First you get a theme of an idea. Then you build interesting research that will get people to notice. Then you bring in a big name to front the campaign and make sure that the sum of the parts all fit together.
That’s the simple blueprint for a good PR campaign and that’s what Conor O’Shea crowned yesterday through a series of media interviews doing a background job of promoting Irish Life’s exhortation to us all to ‘get comfortable’ investing.
O’Shea is a considered commentator on Rugby matters and is about to take up his new role at the head of Italian Rugby. there are those who argue he might have been doing likewise here in the near future but he is ‘box office.’
With comfort being the theme, the idea of chino’s deck shoes and a leather armchair might have seemed obvious on paper but that is the image, well branded with Irish Life logo’s that adorn the media this morning. It worked.
The research on uncomfortable moments that make us associate getting comfortable with investment show that these are the everyday occurrences that make Irish people cringe the most:
- Nearly half (45%) have waved at someone, only to realise it’s not who they thought it was
- 15% of us feel uncomfortable with men wearing lycra in public places or at work
- 24% dread the ‘organised fun’ at work Christmas parties
- 15% feel uncomfortable watching their Dad dancing
- Nearly two thirds (64%) of us have been caught out not remembering someone’s name when they know ours
When it comes to finance, 61% are cautious investors so Irish Life has launched three easy steps to guide people to more comfortable investing
Relatable uncomfortable moments at home show that over a third (35%) of parents have had their children reveal embarrassing things about their home life in public, and 25% of parents have felt discomfort doing the dreaded ‘birds and the bees’ talk with their teenage children. A further 20% feel uncomfortable with the way their teenage children dress while heading to a disco.
And despite being known as a nation with the gift of the gab, 26% of Irish people have forgotten the punchline to a joke half way through, and 19% of us are uncomfortable when embarking on the blind date or first date challenge.
The research also revealed that many Irish people aren’t comfortable with financial situations, with over a third of us (37%) uncomfortable asking for a pay rise, and 3 in 5 of us are cautious when it comes to investing.
In response, Irish Life has launched a major campaign to help Irish people get more comfortable investing in three simple and easy steps with Irish Life MAPS, multi-asset portfolio funds available on their investment plans.
You’ll be seeing a lot of this campaign over the coming weeks and months. It says a lot that it was a sporting icon that was chosen as the ‘star appeal’ to bring it to as wide a public attention as Irish Life wanted.
