For any hard-pressed comms person in the public or third sector who just needs a bit of inspiration, handy learning or fascinating facts (there really is a New Fave Fact section). Campaign and creative inspiration you can steal. Storytelling and comms tips and insight to pass off as your own.
What they don't tell you about campaigns
Campaigns: messy, unpredictable, chaoticYou know the drill. You read or hear about an award-winning campaign. It sounds like the whole thing was immaculately conceived and curated, a fully-formed idea from day one, executed without dither or delay. And you call BS straight away. Perfectly crafted case studies like these do us no favours. Campaign planning and execution is messy. It does not follow straight lines. It requires the patience and diplomacy of the Dalai Lama. So let's embrace the imperfections and reassure ourselves it's not 'just me'.
MESSY CAMPAIGNS: useful tipsAnd while we're on the subject, this webinar embraces the madness and provides useful stuff you can actually use when time is slim or stakeholders are driving you to distraction. If you need help with campaigns, give me a shout. USE THIS: content and campaign ideasI'm a big fan of the way Greenwich Council use personal people stories to give their content and messages real emotional kick. (Get this type of creative and content inspiration first on the Creative Catch of the Day WhatsApp channel.) Last week we celebrated the refurbishment of the much-loved Hawksmoor Youth Hub in Thamesmead, made possible through our investment π·ββοΈπ€ SOCIAL: How do Currys do it?Currys' TikTok has generated better ROI than paid advertising π So there's some great lessons in this behind the scenes piece. (And also a focus on the recent Pitbull craze in the latest newsletter from the very fine Adam Driver.) COMMS SCIENCE: Default mode networkBest way to be creative? Hang up the washing. There's a bloody magical part of our brain called the default mode network that comes to life when we stop multi-tasking and let our mind wander, connecting thoughts and retrieving memories. And it's why the shower is so often when inspiration strikes.β BEST email of the weekAfter a training day with a team, the best feeling is hearing the positive impact it's had on their comms. So it was just lovely to hear from an NHS team I'd run a storytelling workshop with in the spring. "It really helped to springboard storytelling principles into our work...and the new content weβre producing π This is a real step change for us!" NEW FAVE FACTYou can't drink the tap water in 10 Downing Street. Other revelations about the most famous office in the country in this brilliant LinkedIn post.β RADIO: Women: Amplified
If you're a child of the 90s and/or 00s, then I moonlight as a DJ on Fusion Radio (also on smart speakers, Sonos and radio apps) playing sounds from the era. This Sunday, the whole day on Fusion, including my show, is given over to female artists and female-fronted bands, so definitely worth tuning in for the likes of Bjork, Garbage and The Go! Team. FREE WEBINAR: tackling abuse, this Friday (June 20)π BLUE LIGHT HUB - The next free webinar from the Blue Light Comms Hub, run together with CAN Digital, is at 12.30pm this Friday (June 20). It looks at targeting abuse perpetrators online and encouraging them to seek help. Speakers will include Karima Rahman, Communications Manager for domestic abuse charity Respect. You can register for the webinar now. LEARNING OPPS: dates for the diary ππ IRL EVENT - e-shot tour, London (June 25)β π IRL EVENT - LGcomms Academy, Bristol (July 10 and 11)β ABOUT USTurn The Page is a story-led communications consultancy, using the power of stories to create memorable, measurable campaigns, strategies and narratives. Book a free explora-story chat anytime, if you feel your comms could do with some serious story attention.
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The Page Turner - creative comms and storytelling gold
For any hard-pressed comms person in the public or third sector who just needs a bit of inspiration, handy learning or fascinating facts (there really is a New Fave Fact section). Campaign and creative inspiration you can steal. Storytelling and comms tips and insight to pass off as your own.
Praise the lore - storytelling takes a new shape First I winced. By the end I was punching the air in agreement When this LinkedIn post went semi-viral last week, I was ready to jack it all in and retrain as a dentist (always fancied it for some reason). Death to Storytelling is not the sort of headline you need to see when much of your work revolves around the subject. But as with everything, times change and things evolve. Pretty Little Marketer (LinkedIn) Lore has become the new buzzword...
'Trusted voices on social media open closed doors' How's your campaign or project going? Feel like you're knocking on a brick wall? Maybe it's time to look at who's doing the knocking (not that sort, mucky mind). The Edelman Trust Barometer is a report that emerges at the start of each year to largely tell us we don't really trust politicians and billionaires - who knew? But beyond the headlines, there can be some interesting nuance and the headline above π was one of the more interesting...
Did Brooklyn-gate help us see through 'authentic'? Before last week, I knew very little about Brooklyn Beckham, other than why he's called Brooklyn (which is a bit weird now I think about it). So the chances of this being a psuedo-gossip column hot take on the family feud are nil. But the whole drama surfaced a question that had been troubling me anyway: what 'authentic' really means now. This piece on the Beckhams fallout highlighted how 'authentic' has now become a comms commodity in its...