Let’s be honest: the tradition of setting New Year's resolutions is a noble pursuit that - for most people - lasts about as long as your enthusiasm for kale smoothies. Yet, as we bid farewell to the previous year, we still promise that this time we'll finally become morning people or lose those five pounds we put on during the holidays. There’s no harm in it, after all, and every once in a while, a resolution will stick.
Either way, the intention is there for a reason, and so we wanted to see what people across Europe resolved to do in 2024 – and which brands or organizations successfully inspired people with their commercial or social campaigns. With Neticle Media Intelligence, we collected mentions of resolutions from the beginning of December last year to the middle of January, from the UK, Germany, Austria and Hungary.
Paying more attention to our health was generally at the center of New Year’s resolutions across all countries (albeit with a sarcastic approach on occasion, like these parody videos in the UK and in Hungary). In most cases though, it was meant in a sincere manner, but the focus differed somewhat in each location. Hungarians talked about switching their diet and losing weight the most, however, the top engaging post connected to this topic was an advertisement for cereals by Nestlé. TikTok influencer Daniella Melkó’s cooperation with probiotic company Symprove was also successful.
For Germans, smarter nutrition and supplements for the gym were rather in focus in connection with diet, the best content here was posted by Die Ernährungs-Docs and @heckules.
The topic of quitting smoking or drinking was another approach to a healthier 2024. In the UK, the National Health System’s Instagram promoted #QuitSmoking successfully, but the topic also generated high engagement in Austria. Dry January seemed like a good resolution idea there as well, even though the Art History Museum of Vienna tried to appeal to those who might not have stuck to it and suggested purchasing tickets to exhibitions instead.
The only country where environmentally friendly resolutions made a significant appearance was Germany. For them, even the topic of diet was connected to it, as going vegan/veganism placed 9th among key topics.
They didn't stop there, though: making your wardrobe more sustainable (@zdfwiso), greener banking (@utopia.de), and saving more stray animals (Einfach Tierschutz) were all featured in top engaging content.
Germans and Austrians thought a lot about having more “me time” and an overall better approach to mental health, as shown in top engaging content by influencer Sally’s Welt, Philipp Maria, and Dunja Hayali, as well as holiday advertisements. They also insisted on working less and spending more time with their family, which both appeared among key topics. The British, on the other hand, wanted to restore their peace of mind by reading more books in 2024, which also made it to the key topics’ list there with 126 mentions.
In Austria, Volksbank ran a successful TikTok ad with influencer Linda Lime, promoting saving more money for your dreams this year.
Hungary was the only country where politics was heavily featured both among key topics and in most engaging content. The reason for this were videos posted by opposition party DK’s politicians: Klára Dobrev, Ferenc Gyurcsány and Ágnes Vadai. In these posts, they vowed to weaken the Orbán regime in 2024, as well as help out those in need of basic necessities. They all asked their supporters to help bring these resolutions to life by signing up to become activists.
As our number of mentions chart shows, the online buzz around New Year’s resolutions is still going, though a little less intensely than around the 1st of January.
If you haven’t made any resolutions yet, it’s not too late to think about resolving to pay close attention to your online presence this year, and starting a social listening trial with Neticle. It might even contribute to better mental health, as you wouldn’t have to worry about missing out on key trends or crises in the online space anymore. Sounds good?