A good public relations campaign makes the audience introspect, think and act. It makes you look inside yourself and then explore the outer world. I ask myself, “Does the work I do make my audience pause and examine how they feel about the product, service, or topic?” “Does it open new ways of thinking?” And finally, “Does it prompt the target audience to take some action?”
This is what I call the IT Act (Introspection, Thinking, Action). The starting point is always visibility and attention. Yes, the campaign must grab attention but once it has got the eyes and ears of the audience, then the IT Act test is a good one to apply. Too often my effort stops at getting attention, which in itself is not an easy thing to accomplish. If I am not careful, it is easy for me to say “OK my job is done.” However, I believe by getting attention, the true job of public relations has only just begun.
To pass the IT Act test requires a lot of clarity in terms of who is my audience, what I want them to examine after they hear or read my message, and finally what I want them to do. For example, a really interesting campaign that I came across that hits all the right notes is one that is aimed at addressing unconscious gender bias. Each question made me introspect, think about my own unconscious biases, and then ask myself what I could or would do with this newfound awareness. For instance, one such action is that it prompted me to write about it to share it forward.
The insight for this campaign came from a study, of 1,000 parents of primary school-age children and 1,000 UK-based children aged 5-11. For instance, 45% of the children polled believe that nurses are women, 22% said a doctor is likely to be a man, and 60% think that being a plumber or electrician is a man’s job. On a more optimistic note, a majority of kids agreed that children should grow up to be whatever they want (94%), while 82% believe that boys and girls can be just as good at the same things if they try. The Imagine poster campaign was created in 2022 for Women’s Day. It involved people and kept them engaged with the help of a colouring book, which can be bought from cpblondon.com (with monies raised going to Beyond Equality and Young Women’s Trust), which encourages parents to talk to their children about gender roles. A perfect example of a campaign that gets people to Introspect, Think, and then Act.
Building in multiple layers of texture and engagement is what makes this campaign a powerful one. The posters are a wonderful way to grab attention. However, once they had got my eyeballs, they then took me on a journey inward to examine if I had some unconscious biases (which I did). Then it seemed to ask me what I would now do with this awareness. The colouring book and the option of contributing to organisations that are doing good work in this space are two routes that the campaign created for me to act if I should so desire. It is interesting to note that this campaign was created by an advertising agency, however to me, it has all the ingredients of a good PR campaign and the shelf life to keep touching lives.
The lines are blurring when it comes to communication disciplines and clients do not have boxes that agencies are put in anymore. If you have a creative idea that ticks all the boxes of the IT Act, it does not matter if it is rooted in advertising, PR, an event, or lives digitally – let it out to play.
Colour outside the lines, change minds, change the rules but whatever you do don’t just stop at grabbing attention. Do something with it once you have it.
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
A trusted coaching and communications professional, Nikhil Dey is a certified life and leadership coach (International Coach Federation - ICF). Nurturing talent and helping clients achieve their goals is what makes him happy. He loves learning from students of communication, teaching courses and guest lecturing at various educational institutions. When he is not working you will find him on the tennis court or out for long walks with his family and four legged friends.
Previously he has held senior leadership positions at Weber Shandwick and Genesis BCW.
He can be reached on twitter @deydreaming
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