In a recent article in the Washington Post, pollster and messaging guru Frank Luntz offered the following counsel to Republicans: Re-frame the questions being asked about America’s future because, as he put it, “whoever controls the questions determines the answer.” Smart advice.
An advertisement on the Washington, DC, Metro stated boldly: “Happiness is being able to order food without having to talk to anyone.” If happiness is about further limiting one’s contact with other humans, even for simple transactions, it spells trouble.
At The Communications Network conference last week in Boston, there many valuable and practical insights into how to build better communications planning around philanthropy and social change. But what was most valuable to me were the provocative questions and inspiring stories that so many of the speakers provided.
Sushi is the perfect food. Simple, direct and no frills. Sushi is colorful and carefully constructed. Unlike other cuisines, sushi is light without heavy sauces. For those of us who spend our days in pursuit of the best in strategic communications, sushi offers us some powerful lessons.
Rules were meant to be broken. Not these. If you follow these, you will be well on your way to more strategic communications: better engaging of customers, clients, partners, funders or anyone else who can help you achieve your goals.
It’s a new year and as companies and organizations think of communications planning, it's good to step back and inventory your assets and think about how you will communicate their value inside and outside of your company or organization. Sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how often organizations don’t fully understand what their true assets are.
One of my best teachers about strategic communications has been, oddly enough, my dog, Ben. Of course, he can’t communicate the way we humans do by talking but he’s pretty good about letting us know what he wants and needs. And one of the ways he is able to do that is to tune into us. He observes, he senses where we are and responds.
