New Research From Ogilvy & Mather Reveals the Sources of Inspiration

CANNES, France, June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A global research survey, commissioned by worldwide advertising network Ogilvy & Mather, has asked what people, brands and places people find inspiring.

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 coincides with the launch of a series of annual lectures by Ogilvy & Mather on inspiration at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. An inaugural lecture takes place this Thursday, 23 June, featuring best-selling author, education reformer and evangelist of 'Pervasive Creativity,' Sir Ken Robinson.  The seminar will offer attendees the chance to hear him speak of the ways in which creativity is an eternal and ever-present human force, and explain how to find it in ourselves, foster it in others and deploy it more effectively in service to the world.

The first Ogilvy & Inspire lecture coincides with the centennial of David Ogilvy's birth, and will form part of a range of activities by the agency 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; and,
• 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."

Methodology for Research

Three questions were asked with a range of people, places and brands for them to choose from. The questions and possible responses were:  

1. Which of the following people, if any, have made you feel inspired in some way? The people to choose from were: Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Boris Yeltsin, Dalai Lama, David Beckham, Elvis Presley, Joan of Arc, Madonna, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Marylyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey, Pablo Picasso, Princess Diana, Tiger Woods and Usain Bolt.
2. Which of the following places, if any, have made you feel inspired in some way? The places to choose from were: Big Ben (Westminster, England), Eiffel Tower (Paris, France), Grand Canyon (US), Las Vegas (US), Machu Picchu (Peru), Mount Everest, Northern Lights, Petra (Jordan), Serengeti National Park (Tanzania), St. Basil's Cathedral (Moscow, Russia), St. Peter's Basilica (Vatican City, Italy), The Alps (Switzerland), The Colosseum (Rome, Italy), The Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem, Israel), The Great Wall of China, The Pyramids (Egypt), The Statue of Liberty (US), The Taj Mahal (India), The White House (US) and Venice (Italy).
3. Which of the following brands, if any, have made you feel inspired in some way? The brands to choose from were: Apple, BMW, Chanel, Coca Cola, Disney, eBay, Facebook, Ferrari, Google, Gucci, IKEA, Louis Vuitton, Microsoft, Moet & Chandon, Nike, Porsche, Red Bull, Rolex, Starbucks, Tesco, and Virgin.

Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather is one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. Through its specialty units, the company provides a comprehensive range of marketing services including: advertising; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; shopper and retail marketing; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing. Ogilvy & Mather services Fortune Global 500 companies as well as local businesses through its network of more than 450 offices in 120 countries. It is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY). For more information, visit www.ogilvy.com.

Facts & Figures

• 18,000 Total employees across the world
• 120 countries
• 450 offices
• More than 50 languages
• Ogilvy Worldwide is a $2 billion company
• The number one agency in terms of global effectiveness awards
• The number one agency in three out of the four BRIC countries: Brazil, China and India

Ogilvy & Mather 'Firsts and Onlys':

• First ad agency to go public on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges (1968).
• First agency network in the world to establish an interactive capability, the Interactive Marketing Group, forerunner to OgilvyInteractive (1983).
• First western ad agency to officially open in the Soviet Union (1989).
• First agency to win two Grand Prix awards (Cyber and Film) at Cannes for the same campaign – Dove Evolution (2007).
• Only global agency to have had two consecutive female chairmen/CEOs (Charlotte Beers and Shelly Lazarus).

Cannes 2010 Creative Awards:

• 57 Lions in total
• 3 Gold
• 18 Silver
• 36 Bronze
• 182 Finalists

SOURCE Ogilvy & Mather

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