Our guest Blogger, Maria Scannell, Chief Commercial Officer, Maximum Media has summarised some key findings from Maximum Media’s third annual ‘Slice of Ireland’ insights report, in partnership with Empathy Research. It is the largest and most in-depth research report of its kind conducted in the country.
Over 15,000 people across JOE, Her, SportsJOE and HerFamily took part in the survey over a three-week period in November, which drilled into everything from the gender pay gap, sexual assault and the housing crisis, to spending habits, online dating and who the voice of our generation is.
Maximum Media welcomed a gallery full of industry representatives to its launch event at the RHA Gallery, which included a presentation from Director at Empathy Research, Robert Clarke, and a panel session where key findings from the research were discussed. Hosted by broadcaster and Her Family contributor Sile Seoige, panelists included Paddy McKenna (Head of Content), Gillian Fitzpatrick (Her editor), Dion Fanning (Journalist, JOE) and Niamh Maher (Journalist and Presenter, Her).
Snapshot of Slice of Ireland 2017 findings:
- Voice of a generation: Former President of the United States, Barack Obama, was chosen by both Her and JOE users surveyed, as their ‘voice of a generation’, closely followed by Blindboy and Leo Varadkar for JOE users, and Leo Varadkar and Emma Watson for Her users
- Political agenda: The top three political priorities for those surveyed were 1. Public Health Service, 2. Housing and 3. Homelessness
- Housing crisis: Additionally, 17% of JOE users surveyed claim to personally know families or individuals who have experienced homelessness in the last year, and 50% say their rent has increased in the last year
- Gender pay gap: 57% of Her users surveyed believe the gender pay equality is an issue, with 48% feeling it will impact on their future career prospects
- Sexual assault: 19% of Her users surveyed claim to have been a victim of sexual assault or rape, with only 9% of those claiming to report the incident. In comparison, 5% of JOE users claim they have been a victim of the same, and 14% claim to have reported it
- Mental health: A huge 64% of JOE users surveyed claim to suffer from anxiety or feel like they are under too much pressure in their everyday life
- Sports personalities: Conor McGregor is ranked as the nation’s favourite sportsperson, followed by Katie Taylor and Roy Keane
- Sports on screen: 67% will use social media frequently when watching a sporting event or show on screen
- Best accent: For the second year in a row, Donegal was ranked as the nation’s favourite accent, followed by Dublin, Cork and Galway
- Fertility: 6% of Her Family users surveyed claim to have needed fertility support to conceive, with the average spend being €3,800
Slice of Ireland allows us to paint a very extensive, detailed picture of our audience, and what we presented is only the tip of the iceberg, there is so much more involved in this project.
The insights we gain don’t just help us to determine how we develop our own business in 2018, but it also helps us to work even more effectively and collaboratively with our commercial partners. Innovation is at the heart of everything we do here and has enabled us to become the leading digital publisher in Ireland and this report will play a significant supporting role continuing our trajectory here in Ireland and beyond.
To see some of the highlights from the Slice of Ireland report, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFgprklSakQ