GLOBAL – CANNES, FRANCE, JUNE 2011 – A global research survey, commissioned by worldwide advertising network Ogilvy & Mather, has asked what people, brands and places people find inspiring.
The survey, conducted by Millward Brown, covers the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia and the USA. Respondents were asked to choose from among several answers.
Top line results find Albert Einstein appearing most consistently in the top three inspiring people across Europe, Russia and the US. The Pyramids, Egypt, appear in the top three inspirational places most frequently across Europe and Russia and Disney features is the most inspirational brands, followed closely by Coca-Cola and Google.
This survey coincided with the launch of a series of annual lectures by Ogilvy & Mather on inspiration at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. The inaugural lecture featured best-selling author, education reformer and evangelist of ‘Pervasive Creativity,’ Sir Ken Robinson. The first Ogilvy & Inspire lecture coincided with the centennial of David Ogilvy’s birth, and formed part of events around this year’s Cannes Lions Festival to celebrate the occasion.
Other findings showed that:
-Brits rank Princess Diana as most inspirational person, the Pyramids, Egypt, as most inspirational place and Apple as the most inspirational brand.
-Coca-Cola is perceived as an inspiring brand across Europe, especially in Spain with one in two claiming to feel inspired by the brand.
-Disney also ranks in the top three inspirational brands in Europe, and appears to be slightly more inspiring amongst females.
-Martin Luther King is also felt to be an inspiring person with at least one in four people claiming to have felt inspired by him in both Europe and the US.
-In France, nearly one in two consumers claimed to feel inspired by Swedish furniture brand IKEA; in Russia, one in two respondents claim to feel inspired by brands such as BMW and Microsoft.
-Gender divides were apparent: men found Albert Einstein more inspiring than women did, while more women found Disney to be an inspiring brand than men.
-The most inspiring people, places and brands are shown to be quite consistent across Europe, whereas differences are apparent in Russia.
Rachel Hatton, Planning Director at Ogilvy Group UK, commented: “What we find most interesting about the results is that the places people find most inspiring are those that have creativity and ground-breaking ambition at their core. This confirms the importance of what we at Ogilvy already do: focus on originality and challenge existing boundaries.”
