In August, IAPI, The Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland, canvassed its members for its inaugural Creative Influence survey with thanks to our Creative is Native partners The Irish Times. The aim? To gain an understanding of how creative professionals in the commercial creativity and communications industry in Ireland are feeling about a number of issues, which include the quality of work being produced, how they feel about working in Ireland right now and whether living here influences their creativity.
The results of IAPI’s 2021 Creative Influence survey are in! An abridged version can be found in this article on The Irish Times online and the full report can be downloaded here, and with 224 responses in total, voices and opinions have been heard from all echelons of the industry, such as PR and communications agencies, full service creative advertising agencies, events and experiential agencies, and in-house creative teams.
We heard from senior creatives, creative directors, executive creative directors, and mid-level and junior creatives from numerous parts of the industry.
“It’s really encouraging to see such a large take-up of respondents to Ireland’s first Creative Influence survey” says Sean Hynes, Creative Director at Bonfire. “It continues to demonstrate the ownership that creative feel they have over our creative industry and the belief they have in the energy and originality of our creative output.”
A strong overall sentiment from the survey results is that of pride. 62% of respondents said they were either ‘very proud’ or ‘proud’ to be working in the Irish commercial creativity industry.
51% said the quality of creative work being produced in Ireland’s commercial creativity sector right now is good, 17% said it is excellent, with 28% saying it is average, and only 3% rating it is as poor.
Other respondents offered balance, stating “A couple of agencies are pushing for great work but is can be extremely tough to get it created.” Another commented, “I think the work the world is seeing through international awards is excellent. The everyday work the Irish consumer is seeing is not.”
When it comes to what fuels that creative process in the first place, the question of how Irish culture and environment contributes to the quality of creative output was given considerable thought. Nine out of 10 respondents said it had an influence on the quality of creative output.
“I think Irish people are passionate about their Irish culture and heritage and it comes across in the work. There is always room to see more diverse insights and stories coming through, say from different communities within Ireland” says one respondent.
“The work we are doing to promote Irish creativity and media planning internationally is starting to pay off and our ambition to create a European centre of excellence for the industry doesn’t look so far away now,” says Charley Stoney, CEO, IAPI.
“It is heartening to see that 40% of the creatives surveyed are optimistic that IAPI’s Ireland: where Creative is Native programme will make a difference to the quality of our commercial creativity This will, in turn act as a siren call for both Irish and international talent to work in all aspects of our sector.”
Discover all of the insights from IAPI’s 2021 Ireland’s Creative Influence survey here.
