health, the way we do our physical health. This is a trend in its infancy.
The Great Irish Reset is far reaching. We have committed much time towards developing our understanding of what people are doing differently, how they are going about their daily lives and, most importantly, why they are doing what they are doing. We are hard wired to be curious about the world around us. The Great Irish Reset is our story of Ireland.
Diane Tangney is strategic planning director at Ogilvy; diane.tangney@ogilvy.com
www.greatirishreset.ie
References:
*Passport: Euromonitor International, Consumer Lifestyles in Ireland, November 2013
*Accenture Irish Digital Consumer Research 2013
*Mintel Irish Lifestyle 2013
