Guaranteed Irish is the Irish Advantage: We need to mobilise the iconic brand.
It was great to hear such support from the USA for Irelands Good Friday agreement this week. It strikes me that there is a lot of support for Ireland in the context of Brexit. We all welcome this positive speak and symbolism of unity in such uncertain times. It helps us as a small island nation to feel less isolated and less vulnerable. However, I believe we have no need to feel uncertain, nervous or vulnerable- being connected to Ireland and the Irish people has its own rewards.
There is a string to our bow, we haven’t played yet and that is the value of being associated with Ireland. Sometimes ad campaigns refer to the “ Irish Advantage” while others refer to the “Luck of the Irish”- but this is surely a little light and trivial when you consider what the true value of being associated with Ireland really means?
To the vote catching Americans, it means 10.5% of their population or 33million people- that’s a lot of votes!
To the UK it means approximately 10% also, representing 6 million votes, again a lot of influence.
If it wasn’t for the famine, we might not have the Global Irish diaspora we can call on today for social support and introductions in the way of business – there are 70 million diaspora, who call themselves Irish- who almost always support Ireland in some small way. That’s a lot of doors open to us if we reach out and ask for it. However, we must learn how to ask in a manner that ensures we do not position Ireland as a weak country that needs bailing out. We have our own success stories that many nations would give their eye teeth to be part of.
Think about our success in attracting FDI, while simultaneously supporting an enterprising culture for our indigenous entrepreneurs.
We have done that against a backdrop of social and business game changers.
Ireland is synonymous with producing innovative thinking that positively impacts society on a global scale- think about Bob Geldof, Bono, Sr. Orla Treacy as our contemporaries.
Some of the finest thinkers in business , science and the arts hail from Ireland- remember Peter Sutherland, Ernest Walton and Seamus Heaney.
We are a green, clean nation with respect for human life, animal life and nature around us. We need to work a lot harder on our carbon footprint- but overall there is a willingness to change and address this quickly.
We are innovative, creative, ambitious and social changers. There is nothing this little nation can’t do- and this is our new guarantee to the world from a new Ireland.
‘Guaranteed Irish’ in its new iteration properly captures and reflects this for Irish businesses today. Their broad breadth of members (including Kingspan, SuperValu and MSD, Smurfit Kappa group along with Tayto, Ballymaloe and Dairygold) are perfect examples of confident businesses who know the value of being connected to Ireland. They know how to tap into our Global Irish overseas to win new business, to showcase the nation we have become through delivering world class products, after service that builds trust and a long term sustainable relationship that guarantees future sales. At home here in Ireland, the Guaranteed Irish symbol helps Irish consumers identify products and services that are all together a better choice for the life of their communities and Ireland.
Guaranteed Irish, and its new strap line “All Together Better” has reinvented itself to support Irish success stories at home and abroad- just in time. As a nation of innovators and early adaptors, we will survive Brexit and all that it entails. That’s Guaranteed!
Opinion piece by Brid O’Connell CEO, Guaranteed Irish.
