Thursday 20th March saw Global Northern Ireland stage its first Audience Insider event called ‘State of the Nation’ in the Good Room at Belfast’s Bullitt hotel. The event, which was attended by Northern Ireland’s leading advertising and communication businesses, delved into what Global’s audience are thinking and feeling, and how they are spending, against the backdrop of macro world events and rising costs.
The session revealed the results of a month-long survey undertaken using Global’s work.shop.play. online community in Northern Ireland. Opinions were crowdsourced from over 530 respondents in January of this year to deliver helpful insight for agencies and their clients for the months ahead and throughout 2025.
“We previously used State of the Nation to help us, and our advertisers, navigate the Covid-19 pandemic and now we’ve revisited it again in 2025 given the collective challenges we, and our audience face.
We’re very proud to be able to offer unique insight into the audience that our media delivers, especially sharing these with the brands and businesses who use our portfolio to meet their goals. This is so important given the fast-paced world in which we find ourselves. We’re surrounded by continual change and keeping abreast of how people are feeling, and how they are acting, has never been more valuable to advertisers”.
Ryan Hoy, Marketing Manager, Global Northern Ireland
“It was fantastic to see such a great turnout and support for our first live Audience Insider event. Whilst we’ve produced numerous Audience Insider projects in the past, with the nature of our State of the Nation study, we felt it was particularly important to share these insights with our agency and client contacts. Given the widespread uncertainty that exists in today’s world, we hope that the results not only give brands and businesses the confidence to continue to engage with audiences, and their customers, but also showcases the value of Global’s portfolio as a means to do this”.
Rebecca Rodgers, Head of Agency & Specialist, Global Northern Ireland
The event, which included insights across ‘mood, money and more’, revealed a nation of mixed moods and feelings with concerns coming from a range of macro, local and personal issues. Whilst areas such as the healthcare system and global conflict topped the list of immediate concerns, the outlook was much more encouraging with 6in10 feeling positive about what the future holds.
The session also uncovered a lasting impact from the cost-of-living crisis, but encouragingly 43% described their financial situation as “strong”, a further 34% as “squeezed” and just 18% as “struggling”, meaning there’s still a sizeable and highly valuable audience willing to spend – but audiences are being more considered and cautious with their spending.
Stretching income to afford treats and luxuries was a prominent theme in Global’s State of the Nation with the research study demonstrating how audiences are shopping smarter through the likes of reward schemes and switching utility providers to maximise their budget and spend money on their priorities that includes holidays, their homes and hobbies.
In addition to sharing views on mood and money, the event also explored themes including ‘self-considered sustainability’, ‘barriers to sustainability’ and provided advertisers with help to harness to power of outdoor advertising to engage with their customers during this time.
For more information on Global’s State of the Nation research visit our research studies page. To arrange for a copy, please contact your Global Account Manager.
