The KISS principle

One thing that i have always struggled with as an avid writer, reader and aspiring PR practitioner is my extensive vocabulary, which always seems to make a pervasive presence in every type of personal or professional writing that I do. However, whilst once upon a time i would have thought it to be a positive in any situation, I am rapidly learning that there is a time and place for a sharp and succinct style of writing..and i had better be ready for it!

One of my favorite websites on writing, editing and Public Relations - PRdaily.com - has published a few things on mastering this craft or what i like to call, the "Keep It Simple Stupid" (KISS) method, which I thought I might embed in my post today.  One of their articles focuses on the great orator Winston Churchill and the tips and tricks you can learn from studying the work of this inspiring man.

I particularly liked the comparison that the site made between one of Churchill's speeches and a snapshot of a piece of writing written on behalf of Kodak. Check it out below!
 

"I ran Winston’s speech through an online tool that measures readability. It highlights any words with three syllables or more in blue. Here’s what it looks like:


Here’s what the abstract biz-babble from Kodak looks like:


Incidentally, the tool also gives you a Gunning Fog Index number, which tells you the age at which someone would have to leave full-time education to understand the text. Churchill’s figure is 9.698. The figure for Kodak is 26.95.
Lesson: Run your text through the Gunning Fog Index and replace as many long words as you can. Pitch your writing at the primary school level, not that of a PhD."

I thought this was so interesting because:

a) I'd never heard of the Gunning Fog Index before but how helpful such a tool would be for PR practitioners! and b) It is clear that a much more succinct style of writing makes for easier reading, understanding and flow in general.

Of course having said that,  I also think that your style of writing should depend on your audience and there are certainly occasions that do call for a more extravagant use of language, but the key here is deciphering the difference between these occasions, so that whatever you do write is written in a way that your target audience will not not only take interest in, but will in the very least, understand. 

WINNERS!

 

I have really fantastic news to report!

But first the background story..

In February this year, I signed up to take part in a Global Communications Project 2012 that consisted of teams from all countries around that globe, brought together to develop a global PR campaign for a particular client. This year, our client was AGEDI and their worldwide summit - Eye on the Earth.

So for the past 10 weeks, myself along with 3 other Australian team members and the the rest of our team from such countries as Germany, New Zealand, Abu Dhabi and India, worked tirelessly to produce a 97-slide presentation that aimed at raising local, national and international awareness of the Summit, it's objectives and initiatives.

Two weeks ago we found that this presentation and thus, our Global PR Plan came second place in the competition - by only .0.36 of a mark!

It was such a thrilling result and though we didn't take first place, our score and praise was testament enough to the hard work that we had all put in. 

Working together as a virtual global team was an interesting and incredibly insightful experience for me that taught me so much about the world of international public relations and what I might expect should I have to take part in another international PR campaign during my career. It was certainly not an easy experience and like anything, it had its obvious positives and negatives (For example; Getting up at 2am in the morning for conference calls - not the funnest experience!), but at the end of the day I am so happy that I put myself up to the challenge, because the result and reward has far outweighed any of the drawbacks. 

Well done to team 4 of Glob Com 2012! We deserve it!

A PR Tactic that really Sticks out!

 A few weeks ago my parents came back from an all expenses paid, group holiday to the Maldives. Upon their return, they showed me a memento that they were given from the trip and I was really astounded and inspired to find that unlike the conventional native delicacies or tacky souvenirs that one might naturally expect to find in a  “good-bye goodie bag”, they were given this medium sized, round, sterling-silver pendent instead. Now you might be thinking, isn’t this one of those tacky souvenirs you were just speaking about Bianca? Well let me tell you, looks can be deceiving. Inside this smooth silver pendant was something so small yet so significant, that it transformed this gift from something essentially tacky and common to a clever and creative testament to original thinking and Public Relations.  

 

 Want to know what it was? 

A USB memory stick.

 

Yes, that unappealing, little, silver piece of metal that so many of us take for granted in our everyday lives was dressed up and given as a fancy memento, full of photographs taken of the group on their trip. As soon as I pulled apart the pendent to find the USB stick hiding inside, I was instantly hit with a feeling of inspiration and admiration for the visionaries behind the creation of this gift.

Because sometimes, I think that a PR practitioner’s role to simply connect a corporation with its target publics can, like the unassuming USB stick, be taken for granted and underestimated in this day and age.  Sometimes even the most basic connection with a business or brand’s target audiences might tick the boxes and seem enough in order to satisfy the average PR practitioner, when what it really takes is creative and innovative thinking to truly establish a distinguished and lasting connection with people. This is what this USB pendant signifies for me.

PR practitioners really do have the power and potential to connect audiences with the honest and emotional being of a brand.  So when I see tactics like this that go beyond the norm and actually do try to facilitate this connection on another level, it inspires me to apply these lessons learnt in my own journey as well as strive to find a unique and meaningful point of difference in my own Public Relation's world.

German Brand Whites Out its competition with Social Media

There's no denying that as an aspiring PR practitioner, a need to know, understand and utilize Social Media is a 'must' in the 21st Century. Every day, corporations are finding new and innovative ways to reach out and connect with their target publics beyond previously conceived social media boundaries.
The German correction-fluid brand, Tipp-ex, is one of these companies and I wanted to commend them in my very first blog entry, for inspiring me to push the sides of the societal box in which we think and live, and make room for something that hadn't been considered before.

It's videos like this that, in my opinion, really work to carve a divide between simple social media use and the true potential of this global medium. Though Social media is certainly an essential PR/Marketing tool in this century, it can and does have its drawbacks if its not utilized in a way that harnesses its true potential.

Also, considering how many businesses actually use social media these days, sometimes a presence on these social networking sites is not enough. This is why brands like Tipp-ex do so well because they break the mould and give us a glimpse of what social media can actually do for a brand when you add a few other ingredients like creativity, innovation and inspiring originality into the mix.


Check it out!