The Youth Lab

HOW CAN WE REIMAGINE A ‘GOOD LIFE’?

Project Highlight: Good Life 2030 Ireland

This week's 52INSIGHTS explores an exciting new project being led by THINKHOUSE & Purpose Disruptors, supported by Creative Ireland: Good Life 2030 Ireland. This is an invitation to imagine better.

THE BACKGROUND

When Purpose Disruptors began the Good Life 2030 project in 2021, the aim was to hold a conversation with the advertising industry about its role in architecting the current vision of a ‘good life’ of more - stuff, status, and wealth. This vision is hitting major flaws. Firstly, our planet’s living systems cannot keep up with the pace of producing more, more and more. Secondly, this ‘more, more, more’ mantra doesn’t seem to have made our lives any better. And so, a project began that centred around the question: can advertising help reimagine a new ‘good life’ for 2030?

WHY 2030?

Climate Science & Policy Targets: Good Life 2030 looks ahead to 2030, to mark the world & Ireland’s critical milestone for halving emissions, while appreciating that human and planetary well-being will mean tackling far more than just carbon.

Emotionally Connecting with the Future: We need to be able to imagine a sustainable future that is utterly irresistible. The current framing of sustainable lifestyles isn’t building the scale of support and transformation needed to support emissions targets. Connotations of compromise and scarcity colour the meaning for many who see affluence and growth as central to their good life. Instead, we need to reimagine the components of a more enjoyable good life that happens to be sustainable. This project and its citizen vision research components aims to contribute to that reimagining.

Laura Costello, Head of Sustainability & Planet Services at THINKHOUSE and Ireland Lead for Purpose Disruptors, said:

“The question ‘what is a good life?’ has preoccupied humans across time. As an industry our collective answer to this question has leaned in one direction for long enough. It’s time for our industry to realise its true potential - to shift our focus in service of a thriving future. As architects of desire, the advertising industry shapes our cultural understanding of a life worth wanting. Science states we need to halve emissions by 2030. But 2030 has an image problem. People aren’t emotionally connecting to the future we need to create. The invitation now is for those in the marketing, advertising and media industry to embrace our unique expertise and our responsibility to rethink what’s being sold and imagine a new ‘good life’ story that serves all living systems. A 2030 Good Life is ours to create.”

Charley Stoney, CEO of I.A.P.I. (Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland) said;

“I agree. Who better to shape a new image for 2030 than Ireland’s advertising and marketing industry? Supporting Initiatives like this, and Ad Net Zero, are an important part of our industry’s response to Ireland’s Climate Action Plan and Ireland’s Digital Creative Industries Roadmap - ensuring our industry is front and centre of Ireland’s transition to a sustainable economy. We must harness the superpower of the ad industry, generating a desire for ways of living and working that supports a good life for everyone.”

EXPLORING CITIZEN VISIONS FOR 2030

The project launches in Ireland with our first ever Citizen Vision report exploring what Irish people believe a ‘good life’ looks like for them in the year 2030. This in-depth, nationally representative piece of qualitative and quantitative research invited citizens of Ireland to describe their values and articulate their vision for a ‘good life.’ We set out to explore what citizens really want from their lives in 2030, and uncover how these visions can support Ireland’s 2030 climate objectives, and the role of advertising and marketing in supporting this.

Qualitative research included a three-day in-depth research and exploration journey for 25 nationally representative citizens. Fieldwork was carried out in December 2023.
Quantitative research was a nationally representative sample of n=1,030 adults aged 16+. Fieldwork was carried out by IPSOS B&A in December 2023.

WHAT DID WE LEARN?

Our research demonstrates that, when articulating their vision for the future, nothing matters more to the people of Ireland than ‘feeling connected.’ Within this overarching theme, there are three consistent and distinct threads: a desire for more connection to others, nature and themselves. These visions align with low-carbon lifestyles.

THE ROLE OF MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

The research also explores the role of advertising in achieving a good life. It shows that citizens are divided on their view of advertising and its influence. Forty-five percent of Irish people agree that ‘the world would be better off without advertising in its current form’. However, 77% of citizens agree that ‘the advertising industry should help people lead healthy, sustainable lives’. Moreover, 45% of citizens disagree with the statement ‘the advertising industry promotes an image of life that is in line with what I want for myself.’ There is potential for the industry to have a greater impact in supporting citizens in their pursuit of a good life into the future.

Youth Influence: Younger citizens under the age of 34, particularly in the 16-24 year old cohort, are more likely than average to agree that the advertising they see influences their idea of what a good life is (43%), and that it promotes an image of life that is in line with what I want for myself (35%). This reflects a stronger sense of advertising as personally influential, while over 55-year-olds are less likely to agree (12% and 11% respectively).

What does the industry think? Encouragingly, Ireland’s advertising and marketing industry displays high levels of self awareness. Recent industry research conducted by IAPI (Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland) reveals an industry that recognises its potential and believes it can ‘do better.’

57% of Ireland’s advertising industry, don’t believe that the industry ‘is currently doing all it can to create a sustainable world,’ with just 18% of the industry believing that they are ‘doing all they can’. The remaining 24% ‘don’t know.’
90% of the industry recognises that Ireland’s advertising industry ‘has an important role in changing consumer behaviours.’

WHAT NEXT?

To facilitate the necessary culture, behaviour and system change needed to halve carbon emissions by 2030, Good Life 2030 Ireland will work with citizens and the advertising industry, to create a new narrative, informed by real everyday people, that improves human and planetary wellbeing for all.

The next phase of the campaign will be a collaboration across the marketing, advertising and media industry in Ireland to create a nationwide campaign in response to the citizens' visions.

BRAND TAKEOUTS:

A 2030 Good Life is ours to create.

We would love for you to read the report and share it widely.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT: In each section, there are takeaways and creative implications based on the insights from citizens.

JOIN THE WEBINAR ON MAY 16TH: Hear more about the project, the citizen visions and what next.

FOLLOW THE JOURNEY: @goodlife2030ireland on Instagram

Not active in Ireland? Check out the global/UK website here.

OTHER THINKHOUSE NEWS

AD NET ZERO: Claire Hyland, Head of The Youth Lab, represented THINKHOUSE on a panel at IAPI’s Ad Net Zero Ireland event this week. The morning was full of energy and inspiration for how our industry can progress to align with its Net Zero objectives. Read THINKHOUSE Founder, Jane McDaid’s key takeaways from the event here.

ESG SUMMIT: Laura Costello, Head of Sustainability & Planet Services, represented THINKHOUSE at the ESG Summit this week on a panel about how to achieve B Corp Certification. It was part of the ‘How To Create an ESG Business’ Stream -the most requested Stream of the day, which saw over 400 delegates gather on a range of ESG topics from CSRD reporting to Business and Biodiversity.

The Youth Lab

HOW CAN WE REIMAGINE A ‘GOOD LIFE’?

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