A video of two dancing, beatboxing nuns from Brazil recently went viral. Sisters Marizele and Marisa are fun, lively and it’s impossible not to smile watching them. They’re from the Sisters of the Copious Redemption, a 35-year-old congregation in southern Brazil focused on rehabilitating young people addicted to drugs, many of whom come to the center off the streets. The sisters saw hip hop as the way to connect. They are also an extension of a “charismatic renewal movement” with the goal of making the church more accessible and engaging to a Gen Z audience.
Reading the stories of the nuns and watching the videos, I couldn’t help thinking about ‘transformation.’ Or maybe it’s the new and exciting opportunities with AI, internal and external pressures, market shifts, and rise of stakeholder activism that has change so top-mind.
Transformation is all around us. I look no further than the healthcare space where I work. There are many examples every day. The pharmaceutical industry has been undergoing rapid change in the ways new medicines are researched and developed. Personalised medicine and digital health have shifted the way people seek and receive care (e.g. diabetes, oral care, and mental health), transforming access and affordability. AI is accelerating discovery and clinical trials, as well as enabling sharper, faster targeting, reach, predictability and much more.
Communicating what’s different and giving new and existing stakeholders information, support and encouragement to learn, benefit and feel good about what’s different are key to transformation success and business impact.
One of my favorite transformation campaigns in India right now is the Oral Health Movement from Colgate. This initiative has changed the way people can access much-needed oral care. The Oral Health Movement offers an AI-enabled dental screening tool that allows users to take a few pictures of their teeth and mouth, get a dental screening report and schedule a free dental consultation with one of 50,000 dentists from the Indian Dental Network. The fact that there has been wide receptivity to this effort, including in rural India where there is generally low awareness of oral health and high incidence of oral disease, illustrates that change is possible even in the hardest-to-reach communities, is good for people and society, and is achieving its intended goals.
To be sure, there are many different contexts for company or brand transformation. Same for stakeholders that are part of it. One constant is that for transformation to successfully come to life, it needs to be more than a word in the slide deck or presented in an energetic Town Hall speech. The effort must be well-planned and, at the right time, communicated with the full hearts, minds and emotional and professional commitment by leaders involved. And, typically, it is ideal for stakeholders to be part of the transformation as it happens, not just experience it at the end once it’s taken place.
Here are some considerations if you’re working on a transformation campaign:
The fundamentals
These are obvious must-haves;
- A compelling narrative around the change
- Clear messages about purpose, rationale, and benefits
- Engagement
- Open dialogue and easy ways to give and collect feedback
- Measurement
The not-so-secret sauce of authenticity and emotional connection
Change can be unwelcome and scary. This is where a deep understanding of the target audience is extremely valuable – AI tools can provide this information fast, freeing up comms practitioners to find the insights that will help unlock the creative approach and the emotional connections. After that, the initiative needs to be communicated with a clear narrative, authenticity and real feeling. To do that, the messengers should be carefully considered. Who in the organisation is most natural for this role? It’s not always exclusively the most senior executives. Find the communication ‘rock stars’ both in and beyond the C-suite.
How the transformation can be experienced
Passive ‘reach’ often isn’t enough in transformation campaigns. Considering and choosing among the engagement options so stakeholders can be part of the transformation is based on understanding them and finding the optimal intersections. Like Sister Marizele and Marisa, I’ve appreciated music as a universal language with the power to connect with, influence and motivate and have integrated music in transforming attitudes and actions to make tangible headway in hepatitis C, anxiety, depression and more.
There are many ways comms functions effectively and positively support and engage stakeholders, whether internal or external, in transformation and move the needle on business objectives. Technology and tools enable us to be that much more agile, targeted and effective at creating stakeholder experience. Add to that the authentic human connection central to trust, belief, participation and tangible value.
I’ll dance to that.
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
