Emergencies, Zombies and Creative Communication

by Vicki on May 18, 2012

PROVOKE is often brought in to help organizations communicate with their stakeholders on tough topics. By tough, I mean topics that are – complex to understand, threatening to consider, low involvement, low perceived relevance, require action, involve change, span a diversity of audiences, invoke emotion, and so on.

So when I heard on the news that Emergency Info British Columbia is communicating with British Columbians in a new way about how to prepare for emergencies, I was intrigued and had to investigate further.

It turns out that the B.C. government is capitalizing on International Zombie Awareness month and has launched a set of social media tools that play off the popular horror genre. The government is hoping that its fictional advice on how to be prepared for a zombie attack will help the public be prepared and know how to act in real emergencies. In their own words:

Zombies? In British Columbia? Are you serious?

Well, sorta. The threat of zombie attack is a popular phenomenon around the globe and with it comes the message to “be prepared”. Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, landslides, avalanches, interface fires, severe storms and hazardous material spills are some of the dangers that could threaten lives and cause extensive damage in British Columbia. And while the chance of zombies a-knockin’ on your door is pretty slim, we do believe that if you’re ready for zombies, you’re ready for any disaster.

Follow along with us this week as we provide you with an arsenal of zombie preparedness tips, videos, photos and even some advice from a zombie-attack survivor.

I like their approach for a number of reasons –

  • People take in new information much easier when it is paired with something they already know and care about. Zombie related films and tv shows are popular right now so pairing how to protect yourself from zombies (which is standard knowledge for zombie aficionados) with how to protect yourself in the case of other emergencies makes sense.
  • People tend to naturally turn away from and tune out information that is fear based or threatening. The tone taken in the zombie materials is light and in some cases, downright funny. Check out this corny video on zombie emergency planning.
  • This type of approach might help Emergency Info BC reach audiences that are notoriously hard to target in their communications. For example teenage boys or consumers of non-traditional media.
  • They have employed a whole suite of social media tools – tweets about zombies and preparedness, YouTube videos and a blog maximizing the chances that more people will see their messaging.
  • The nature of social media makes it so simple for people to share – maximizing investment.

As I read through the various tweets and blog posts and watched the videos, I couldn’t help but think of Trudy’s post last week where she talked about true innovation and creativity. From my perspective, Emergency Info BC has it nailed – they’ve taken a simple concept that has been communicated over and over for years and turned it on its head. Well done Emergency Info BC!

Have a tough issue to communicate? Check out Emergency Info BC.

I think you’ll be inspired – even if zombies aren’t your cup of tea.

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Insert your Creative Idea in this Box

by Trudy on May 11, 2012

Creativity and innovation is always a top of mind in PROVOKE’s world, and the world of many of our clients.

I was fascinated recently by an RFP that asked for “innovation”. I was intrigued and a bit excited by this invitation. The RFP then quickly added that the response needed to look exactly like this, in exactly this space, by exactly this date, in exactly this process, using this font size, no colour please, and so on. Ahh, there is the truth. Desire meets reality head on.

I believe that we all aspire to creativity and innovation in our work, yet so many have no idea how to do this, or more unfortunate, work hard to squash it like a bug. I am not being unkind; really, much killing of creativity is done quite ignorantly, through automated processes and habit. Let me explain.

We all have processes in at least some areas of our work that just makes it easier to manage the list of things to accomplish in a day. Most of us have too many tasks and not enough time to accomplish them. So we inadvertently structure things around us that work quite hard to beat creativity and innovation out of the norm of the day.

I cracked up at Jeremy Dean’s (PsyBlog) dark witty take on it in  “6 ways to kill creativity”. Mainly I laughed because it is so true. I encourage you to read it, but my favourite line was:

Remember that all these methods for killing creativity are best done with subtlety. You should say you provide support, freedom, resources and so on, but only do it halfheartedly. This will give you the appearance of a creative organization but you won’t produce the truly creative solutions which mark out the best.

If you have ever heard any of these things (or gasp, even heard them escape your own mouth), you may need to rethink your ability to invite innovation around you:

  • I want you to do something different, see what you can come up with that does not cost anything
  • You have capacity right now, I have been meaning to find some great ideas around X, this is a great opportunity for you (aka you have no experience), see what you can come up with
  • Within our current system (processes, rules, etc.), I want you to create something new
  • I know this or that is an issue, can you just find a way to work around them?
  • I want this to be extra great, can you have it to me tomorrow morning?
  • I don’t have a budget, but …….be creative

Oh my god, how would we ever make that happen?!

To all of us wannabe innovators, we need to keep a few things in mind:

  • Be clear about what you need/the specific goal, you will get a better answer
  • Give time, real time, not after hours time, to have the space to explore, ponder and ideate
  • Bring in varying voices – talk to as many people from all walks, perspectives, skills, this gives a wider perspective to work with
  • Remove as many obstacles as possible – old processes and rules provide old answers
  • And turn down nothing that comes to you without spending 24 hours to really consider it. Almost always there will be a germ of innovation that you can take away from any idea, no matter how outrageous it appears.

 

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Teens, Texts and Social Change

by Vicki on May 4, 2012

I don’t personally have kids but many of the people in my life who are really important to me do. Combine that with the fact that a lot of PROVOKE’s work involves issues that affect children, youth and young adults. For those reasons, and because I get excited about research, data and how it can impact change, this TED talk gave me the shivers.

via YouTube by TEDtalksDirector

In this talk, Nancy Lublin, CEO and Chief Old Person at DoSomething.org, explains how when she started texting teens to help with her social advocacy organization, what she found was shocking – they started texting back. Not about her organization’s quest for change but about about their own problems, from bullying to depression to abuse.

Because of the haunting and heartbreaking texts of kids in crisis reaching out, Lublin says DoSomething.org is setting up a text-only crisis line, and the results might be even more important than expected.

Some fascinating facts from her talk:

  • The average teen send 3339 text messages a month
  • The average teen girl sends closer to 4000
  • Texting has a 100% open rate
  • Texting over indexes for minority and urban youth
  • They are finding texting 11 times more powerful than email for communicating with kids

Her ideas on how a text-only crisis line could serve both the needs of youths AND allow for better planning, policy and protection through collection of real time, geographically pinpointed data are undeniable.

If you have kids, care about kids or get excited about ideas/research for social change, this talk is for you.

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Winning Candidates, Losing Society

April 27, 2012

It has been interesting watching the election process this go around on so many levels. For me the core issues that popped to the surface were truth, intent and integrity. This all crystallized for me, when my child asked me on the way to vote earlier this week, how someone makes up their mind on [...]

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Music, Health and Healing

April 20, 2012

About a month ago, I posted a short blog on the power of music that really seemed to resonate with our readers. So this week, I am sharing another piece that has music, relationships, connections and healing at the core. The clip is taken from “Alive Inside” a documentary by director Michael Rossato-Bennett and it [...]

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