Mother London | SFTW | The One Nation Issue

The One Nation Issue

26.10.2012

Guest
Editor

by our friends Steve and Leo from insight consultancy Push

It’s no mystery that community spirit has been on the rise and alive in 2012. And whilst the Olympic spirit and Jubilee celebrations played their part, our expert friends Steve and Leo reveal it’s a lot deeper than that. So in this One Nation Issue, we learn what’s driving the change; how it is creating the death of the middle ground; creating a culture of escapism; and even how technology is playing its role. It’s no mystery that community spirit has been on the rise and alive in 2012. And whilst the Olympic spirit and Jubilee celebrations played their part, our expert friends Steve and Leo reveal it’s a lot deeper than that. So in this One Nation Issue, we learn what’s driving the change; how it is creating the death of the middle ground; creating a culture of escapism; and even how technology is playing its role.

Community spirit

One Nation, one spirit. The recession and austerity are bringing the nation together. A common struggle is the vital ingredient to encourage us all to pull in one direction.

The Queens Jubilee and the Olympics are two events that are heralded as bringing people together and energizing the nation but we at Push believe that the biggest factor that has contributed towards unity has been the recession.

From our qualitative research we are seeing a significant resurgence of community spirit, more and more communities are coming together to keep local schools alive, collecting for the child down the road who needs to go to America for an operation, through to local pressure groups on Facebook.

Community spirit is not confined to middle class do gooders, in-fact we are finding a lot of evidence of communities coming together on housing estates in order to change their environment for the better, from training the young in entrepreneurial skills to painting and decorating estates and litter collection.

But it is not only causes that are drawing people together, people are coming together to survive. Whether it is the person bringing food from his allotment for his elderly neighbour to the person who provides credit advice to his friend in trouble.

Community spirit has never been stronger.

Death of the middle ground

We are seeing more evidence of what we have termed ‘death of the middle ground’ - a polarizing of social classes, gender roles and even brands.

The middle class used to encompass everyone from Richard Branson to the local plumber but it is now shrinking as those at the lower end are redefining themselves as working class.

Within gender roles we are seeing the emergence of a worrying identity crisis among men.

The feminist movement has merged gender roles closer together. The result is more empowered, confident women who, in many cases, now earn more than their male counterparts.

It’s all left men feeling quite insecure and women wanting a traditional man back again. The best example of this is the new James Bond - a character of more traditional values closer to Sean Connery of the 1960’s than Pierce Bronson of the noughties.

Brands are also pulling apart too. As the proliferation of brands increases, consumers find themselves in a confusing, over saturated, homogenous market where brands fail to differentiate themselves and provide a clear raison d’être.

Consumers now look to the polar ends of the market; price and quality and try to find value there. Supermarket brands such as Aldi and Lidl are now thriving yet brands such as M&S and Waitrose are still performing. In the fashion sector all high street brands have polarity position with the exception of Ted Baker.

United by a culture of escapism

Whenever we do group discussions we always explore what respondents’ dreams and aspirations are.

We are seeing increasing evidence that consumers are finding it harder to think positively about their future. Consumers are becoming increasingly disillusioned and aspirations are getting lost in the stress of everyday life. Survival mode has taken over.

Goals feel more distant and harder to reach than ever before. Gone are the days when people dream to pay off their £360,000 interest only mortgage and live a debt free existence.

Consumers feel less confident about getting promoted at work. They no longer look at the shiny bright Audi and think ‘I want that car next year.’ Instead the focus is on the now and keeping their head above water. Questions such as ‘how can I live today,’ have replaced questions like, ‘where will I be in the future?’

Consumers still like a healthy dose of escapism though. Historically during dark times they are more prone to escapism and fantasy.

In the 1930s during the great depression the nation was united in its love of escapism and romance. Cinemas attracted record audiences. Today that is being replaced by a buoyant gaming culture with consumers choosing to retreat to a world of fantasy and make believe.

What are the uniting factors?

One Nation. Disraeli promoted it over 170 years ago; Ed Miliband said it 46 times at the recent Labour party conference and every American pledges allegiance to one nation (under God).

We are experiencing dramatic economic change but what will all this turbulent change mean to the fabric of our society? What events that we could possibly lead to the creation of ‘One Nation’?

For a start hopeless doesn’t have to mean hopeless. Where the young generation of our nation used to dream of lifelong careers in big corporations they are now being united by an entrepreneurial spirit.

We look to the past not to wallow in nostalgia but how to get more from life with less. The Victorians recycled more than we could ever dream of; even the ash from their coal fires was reused.

We are united by the fact that no matter how hard life becomes people will never give up on giving themselves treats. The quest for joy may no longer mean a new BMW but it could mean a new handbag!

The Olympics showed how the nation came together and was united. People were surprised by their own feelings of pride and success. As we go through a period of traumatic change we may be surprised how old and new factors that unite will create One Nation.

What role is technology playing in its creation?

One Nation, one revolution. We’re living through a revolution, a technological revolution. Is it an agent to unite the nation or will it cause division?

The technological revolution is moving forward at a startling rate. One year’s change in today’s world is the same as seven in the old world. Without technology the nation would literally fall apart.

The recent failure of a small part of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s IT system caused chaos.

In this country 11million text messages are sent every hour, fifteen years ago Short Message Service (SMS) didn’t exist. So we’re being united by texting like never before, yet being divided by talking less. Families may be gathering round the table more than ever yet they probably all have their iPhones in hand texting away to each other.

But, increasing evidence is pointing towards One Nation being created not by technology alone but by how it’s used.

The late Steve Jobs of Apple hit the nail on the head when he said, “Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them the tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them”

Surely thousands of people doing wonderful things is what One Nation is all about?

About the Author

Push is a strategic insight and innovation agency, staffed by ex planners, brand consultants and ex creatives. Our purpose is to harness the potential of ideas and creative thinking and push research beyond its conventional boundaries helping clients navigate through an increasingly complex and competitive world. We believe that brands must break out of category and place their ideas into a larger cultural space, we have helped brands such as Boots, IKEA, B&Q, MoneySupermarket and Google achieve this.

http://www.push-london.com/

Credits

Lead Image: Via Shiftinggrounds; Story 1: Jubilee Street Party, found here Story 2: Daniel Craig as Bond found here Story 3: Marvel characters; Story 4: Jessica Ennis Story 5: Steve Jobs