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Communications

HOW TO USE Anticipation IN MARKETING

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Sometimes waiting is better

We all live in anticipation of something, the next episode, the next cup, the next job, the next client, the next follower. Anticipation is one of the more unusual emotions we can have. It plays delicately along the line of pleasure and pain. It can consume, and even overwhelm us until we just can’t wait anymore. The time between then and now can feel excruciating and delicious. Anticipation is what our brains experience when music gives us goosebumps.

The reality is that anticipation can register in our brain as pleasure or pain. Anticipation is often what we try to build when we are promoting an idea or selling a product. We want our audience to long for the outcome or object we have in mind. We want to have them focused on receiving or achieving that objective so that they can experience the relief of having it. Or, and this is the clever bit, by having to wait, by building anticipation, we can also engender our object with value. By building anticipation we tap into a mindset that says, good things come to those who wait.

USING ANTICIPATION IN MARKETING

When Clairol introduced a new conditioner in the 1970s they directed women to let the product stand in their hair for 30 minutes. The conditioner only took five minutes to work, but that was inconsistent with what happened when women went to salons, so the extra 25 minutes was added to give to product more appeal, more value. For those of you who enjoy a good beer, you may be familiar with some of the anticipation that comes with having a Guinness. Pouring a Guinness is an act of patience. It takes time for the dark liquid to settle and the creamy foam to move to the top and then you pour again. Rather than make excuses for the delay or take away from one of the things that make Guinness unique, the Guinness marketing team played on the anticipation. Take look.

Of course, there are those products that extoll the virtues of anticipation, Heinz Ketchup is one of the more notable. Who in North America hasn’t waited patiently for the ketchup to make an appearance?

BUILDING IN ANTICIPATION REQUIRES PATIENCE

Building anticipation is one of the most difficult parts of my job. From conception to completion of a communication campaign can take months if not years. Throughout, anticipation has to be fed and managed. It’s not enough to stay silent and wait until everything is in place, in fact, in order for adoption to work; anticipation has to be part of the communications activity.   When you’re promoting an idea, it is critical that you take the time to build on awareness. Ideas are amorphous creatures. They can be hard to visualize and even more difficult to understand and support.

Adoption requires patience and timing. If you build too much anticipation you can cause a good idea to fall flat. If you move before your audience is ready, you can fail as badly as if you had introduced your idea too late. The business world is full of great ideas that were launched too soon. I can’t imagine the frustration of having someone take your idea and be completely successful where you failed and all because they had the patience to wait. This happened to SixDegrees.com, the forerunner to Facebook and Ask Jeeves, the forerunner to Google.

Whether I’m preparing an organization for significant process changes or new benefits, I know I have to carefully feed information. I also have to manage the most difficult part of the process, my own anticipation. I have to keep it in check even as I start to feed elements of the change. It’s a slow process, but the adoption of new ideas is not the work of a moment.   I love what I do for a living, it calls on my imagination and challenges my mind, but oh… the anticipation.

What about you? What have you anticipated? What have you had to be patient about in your life?

Image courtesy of olovedog and FreeDigital Photos.net

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Internal Communications, Management

How to decide

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Imagine polling your colleagues to determine what you personally will have for lunch. What about dictating to your neighbours how they should vote? Seems ridiculous right? Yet as silly as that sounds we can get into a decision making rut. Using the same approach for all decisions. When you consider the range of decisions we have to make on any given day this is not only ineffective, it can create challenges in your business and personal relationships.

The most generous person can become a dictator and the most opinionated can become indecisive by applying the same decision-making style for every eventuality. Consider that there are generally three ways to reach a decision.

Consensus: This is when you gather everyone and take a vote. A true consensus is a rare occurrence, so assume that there will be some outliers, but them aside, consensus decisions are a reflection of most people’s opinion. This is a great approach when choosing government or determining strategic priorities with a board for an organization. In a family setting, it might be how you decide where you stop for lunch during a road trip.

Consensus is great but as you can imagine it takes time. People have to be informed, ideas explained and people will need time to think. Then come the debates and the vote. Not all decisions can afford to wait for the process to unfold and frankly, not all decisions require a group or are even appropriate for a group. Some decisions will impact only a few people and in those instances, the opinion of many and varied voices are not only overkill, it’s disrespectful to those who have to live with the consequences.

Consultative: Consultative decisions are more tightly focused on those who have to take action, those with specific knowledge and those impacted by the decision. Although one person may have final say, this approach allows the decision maker to hear from the relevant players. This approach takes time but is not as time-consuming as consensus. In most healthy organizations, familial and corporate, the majority of decisions reside in this area. It allows participants to own decisions and therefore consequences.

Command: With command, one person is in charge and what they say goes. Long live the king! This approach has it’s uses and is particularly effective in crisis situations. Command decisions allow for fast turn around and are prefaced on the assumption that the decision maker has expert knowledge. Unfortunately, some leaders find the command approach so appealing that they employ it for all decisions. The challenge, of course, is that no one person has perfect knowledge of all issues. It can also slow processes down by creating bottlenecks. With one person making all of the decisions,  projects can begin to pile up.

The thing is, no matter what approach you use, it’s good to keep in mind that others are also available and no one approach works perfectly all the time. Unfortunately, even if you employ the right decision style at the right time, you can still make silly decisions. If this weren’t the case, we’d all be healthy, active, careful savers who never drink too much coffee or wine.

For tips on hacking decision making, check out 5 Hacks for Decision Making.

How do you decide how to decide? Do you know someone who only has one approach to deciding? Ever get caught in a situation where the decision-making approach didn’t fit the issue?

Related Articles:

5 Hacks for Decision Making

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Leadership, Management

5 Hacks for Decision Making

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Not being able to make decisions can create paralysis in your life. Indecision can cost you your business, end relationships and make even the easiest of activities complex. Often, if you can’t make a decision then you are probably afraid of something. Before you can begin to consider your options, you need to lose the fear. Consider the worst case scenario and the possible outcomes. What can you do to mitigate the risk? What can you do to mange and respond if it comes to pass? Then decide what what works best for you.

Despite your best efforts there will be times when even deciding how to decide can feel almost insurmountable. Fortunately, there are methods we can use to hack indecision.

  1. Make Habits Not Decisions: Make habits out of some decisions and remove the whole decision-making process. For example, Friday night is date night for my husband and I and consequently, neither of us is interested in making dinner. So Friday’s is for leftovers or ordering in. No arguing over who has to cook. No decisions about what to cook.
  2. If/Then Decisions: If/Then decision-making basically means that you make decisions based on external actions. If this happens, then I will do this. For instance, if I’m not sure whether to walk the dog or work in the yard, then I see if it’s going to rain and if yes, then I go for a walk.
  3. Avoid Information Overload: Sometimes having an excess of information can result in going in circles. To avoid “analysis paralysis” determine what information is really important or relevant in order for you to reach your decision. Make sure you know why the information is relevant. Create a schedule that includes getting all the data you need and stick to your deadline for making a decision.
  4. Assess the Risks: Determine what risks are associated with different decisions. Weigh whether or not those risks are worth taking. If a decision comes with risks not worth taking, then perhaps that is the wrong decision.
  5. No Decision is a Decision: Remember that by not making a decision you are making a decision. Generally, the result is that you lose the element of choice.

Related Articles:

How to decide

Resources

If you’re looking for additional tips, check out the Harvard Business Review’s Deciding How to Decide, found here: https://hbr.org/2013/11/deciding-how-to-decide

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Communications, Management

Visual Meetings – How To Bring Meetings To Life

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Several years ago I was at a conference on systems thinking (essentially, understanding how things connect) and during the plenary sessions I noticed that tucked away to one side was a woman busily working on capturing the meeting proceedings in images. I was mesmerized. As the session progressed I kept looking from her to the presenters and I was charmed by the images that emerged.  Her blend of colourful figures and words captured beautifully the vibrancy of the conversation in the room. The “Ah ha” moments were carefully displayed with a burst of yellow and orange marker that had a more lasting impression on me than any of the words I’d carefully jotted down in my notebook.

As the conference progressed I’d catch glimpses of the artist as she made her way through all of the plenary sessions and occasionally, the smaller concurrent sessions.  I approached her at one point and asked her how I could get copies of her illustrations. She asked me for my card and I happily handed it over. Although months passed I did not hear from her and I kicked myself for not asking her for her card. Then one day a package arrived. It was from the conference organizers and they were inviting me to attend the next year’s conference. Amongst the conference details was a poster of all of the images from the last conference captured by the graphic artist. I was hooked. Although I had fond memories of the event, they had mostly faded, her images brought them all roaring back to life.

Cover of "Visual Meetings: How Graphics, ...
Cover via Amazon

After that experience, I wondered how I could capture some of that vibrancy in my regular day to day meetings. As it happens, I got my answer several years later while attending the same conference. The presenter was a fellow named David Sibbet.  David talked about the power of images, he brought us back to those days long ago when we huddled around fires in caves and drew on walls, but he also brought us back to our childhood. Those wonderful colourful books that kept us engaged and made us want to read. Even today some of my favourite life lessons come in the form of blog posts from Susan Cooper, who uses her colourful illustrations to tell important life stories.

We have a very natural affinity for visuals. People love to see their ideas captured in an interesting and interactive way. This is why writing things out on boards is a standing practice of meeting facilitators. Big thoughts are also more likely to be developed because visualization allows you to see natural and unnatural links between ideas. Patterns become more visible and this gives the group an opportunity to get those big picture ideas that help create group momentum. Our memories benefits from using visuals too. By putting things up on a shared board the group can keep track and recall ideas more easily.

So why do we eliminate visuals from our regular meetings? Well the most common response is, “I can’t draw”.  David would argue other wise and as I know from attending many art classes over the years, everyone can draw; we just need to be taught how. That’s precisely what David Sibbett does in his two books, Visual Teams and Visual Meetings.

Don’t believe me?  Let’s see what you can learn in just a few minutes.

Start with a simple circle. Thinking of mixing something in a bowl—maybe egg whites. Before putting the pencil to paper, try out the motion. Use your arm in the process; it will make a better circle. Got it? Great, you now have a circle.

  1. Add a few brackets and you have a bouncy ball.
  2. Throw some lines beside the circle and it’s moving fast.
  3. Add two dots and a smile and you have a head.
  4. Point an arrow at your circle and you’ve made your point.
  5. Place larger circles around it and you have a bull’s-eye or a central idea.

Getting visual doesn’t require rocket science or a degree in art. We are all natural drawers…stick figures can express ideas too. Introducing colour markers on a white board or giant note pad will easily do the trick of making meetings more engaging. Sticky notes are also a useful tool and can bring colour and shape to visual story telling. When doing a process mapping exercise one organization I worked with used sticky notes to represent each step in a process.  As participants added sticky notes, the visual image grew. The ensuing image of multiple sticky notes spread across a wall was a more powerful illustration of the need to cut steps than any conversation.

I have had great success with strategic planning by putting markers and sticky notes into the hands of colleagues. The challenge is not about the ability to draw, it’s the willingness to try. Go ahead, let your inner artist out, you’ll be surprised by what shows up.

Have you ever had to draw to make a point? Have you ever used the back of a napkin to illustrate what you meant?  Do you do better when visuals are used?

Related Articles:
http://commstorm.com/time-keeps-on-tricking/ 
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Communications, public relations

Getting the angle right, your personal brand photo

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I was thinking about pictures the other day, pictures of scones to be precise and wondering how I wanted to set the scene for them. What props would work, what lighting would be good, how would I convey quality? It struck me that I was more worried about how the food would look than most people are about the pictures of themselves they post. They weren’t even my scones.

I’m even worst when it comes to people. I will spend ages thinking about how I want board members, senior management or the CEO viewed. I have destroyed images of senior management I thought were in poor taste or inconsistent with the corporate brand. I’ve also used funny pictures of the CEO to convey warmth and humour to staff. The point is, some thought should go into each photo and how it’s used.  What is the objective, what message is being conveyed, what audience are you talking to?

I have watched with some curiosity and a little dismay as coquettish, slightly boudoir, images have shown up on LinkedIn. I have a sense of humour, so while I often find them funny they also make me a touch uncomfortable because they really don’t belong on LinkedIn. I can’t help but wonder what the person is trying to convey in a business setting. Here are some tips for what to avoid.

The Boudoir Photo: If there is a feather boa in the image, then don’t use the image for your professional shot. It’s not that I have anything against feather boas but what they call to mind are things like, the Rocky Horror Picture Show and exotic dancers. Unless you are selling costumes or polls for dancing, lose the feathers.

The Angry Woman: Do you know what happens when you hold your phone in your hand and look down on it in concentration as you take a selfie? You get the Angry Man/Woman photo.  It’s a photo of your nostrils, always attractive, while you look down your nose at the viewer. How appealing.  If you are smiling then it can look creepy or patronizing. If you’re not smiling, you have the perfect Angry Man. If you’re going to use a selfie, lift your hand to head level or slightly higher.

The Location Shot: I’ve seen quite a few “professional” shots of young men at the beach lately. The attire is what you might expect for a beach photo, shorts, and shades. In some really interesting branding choices, the person is not wearing a shirt. The individual is often trying to give me advice. I think they are trying to say, “Look at me, I’m so successful I now live the good life.”

What I see is a guy too inexperienced to know what’s appropriate. Here’s my advice, if it’s good enough for a restaurant, then it’s good enough for your professional photo. No shirt, no shoes, no service. Extend the thought to include that there should be no shorts or shades in a professional photo.

Where’s Waldo: The Where’s Waldo photo comes in many forms. It’s can be anything from a family photo or a corporate shot. What they have in common is that there’s more than one person visible. So now the viewer gets to choose.  Is it the guy on the left or right?  Where is the subject? If it’s a man and woman in the photo, the poster’s name might give you a clue, providing their name isn’t gender neutral like Kelly, Beverly or Pat. Even if the name does make it clear, why is the other person in the photo? What is the unstated message?

Eye Spy:  These are among my personal favourites. It’s really about not wanting to include a photo of yourself so you use one where you are so small that the viewer can’t quite see you. It’s the photo of the Grand Canyon and you’re off to the side like a perspective reference. This is a useless shot and tells the viewer you don’t really get the point of including a photo.

I could go on, the photo with plunging neckline for men or women is a no go, as is the open mouth speech shot. The point is, decide what you are trying to convey about your personal brand with a photo. Do you want to earn trust, their time or just their attention?

I get that people don’t want to be sheep.  I appreciate wanting to do something a little different, you can do that without becoming goofy. Above all else, a professional photo is supposed to make you look like a professional, or at least it shouldn’t make you look like a felon.

Some quick tips for good shots. 

  • Use natural lighting. This does not mean squinting into the sun, but it does mean avoiding unnecessary shadows or that shiny-face look that can happen in night shots. Not to mention the red eyed demon that comes with poor lighting.
  • Focus on the chest up or just head and shoulders. This means you will be the central focus of the image.
  • Think about how you want to be seen by a client, not your buddies.
  • Use a professional photographer.  When chosen well, they are worth every penny.  Consider it an investment in yourself.

How did you choose your photo and why? Do you think your photo matters to your brand? Have you ever seen a photo and thought…what were they thinking? Have you ever seen a photo and thought, brilliant!

Image courtesy of stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

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Communications, Government Relations

5 Lessons on Advocating with Social Media

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I initially wrote this post back in 2013, but a number of factors made me think it was worth another look.

  • The election of Donald Trump and his love of Twitter
  • The creation of “alternative facts”
  • Concerns about fake news and
  • Facebook’s algorithms

If you’re wondering about the last point, then consider that your newsfeed on Facebook is based on what you have liked in the past.  This means that all you will see are the opinions that agree with yours.  Facebook is working to adjust this, but its worth noting that as brilliant as we may be, alternate opinions are important to have a realistic and balanced view of the world.

Social media has changed the way we communicate and the way we advocate to the government. Messages placed online become living entities fuelled by others. The popularity of these communications tools provides every Canadian with an opportunity to not just express an opinion, but to be heard by thousands of others and possibly generate support for their perspectives.  This opportunity has not been lost on legislators and political candidates who quickly created their own profiles in an attempt to reach broader audiences.  The challenge, of course, is that like all communications tools, you have to use them with care. Social media does not mean accuracy or the use of facts. It also does not need you to keep a message moving once it starts to roll.

In 2008 when the federal government announced Bill-C-51, which had the stated objective of modernizing 50-year-old health legislation, no one really expected anyone beyond health professionals and other healthcare stakeholders to pay much attention.  Instead, what seemed like an army of angry Canadians rallied around concerns that the new legislation might limit the availability of certain herbal remedies.  Communications grew so vociferous and hostile so quickly that the movement became a testament to the effectiveness of social media.

Concerns about the Bill came close to hysteria in some instances. One website claimed that the new legislation would give the government the right to invade homes and remove materials without the need for evidence or a search warrant.  Another site warned Canadians that a police state would result from the implementation of the legislation.  The Health Minister, who was initially dismissive of what looked like a small group of misinformed people, found himself having to explain and defend the Bill in the press and on the Health Canada website.

So while all this people power sounds like great news for the average citizen, you might also want to ask who started the commentary on the Bill.  There are no assurances that blogs or the information posted on social networks will be accurate or honest.  There is also nothing to prevent people with a specific agenda from generating misinformation or confusion around a given subject.

Lessons Learned

  • Always take into consideration who is active on the websites you use as resources.
  • While blogs and social media sites represent a great communications opportunity, they also carry with them significant challenges and some pitfalls.  Know who is talking to you and to whom you are talking.
  • Consider the strengths and weaknesses of different social media sites and use the ones that best fit with your objectives, audience and your time. Once you engage, stay engaged.
  • If you use social media, do so with the understanding that it requires your full attention as a communicator.
  • Social media is not a billboard. People can not only react to it, they can take over your message. Sometimes that’s a good thing, so don’t try to control it, but do try to respond immediately when they take your message in the wrong direction.

Related Articles:

9 Ways Social Media Does Good

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Communications, Government Relations

Body Language – Managing You, So You Can Deliver Your Message

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Your body can give away secrets you’d never dream of sharing, so when going into a meeting or presentation, take the time to note your body language and the body language of those around you.  Even if you are presenting to a large gathering, you can get a sense of the room based on the level of buzz that happens before you present. Are people laughing and standing close together? Whispering in groups of two and three? Are they standing as individuals and making little contact? If the mood of the room is solemn, then you may want to rethink starting with a dirty joke. Noting your own body language ensures you are not delivering conflicting messages. You could be saying one thing, while your body is saying something else. I’d trust the message your body was delivering since it is more likely, to be honest.

Your body tells when you lie

I once had a meeting with a client who was trying to gain the support of another organization for a government relations campaign.  The gentleman from the other organization sat  with his arms folded across his chest and as my client spoke the other gentleman continuously shook his head in the negative as he verbally indicated that we could count on his support. I knew before he left the room that he would be an obstruction to my client’s objectives. I also knew that he was willing to be dishonest about it.  That said a lot about his character (I probably wasn’t the first professional contact he’d lied to) and it provided me with enough information to better equip my client. Our communications materials were altered to reflect this consideration and in subsequent meetings with government officials when my suspicions were proven true, we were prepared.

Your body tells when you’re bored

Body language also provides you with indicators about whether or not you should continue a meeting or end it. I have sat in meetings with clients where  officials have gone from attentive to glazed, to outright bored. They began looking at their watch, folding and unfolding their arms, fidgeting in their seats and in one case; they even began to read the material provided by the client while the client was talking. If the person you are meeting with has had enough, then you’ve said enough. Believe me, no matter how long you keep talking after they stop listening, they are not getting the message. If you are going into a meeting as a team try to determine signals for bringing the meeting to an end or moving it along in advance. Then listen when you get the signal.

Your body can interpret other people’s secrets

Mimicry can also help you to understand the body language of the person you are meeting with.  This is simply copying their body language in a non-offensive way.  If they sit forward, you sit forward, if they lean back with their legs crossed, assume a similar pose.  Not only does this help to build better rapport with the person you are meeting, but it also means that you are sending your brain quiet messages about how effective your communications are and whether you need to change tactics.  If at some point you find yourself leaning back with your arms and legs folded, then you know that a message is being blocked or something about the message isn’t sitting well. Just remember not to over do it or you’ll weird them out.

A few more physical tips:

  • When shaking hands match the strength of your grip to theirs.
  • Face your audience head-on.
  • Avoid crossing your arms.
  • Don’t slouch in your seat or appear too passive.
  • Avoid putting your hands in your pockets.
  • Do not fidget with your hair, pens, coins …
  • Use gestures sparingly, keep them natural and spontaneous.
  • Don’t point a finger or raise a fist.
  • Don’t bang on the desk or the arm of your chair.
  • Keep facial expressions natural and friendly, don’t frown or raise a brow at a comment or question.
  • Keep your presentation fresh by altering your vocal pitch, volume and rate of delivery.
  • Speak clearly, enunciate, emphasize or punch certain words.
  • Use simple language, avoid jargon and acronyms.
  • Keep humour gentle.

Maintaining good eye contact is also an important component in face to face meetings.  Eye contact is a tool that helps you appear sincere, demonstrates confidence, engages your audience and can help you confirm understanding or detect other signals. Don’t stare (that’s just creepy) but hold the connection for a few seconds or while you complete an idea.

Finally, be polite to everyone. Aside from being the kind of thing most civilized people learn in kindergarten, being impolite can have unanticipated consequences. How believable is your message that you are client centred or community focused, if you have just blown off the receptionist and blustered your way past the assistant?  Remember the story of the airline executives (Every Contact Counts) and the impact their behaviour had on their government relations efforts. Based on inappropriate treatment of a staff member, I’ve seen rude visitors greeted by a Minister with a coldness that could chill wine. The way you behave when it doesn’t count says more about you than what you do when you’re in the spotlight.

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Internal Communications, Management

We Are Built For Change

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When you work in the health sector, you know that something new is always around the corner.  When you do communications in the health sector, you’d be lucky to get to the corner without something changing. Change is not just inevitable, it happens faster all the time, we do not walk forward, we leap. At times it can feel overwhelming, yet once it’s complete you may wonder what all the fuss was about, but then, we’re built for change. We are designed to shift, bend and flow in new directions. We are never the same person twice. It’s important to understand that our bodies anticipate change even if our minds shy away.

Consider brain plasticity, it’s a fascinating subject.  What it tells us is that even in the face of traumatic physical impact, our brains learn to reroute and work in different ways to accomplish the goals we set out to achieve. When we learn new things, our brains physically change, we forge new neural networks to accommodate our new skills. Conversely, when we don’t think about something for long periods of time, those networks may begin to decline and in some instances may even break.  Our brains are a use it or lose it proposition. Our grey matter can thicken or thin depending on what we do. In fact, our brains can change functionally, chemically and physically. We are literally creatures of transition.

When we shy from change or fight it we are fighting our very nature.  This does not mean that all change is good or good for us, but that our instincts should be to understand why the change is happening as opposed to fighting it simply because it’s happening.  What our body’s reaction to change also tells us is that we should learn to embrace new opportunities as they are presented. We should at least take the time to learn more about the options that are available to us rather than always playing it safe, which is sometimes just another word for stagnant.

I’ve worked with and in many different organizations as they moved through change. Some changes seemed impossible when we started, almost monolithic in scope.  Others were more subtle but still required a shift at a fundamental level. I have managed through professional transformations, new service delivery models, technology changes, policy changes and political changes. Although they all held their unique challenges, what stayed consistent were the reactions of people. There were those who keenly embraced the coming transformation, the majority who moved along at a slower rate of change and those who fought it until the very end. When I see broad scale resistance to change I know that there has been a failure to communicate the need for change effectively.

The single most important feature of change management is communications. By that, I don’t mean leadership telling people what they need to change, but involving them in the process of change.  This means informing them early and keeping them appraised of change all along the way with persistence and consistency.  It involves listening to their input and allowing them to adjust. We are built for change, but we still need to adjust to new tasks.  Imposed change does not allow that process to take place in a healthy or efficient way. If we wake up one morning and can’t use our right arm, our brain isn’t going to suddenly reroute and make it useful again. We will need to take time and consistently practice the use of that right arm until the brain redirects messages and finds new pathways or we will need to learn to rely on our left arm, either way, change isn’t instantaneous. When change happens in our personal or work environments it is no different, we need time to adapt.  Even when we decide to embrace change ourselves, we still need to take the time to adjust to that decision or we will become overwhelmed.

John P Kotter, former Harvard Business School professor, the founder of Kotter International and well-known author on organizational change management, identifies eight steps for successful change management:

Step 1: Establish a Sense of Urgency: Help others see the need for change and they will be convinced of the importance of acting immediately.

Step 2: Create the Guiding Coalition: Assemble a group with enough power to lead the change effort, and encourage the group to work as a team.

Step 3: Develop a Change Vision: Create a vision to help direct the change effort, and develop strategies for achieving that vision.

Step 4: Communicate the Vision for Buy-in: Make sure as many as possible understand and accept the vision and the strategy.

Step 5: Empower Broad-based Action: Remove obstacles to change, change systems or structures that seriously undermine the vision, and encourage risk-taking and nontraditional ideas, activities, and actions.

Step 6: Generate Short-term Wins: Plan for achievements that can easily be made visible, follow-through with those achievements and recognize and reward employees who were involved.

Step 7: Never Let Up: Use increased credibility to change systems, structures, and policies that don’t fit the vision, also hire, promote, and develop employees who can implement the vision, and finally reinvigorate the process with new projects, themes, and change agents

Step 8: Incorporate Changes into the Culture: Articulate the connections between the new behaviours and organizational success, and develop the means to ensure leadership development and succession.

 What do you do to manage change in your life? Do you race towards change? Do you need time to accommodate change?

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Communications

Valuable Repetition

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The Value of Repetition - CommStorm

If you were lost at sea, would you send your distress signal once?

I watched a man move two chairs off a truck. He maneuvered his way through the glass doors of a cafe, around the sign welcoming patrons, down the hall and out of sight. He came back empty handed and headed out to the truck where he used the same patient, methodical movements to take two more chairs into the cafe. He did this 12 times and I watched him the entire time from my viewpoint inside the cafe by the window. He never ran, he never hurried and his movements completely captured my attention.

My husband has watched me prepare filo pastry treats with the same concentration. My own movements have been repetitive and one would think, uninspiring and yet we watch. When someone knows their job well, the sureness of their actions captures our attention. The music of their movements speaks to their ability and although you can’t hear the music they are moving to, you can appreciate the rhythm.

I thought perhaps the attraction that comes from watching someone perform such repetitive tasks was because we enjoyed watching expertise at play.  Malcolm Gladwell explained in his book, Outliers, that 10,000 hours of practice is required to become an expert at just about anything. Even if you haven’t performed a task for that long, if you have done it repeatedly, you get better at it. Except for one thing, the cognitive scientists (including the one who Malcolm references) have said that the theory is wrong or at least it does not tell the whole story of how someone becomes an expert. So why do we watch? What is it about simple repetitive acts that capture our attention?

In advocacy and in marketing, we use repetition to assure that messages are heard. It helps our audiences to process the concepts and ideas being promoted. We all process information at an automatic and unconscious level, so while we may hear the words, or see the visuals we are not necessarily taking it all in.

Think about what happens when you are driving. You move in and out of traffic, you note road signs and lights, pedestrians and cyclists, the state of the road and the temperature in the car. You are taking in a vast quantity of information. This activity is called pre-attentive processing. We see and hear but it does not interfere with the song we are singing or the story we are listening to on the radio unless we get a pre-attentive cue. A pre-attentive cue is something out of the norm or unanticipated, something that we are predisposed to respond to, like a threat. A visual pre-attentive cue is the bright red flag in a field of yellow flags.

Higher level thinking, the digesting of information happens when our brain sifts through all the content being fed to it and digests the relevant bits.   Our brain will pick some things over others based on our biases. To ensure that the messages we want to be heard are heard, we can use repetition or surprise. In fact, you could say that the repetition becomes a surprise because it captures our attention, it stands out.When we repeat an idea often enough, we force others to hear it and interpret it. They can then break it down and contemplate it. Repetition allows us to understand how something works in the moment, while it is happening.

As I watched the man move the chairs I chatted with my daughter and sipped my coffee. I also wondered about why he moved so slowly, why despite the mundane nature of the job he did not hurry. I realized that by moving the chairs in a slow methodical fashion he avoided all the obstacles and made sure that he did not damage the chairs or injure himself. Repetition allowed me to compare, consider and comprehend in real time not just what he was doing but why he was doing it.

Do you find yourself watching when someone is performing a repetitive task? Have you ever used repetition to get your point across to someone?

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Communications, public relations

Going Viral, It’s As Easy As 1,2,3

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If you were tasked with the job of making an organisation’s message go viral, what would you do? Where would you start? I was wondering just that the other day, it’s something I think all marketing professionals wonder about and we’d all like to see at least one campaign go crazy (or if we’re honest, all of our campaigns) but the truth is, the fastest way to have a campaign go viral is to take your time. 

There is nothing I find so frustrating as people talking about delivering a social media campaign without planning, investment or consideration.  It makes me groan and my frustration grows because it is based on a misconception that often plagues communications and marketing professionals, the idea that social media is easy and that success is just around the corner if only the marketing manager knew what they were doing.

The truth is successful social media campaigns rely on the same three things that successful traditional media campaigns required. They just happen to be three difficult things for most businesses to deliver. Let’s look at some campaigns that have worked and try to determine what might have pushed them from just viewable to viral.

Who Gives – Humour and the Unexpected

This little gem doesn’t hit the really BIG numbers, but for a relatively inexpensive charitable endeavor, it has managed to capture a fair bit of attention with over 10,500 views and earned traditional media coverage as well. What’s it’s most notable selling feature? A rabbi in a dress of course.

This charity video poses the question, “Who gives?” and then shows Rabbi Avrohom Zeidman performing as a series of characters who run through every imaginable excuse for not giving. Within one week of being posted the 2-minute video played well over 7000 times.

Blendtec – Something You Always Wanted To Do

Blendtec’s, video campaign poses the question, will it blend? What follows is a series of ridiculous items that the blender is challenged to blend. These YouTube posted videos take the premise set out in the old Ginsu knives commercials and add power and imagination. Smartphones, lighters, boron steel and super glue are all put to the test. These videos have gotten millions of views and make up the backbone of Blendtec’s advertising campaign.  The geek factor is high, but you can’t look away.

Old Spice – Surreal and Funny

The Old Spice commercials are among my favourites.  These beauties were popular on television, but they exploded on YouTube with each video getting millions of views.

Not only do the videos use humour to deliver their message, but as the main character moves smoothly from one ridiculous accomplishment to another the viewer is left laughing and a little bewildered.  The best part of these ads is that, like the Axe deodorant ads, they appeal to a younger demographic making them fodder for shares, likes, posts, memes, and quotes.

Although these campaigns each achieved different levels of popularity they do share some things in common. They are quirky, they show imagination and they have broad appeal for a younger demographic. The reality is that for most businesses a successful social media campaign sits closer to the first than the second example, a million views is far from the norm. Even with the accessibility afforded by social media, generating the kind of widespread attention, it takes to be massively popular generally means that you are playing off of traditional media sources, as well as, social media.

Going viral relies on having at least two of the following factors in place, time, money, and creativity. If you don’t have the money, then you definitely need to take your time and show creativity. One social media king we can learn from is a young man originally from Sweden who goes by the name, PewDiePie (Felix Kjellberg). He usually posts two videos a day and is also active on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. He has more than 56 million subscribers on YouTube, and every video he posts generates millions of views. He’s funny,  always irreverent, unexpected, creative, appealing to a younger demographic and most importantly, he is very, very dedicated. He started posting videos in 2009, but it was not until 2012 that he really hit his stride.

Have you ever had a campaign or post go crazy? Do you have any viral ads or videos that you love? What do you think it takes to make a campaign go viral?

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