Break Through Buzz is the creative stuff that impressed Ketchum’s creative community this week. Check out what captured our imaginations and inspires us to keep pushing the boundaries of possibility.

Bad Taste Is in the Mouth of the Beholder
Selected by Jessica Frost

The slow-motion photography and music really help set the tone for this video of kids’ first reactions to trying new food. Naturally, it’s great inspiration for food clients, but I also think the idea of getting a pure, unfiltered reaction from kids – a la focus groups, for example – could make for a really funny video for a range of brands.

Making a Test Drive More Authentic
Selected by Anastacio Gomes

This clever activation campaign from Harley Davidson here in Brazil successfully shows how owning a Harley makes you not just another consumer, but part of an exclusive club. This type of engagement, so desirable for every brand, is constantly cultivated by Harley and strengthened by campaigns like this one.

Thinking Inside the Box
Selected by Victor Acero

This week, I discovered the work of Luc de Brabandere at the Boston Consulting Group in France, including his concept of ‘thinking in boxes.‘ Put simply, he believes we need mental boxes – models, concepts and frameworks – in order comprehend the world. In other words, it’s not so bad to “think inside the box” provided we’re creating the right boxes for ourselves. Developing new boxes focuses our minds to be creative in a focused, constructive way and points us more efficiently to potential opportunities and unexplored areas. In addition to reading his explanation of the idea in the link above, be on the lookout for de Brabandere’s new book, Thinking in New Boxes: A New Paradigm for Business Creativity, which will be on sale in September.

Laugh All the Way to Your Desk
Selected by Kirby Hosea

As someone who prefers to laugh my way through the day, I was delighted to come upon this article from Forbes highlighting why humor is important at work. From the positive relationship between humor and career advancement to humor’s connection with creative thinking, I for one will be trying to find the humor in every situation – and perhaps even test out a joke or two – more often!

Ryan Gosling’s Cereal Problem
Selected by Elizabeth Watters

I love that aspiring filmmaker Ryan McHenry was sitting on his sofa, eating cereal, watching a movie when the spark hit him – and now these six-second videos are going to open all kinds of doors for him. I’m so inspired, I’m going home to sit on my sofa and eat cereal until genius hits.

What do Bill Gates and communications measurement have in common?

As the co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates helped create an entire industry that has transformed how we do our jobs and how we live every day.

Now, through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he has also made huge strides in solving some of the world’s most difficult problems, improving the lives of millions.

In an essay based on his annual Foundation letter (The Saturday Essay, The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 25, 2013), Gates discussed the importance of constant measurement in eradicating many of the world’s worst problems.

“In the past year, I have been struck by how important measurement is to improving the human condition,” he wrote. “You can achieve incredible progress if you set a clear goal and find a measure that will drive progress toward that goal.”

In particular, he wrote that clear goal setting and ongoing measurement have led to declines in child mortality, reductions in infectious and fatal diseases around the world, and improved education systems. I strongly recommend reading the entire annual Foundation letter when you have a chance.

His message is a timely reminder of the importance of goal setting and measurement in public relations.

Last fall, at the PRSA Measurement Symposium, Microsoft shared practical advice for others tackling the communications measurement problem. Rebecca Duffy, senior manager of corporate communications, offered this guidance:

• Think about the end outcome that you are trying to drive and prioritize the measurement of that. It is not the piece of content that matters, it is the change in attitudes and behaviors that the content drives. Wherever possible, Microsoft measures the call to action in coverage and then assesses follow-through of that recommendation on the back end.
• Break down organizational silos to get to the data you need. Communications measurement can act as a powerful unifier and bridge different business groups to unearth key insights and demonstrate outcomes that affect common objectives.Share results and ask other divisions to offer their insights so everyone has a greater business-wide understanding of objectives, results, opportunities and challenges.
• Measure and report your outcomes in a way that your business leadership understands and cares about. Microsoft uses its communications measurement program to engage with business leadership about communications and its role in helping the business achieve its core objectives.
• Don’t lose the fundamentals. Microsoft uses measurement as a discussion point in planning to make sure that everyone is on the same page about the goals from the beginning.
• Consider using many tools.  If there’s a business goal that’s worth measuring, then Microsoft is committed to implementing the right tool to get to the data — and will depart from the tools they normally use, even if just for that project.  It helps them stay open to new ways of thinking that map to the changing nature of the communications business.

Duffy’s comments about communications measurement reflect the headline of Gates’ essay in the Journal:  “From the fight against polio to fixing education, what’s missing is often good measurement and a commitment to follow the data. We can do better. We have the tools in hand.”

As we learned at the Symposium, which will convene again at this year’s International Conference in Philadelphia, public relations has the ability to undertake excellent measurement programs based on clear goals linked to business objectives.

Surely if Gates can unlock the power of goal setting and measurement to help reduce childhood mortality, then PR pros can apply measurement to ensure that our profession is aligned to improving business and organizational performance.

Note: this post first appeared on PRSA.org.

But according to former-Financial Times journalist turned media entrepreneur Tom Foremski, corporates are failing to connect with their audiences and there are very few successful examples of the genre.

Foremski was interviewed by communication consultant Stuart Bruce at a CIPR PR Thought Leader briefing in London last week.

Corporate Media Must be Audience Led

“Publishing content doesn’t [count for anything]. It doesn’t necessarily result in an audience,” he said.

Organizations are obsessed with pushing brand and product messages said Foremski. They want to appear cool and feel good about themselves rather than engage with their audiences.

His lesson was clear: organizations must avoid vanity media and report and share stories that engage their audience.

Leading Media Change

Foremski’s career follows the story of changing media over the last decade. He moved from Computing in the UK to the US, worked for a West Coast news agency, and then the Financial Times in 1999 as the West Coast editor.

In 2004 he left the Financial Times to launch media and technology blog Silicon Valley Watcher and has since worked as a blogger and consultant.

Foremski said that he saw the writing on the wall for tradition media, shackled to legacy organizational structures, and infrastructure, while at same time giving content away for free.

“Now anyone can set up a publishing platform and be up and running within 24 hours,” said Foremski.

Foremski isn’t optimistic for the future of the traditional media. He said that many of the legacy practices from print journalism remain, calling out the obsession with page views.

“If you’re chasing page views you lose any kind of editorial distinction other than populism,” he said.

Foremski is equally gloomy about the future of investigative journalism as newsrooms are stripped back to the bone. “Where are the hardened newsroom hacks with 20-years experience of rooting out stories going to come from in the future,” he said.

Where are the hardened newsroom hacks with 20+ experience going to come from in the future asks @tomforemski #prleaders

— Stephen Waddington (@wadds) May 8, 2013

Public Relations: Work to Do

The public relations profession, like the traditional media industry, is struggling to modernize according to Foremski.

In February 2006 Foremski wrote an infamous blog post titled Die! Press release! Die! Die! Die! In which he called time on the press release. It has been circulated around communication teams and PR agencies several times over during the intervening period.

“Press releases are nearly useless. They typically start with a tremendous amount of topspin; they contain pat-on-the-back phrases and meaningless quotes. Often they will contain quotes from C-level executives praising their customer focus.”

Foremski called for the press release to be deconstructed to factual blocks of information and quotes so that the blogger or journalist can build a story.

Seven years on change is coming but it’s slow. “I’m still getting PDF press releases without links by email,” he said.

Foremski’s call to action for the future of media and public relations remains consistent and inspiring.

“Come and help me figure this out, I don’t have all the answers, I’m making it up as I go along,” he said.

The CIPR’s Thought Leader events hosted by the CIPR are aimed at senior public relations professionals, providing an opportunity for discussion, debate and networking on topical subjects.

I’ve created a Storify post of the conversation between Bruce and Foremski.

Years ago, I savored the nightly ritual of putting my kids to bed. Packing their freshly bathed and powdered pink limbs into fuzzy, warm sleepers; reading, re-reading and re-reading again the stack of children’s books by the rocking chair, and saying good night to the menagerie of stuffed characters who inhabited the bed with them.

And I remember when my son was barely more than two years old how amazed I was at the abilities of his uncorrupted brain. He created elaborate worlds, populated by all his toys; settings and characters that were complex and richly detailed. I remember thinking, “How do I NOT screw this up?” When he was barely four we got our first foreshadowing of his future self when he began directing us to videotape his imaginative scenes. Soon thereafter he began dictating a series of stories that he only wrapped up in a grand finale a month ago, upon graduation from film school. One night as I was saying good night, when he was about 13, he had one of those outrageously wise comments that our kids surprise us with. “I hope I can always remember what it feels like to be a kid.” Looking at his creative endeavors, I think he’s done a pretty good job of that but it wasn’t for lack of effort by the public school system, and sometimes by his well-meaning parents, to squeeze that out of him.

That is the point that Sir Ken Robinson, author and international advisor on education in the arts, makes in his TED talk, an oldie but a goody.

Children starting school this year will be working well into the 2070s, yet we have an educational system that was designed in the 19th century to prepare them for the industrial revolution. We don’t have a clue what the world will look like in five years, let alone in 30.

To prepare today’s kids for whatever that world might hold, Mr. Robinson argues we must recognize creativity is as important in education as literacy. But instead, we tend to systematically drain our children’s capacity for creativity and innovation. “All kids have tremendous talents and we squander them pretty ruthlessly.”

To understand the importance of this observation we have only to look at ourselves and our performance in the workplace, where we think of ourselves as doing things of great value. Compare that to the time wasted by kids playing video games.

Video games are designed to be entertaining but even if adults find the storylines engaging, we have little patience for them because we hate getting it wrong. You have to fail a lot at a video game before you succeed. Kids are willing to do that. They are not frightened or embarrassed by making mistakes. At least not until adults and our education systems shame them into that fear.

“Being wrong isn’t the same as being creative,’ says Mr. Robinson. “But if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”

Our mission then, is to see our creative capacities for the riches they are, to see our children for the hope they are, and to educate whole beings so they can face the unknown future and adapt to it.

This article first appeared on the HolmesReport.com.

Break Through Buzz is the creative stuff that impressed Ketchum’s creative community this week. Check out what captured our imaginations and inspires us to keep pushing the boundaries of possibility.

Protection From Prying Eyes
Selected by Elena Weinstein

This ad takes a creative approach to covertly gearing different messages to adults and kids based on what can be seen from various vantage points. The goal is to promote activism against child abuse and appeal to those who are abused without the perpetrator seeing. While there has been some contention about its efficacy, at the very least it creates an impetus for advertisers to find innovative ways to reach different demographics, like children, by leveraging technology and unique displays in an attempt to educate and empower.

Pedaling Peddlers
Selected by Charlotte Haigh

These innovative retailers put a cost-effective AND eco-friendly spin on treats like coffee, ice cream and smoothies by powering them with bicycles. A great example of how we can repurpose old technologies to new ends. I hope to see these brands spinning around New York sometime soon!

A Look Inside a Brilliant Mind
Selected by Jeff Lewonczyk

Saul Bass, one of the genius communicators of the 20^th Century, would have turned 93 on May 8. (If you’re not familiar with his work, check out this week’s Google doodle in his honor.) Among the various tributes, I came across Bass’s Oscar-winning short documentary from 1968, “Why Man Creates.” This film doesn’t so much describe the creative process as embody it through a series of lenses: a cartoon trip up the edifice of Western civilization; sequences of a fictional artist building a rebellious sculpture and popping off dismissive critics; a parable about an over-exuberant ping pong ball; and so much more. It’s a bit dated in places, but in the most charming possible way – and its underlying messages endure.

Over a blistery cold weekend, some 35,000 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders (AKA Berkshire fanatics) waited in the pouring rain for the start of the savored annual meeting. Their prizes were the opportunity to get their hands on the goods for sale by savvy Berkshire Hathaway merchants, and a chance at learning from the two peanut-brittle chomping octogenarians who run the company: Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett.

And why shouldn’t they be fanatics? Berkshire Hathaway has the highest priced stock share on the New York Stock Exchange, closing up on kick-off day of the annual meeting at $162,904. The company stock produced a total return of 76 percent from 2000–2010 versus an 11.3 percent negative return for the S&P.

The Berkshire Hathaway Companies have a key opportunity to interact and sell directly to their audiences, who also happen to be shareholders; and what a better place to spread your brands products and services through word of mouth? In addition, because the meeting has become so legendary, every major national media outlet (CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, FOX, AP, Reuters) are in attendance for five days covering not only Warren Buffett and the meeting, but the various companies, products, services, employees and executives.

Known as “Woodstock for capitalists,” the annual meeting welcomed such folks as PR hacks like me, along with farmers, cab drivers, reporters and money managers, and even the likes of George Lucas and Bill Gates.

I knew to expect excited investors from around the world, packed restaurants and booked hotels, but I did not expect a full out stampede to the convention center seating. Nor was I prepared for the majority of Berkshire products on hand to sell like ice cream on a summer day. It was rumored that Justin Boots sells a pair at the rate of something like every 30 seconds. The products have the instant stamp of approval and sex appeal that comes from the Berkshire cache.

The best surprise of the weekend for me, however, was the meeting. It kicked off with a company video peppered with megastars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Bon Jovi, then moved to a live state-of-the-business report by Mr. Buffett, and then came my surprise (drumroll): five hours of Q&A with Munger and Buffett. Five hours!

At 89 and 82, respectively, they are with it too. Buffett, AKA the “Oracle of Omaha,” recently started a twitter feed. The annual meeting Q&A covered everything from details on company holdings, to the world economy and inevitably landed on life after Buffett.  To my and many others great relief, his economic outlook is positive.

One question that struck me came from a nay-sayer concerning data from page 184 of the annual report. Without skipping a beat or searching for his copy, Buffett knew exactly what the questioner meant and was right on target with his answer.  Before long, I too was glued to my seat and hanging on every word.

As someone in the public relations industry, I was cognizant that attendance at the Berkshire Hathaway provides marketers with a key opportunity to amplify their specific brand. An entity unto itself, being part of the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio separates you from your competitors and an opportunity to break through the mass clutter. I left the weekend feeling like a bright sage had gifted me with the peace and confidence that come from knowing your facts, coupled with clear optimism for the future.

“Mommy bloggers.” A term in our industry that rarely doesn’t conjure up a reaction. The idea that moms, already a population that overindexes on opinion-sharing, have a sub-industry of online websites where they can share judgment on life, has rubbed some the wrong way.

PR practitioners are familiar with mommy bloggers as a coveted influencer group – an (increasingly paid) medium for their brand’s message. So the thought of mommy bloggers gathered together at a conference may inspire some public backlash from non-mommy bloggers and mainstream media (see Katharine Rosen’s recent Wall Street Journal diatribe on mommy conferences serving as veiled benders away from husband and kids).

Does all of the above sound cliché and stereotypical? It should, because it is. Last week I attended the fifth edition of the Mom 2.0 summit with Dotty Giordano, VP Group Manager, and several of our clients. It was a scouting mission – a chance for us to have a shared agency/client learning experience on conference “best practices.” Though some of the experience was as I expected, it was readily apparent that the mommy blogger crowd here was warmer and more flexible than you’d expect – less tiger mom and more open-minded mom. While the three day experience was indeed a “break” for attendees – it was not to enjoy the serene ocean views of Southern California – it was also an educational, engaging experience, meant to provide motivation and material for bloggers to return home with.

Positioned as a merging of “moms, marketers, and media,” I found that the conference size lent itself perfectly to brand activations. The title sponsor launched an entire campaign Day 1 of the conference. Other sponsors engaged attendees through evening parties and beautiful displays in the sponsor hall, aptly titled “The Market.” Ketchum’s own digital strategist and dad blogger extraordinaire, Jim Lin, spoke to entranced bloggers about expanding their digital footprint while maintaining credibility. Although at 500 people and growing, Mom 2.0 is still smaller than its female-focused conference siblings, BlogHer and Blissdom. I found myself able to engage with every brand on-site, and remember the messaging they were sharing – something I’d never be able to do at SXSW, for example.

Of course, opinions of content are naturally mixed. Though a better conference for brand engagement, I got the sense that some perceived Mom 2.0 content to be less compelling and actionable than BlogHer. Though some sessions offered dynamic advice and debates (such as a vibrant session with actress-turned-mommy activist Amanda Peet on championing a cause), others sessions seemed to contain very rudimentary information – building a blog 101, if you will. But, perhaps some attendees needed that 101 education. I walked out of a session thinking it seemed very basic, but overheard multiple others murmur commentary on how the session was “absolutely life changing.” To each her own. Who am I to judge what mommy bloggers should and shouldn’t already know? I’m not yet a mom.

In the end, I fell alongside the mommy bloggers in their critique of Rosen’s Wall Street Journal piece. I left the conference with a deeper sense of understanding of this community, which was slightly unexpected, as it’s one that I’ve engaged with for years. I may never become a blogging parent, but it was uplifting to see an online community so supportive and happy to meet in person. The attendees clearly love their “work” and the benefits to themselves and their peers are remarkable. And if they share common passions with mom-focused brands, then it makes all the sense in the world to connect. Is there an undercurrent of wanting to make a profit? Naturally. But that doesn’t diminish the authentic, passionate spirit of all involved.

It’s customary at industry association events to discuss issues of common concern – the rising power of procurement, the threat of other marketing disciplines and questions about where growth will come from and which industries to specialize in.  It’s easy to define our common interests by our common challenges, and there is of course tremendous value in finding common ground through national associations and ICCO.

But I am by nature an optimist, and I’d prefer to focus on the reasons we have to celebrate our business and to discuss how we can continue to develop our industry in a way that benefits our people, our clients and our own personal aspirations.

In fact I’m so optimistic, so encouraged by what I’ve seen in my meetings around the world, that I can think of ten reasons to be happy in the PR consultancy business today.

1. PR is (almost) truly global.

For decades we’ve talked about the globalization of the PR business, and we have in fact seen consultancies arise and organize all over the world.

A key objective of ICCO is to help organize new associations wherever there’s interest. This further professionalizes the industry and expands the perspectives and insights we’re able to share with our long-standing members. It also give us the scope and reach to begin organizing into regional structures that will enable us to provide both a global perspective and regionally relevant agenda.

2. PR is truly local.

While globalization steals the headlines, the real action may be in localization: through a combination of social media applications that focus on highly specific localization, and the tracking of search and post trends by city and even post-codes, the potential for PR is enormous. Whether agencies work for local clients that now are now ‘turned on’ by PR and its potential, or for global multinationals, there are several trends worth noting:

-          Content style is moving from the formal to informal, in all languages.  This requires a detailed and nuanced understanding of how language and imagery are used locally, and creates opportunities for us to add value beyond mere translation to communications planning and activity.

-          Beyond language and culture, there are opportunities to support clients locally in community management, customer support and other important aspects of client business.

-          There will be opportunities to provide training and learning support to clients interested in working locally and leveraging the workforce’s knowledge and awareness of business practices and cultural norms.

-          Global brands will continue to find ways to connect with local sensitivities and community-mindedness.  McDonalds for example is experimenting with a MaccyD’s brand in Australia in recognition of how the brand is actually seen and discussed there.

If you believe the trends of globalization and localization are real and will continue, the implications are clear.  Global networks like Ketchum must find ways to reach into the local markets that are most important to our clients – which seems to be all of them – in ways that are efficient and consistent for the client, and interesting and rewarding for our people.  And while local agencies don’t need to surrender their independence, they will want to find a way to connect with the wider world of expertise, information and opportunity.

3. Technology will set us free.

Without a doubt, the most important development in PR right now is the rise of Internet-driven communications.  I could write a separate blog post discussing this, but I think it’s the most important opportunity for us in 60 years.

Agencies seem to respond in one of three ways:

Ignore it
Outsource it
Transform their business around it

My personal belief is that this is a once in a generation opportunity to modernize the industry and that the only viable strategy is to transform our business around the rise of digital applications and social media.

The writing is on the wall, and more than likely it is a Facebook wall. Organizations that fail to engage with their audiences in these new ways are on a path to self-destruction.  Those that embrace this – and the agencies that show them how, are the ones that will succeed.

4. Psychology is the new black.

As exciting as a world linked and driven by technology is for our business, there’s a whole new universe of opportunity much closer to hand: our understanding of the human mind.  While much of the action focuses on moving information and ideas from point to point around the world, there is increasing interest in how ideas and opinions and decisions form in the 3 pounds of the average human brain. Advances in brain imagery and neurology, and serious analysis of well-designed experiences in sociology and psychology, are offering dramatic insight into how we interpret and use information and emotions to make decisions about what we buy, how we vote, whether to smoke or who to marry.

We would rightly say that we’ve always put psychology and our understanding of human nature at the heart of our work, but I think we’ll see social science take on increasing prominence in our strategic work. Concepts like ‘nudging’ and ‘framing’ are increasingly common in the way agencies are planning and designing strategy, and candidates with credentials in psychology or anthropology are increasingly sought after.

At Ketchum we’ve enjoyed a partnership with another Omnicom company called Maslansky and Partners.  Their basic assumption is that what we say as communicators is far less important than what audiences actually hear. And before you say this is obvious, think about how many times we have included key messages in our content without ever doing the research necessary to know if the messages work. Maslansky helps track the relative power of different messages with audiences with highly specific testing in advance of any production or communication.

5. Advertising value equivalency is dead.

Well, if it’s not dead, it’s dying.  Those of you familiar with the Barcelona Principles created by the Association of Measurement and Evaluation in Communications will know that the industry is finally getting serious about ending the charade of measuring the value of our work by trying to compare it some kind of comparable form of advertising.

6. Advertising is our new frenemy.

A constant refrain at PR meetings is the competitive threat posed by advertising agencies and their incursions onto “our turf.” There is no doubt to me that the lines between the different channels of communications and marketing are blurring, and there will be times when assignments we thought should rightfully be “ours” will go to an ad agency – especially as clients struggle to understand the difference between our approach to social media and content and theirs.

But I think there’s a greater opportunity than risk posed by the advertising community, and that’s in working together to solve client problems. Rather than argue the superiority of PR or the supposed weaknesses of advertising, I think we would be better served looking for ways to foster collaboration and joined up thinking. Our clients will thank us, our work will be better, and ultimately we’ll create greater opportunities together than apart.

7. Internal communications – an emerging market right under our noses.

One of the fastest growing areas at Ketchum is internal communications and change management.  Rather than trying to ‘convert’ our external communications specialists, we’ve hired organizational psychologists and other specialists to help clients with employee engagement and advocacy, recruiting and retention, and managing major change initiatives.

This line of work offers access to whole new client budgets, expands the areas in which we can add value and create new relationships, and obviously helps to align internal and external communications.

8. Corporate communications is taking center-stage

With greater transparency and openness comes greater scrutiny on corporate and institutional communicators. External audiences – consumers, customers, investors and regulators – want to know that companies are doing what they say they are doing. This presents an opportunity for communications advisers to frame corporate policy, not just the words to describe corporate policy.

It also ushers in a new age of expectations for leaders, who are now expected to be more than merely good decision-makers; they now must be great communicators – engaging and inspiring, and giving a sense of purpose to the organization’s business.

At Ketchum we collect data annually on what the public expects from leaders in terms of communications. You can check out this year’s findings here.

9. Our creative moment in the sun is upon us.

This year I have the privilege and honor of serving as president of the PR jury at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.  Now I know there have been some questions in the past about the lack of winning entries coming from PR firms, and the value of supporting a competition that’s not a “pure “ PR event, and I’ll save these debates for another day.

I will say, however, that I’m encouraged by the number of PR agencies who say they are entering work for Cannes this year, and the quality of the work I have seen at other competitions like the SABRE awards, the PRCA awards, and PR Week awards, has every chance of shining on the stage this summer in France.

10. We are changing the world.

I say this with no sense of irony or cynicism. We have always helped our clients make a difference in the world by helping them understand the expectations placed upon them by their stakeholders and to align their words and actions with those expectations, and in many cases this work has been instrumental to improving the lives of millions.

And now it seems PR agencies are making more direct contributions to their communities and society in general by putting serious effort into their own corporate citizenship, not just that of their clients. Just about every agency I meet has a cause they support with pro bono services, and many are building CSR into their own culture and business practices, not just in their list of offers for clients.

At Ketchum we have been deeply connected to a global organization called Room To Read, which promotes literacy and advocates education for children – especially girls – in Asia and Africa, and we make significant agency resources available around the world. As you can imagine, agencies that ‘practice what they preach’ are attractive to clients, but also to employees, who increasingly have high expectations of their employers.

I am sure you have got your own examples of PR you have done to support causes you and your people care about, and I would invite you to share them with the world so that others might learn from and be inspired by your success. And I am offering this invitation literally – I am involved with a project developed in partnership with the World Economic Forum and the US Ad Council called Creative For Good, in which social education campaigns of all kinds are placed in a database for use and inspiration by others looking for creative help and guidance. Selfishly I’m hoping to have lots of PR campaigns on the site as a way of not just saying we can solve big problems, but showing it.  I hope you’ll feel free to contact me directly if you’re interested in this.

This post first appeared on the ICCO blog.

Break Through Buzz is the creative stuff that impressed Ketchum’s creative community this week. Check out what captured our imaginations and inspires us to keep pushing the boundaries of possibility.

This Is One Way to Keep Magazines Alive…
Selected by Brian Keenan

Microsoft put free T-Mobile wi-fi hotspots in subscriber issues of Forbes magazine. Once activated, the magazine provided free wi-fi for 15 days. Interesting way to connect print with digital.

Do Not Like
Selected by Maria Simson

This bold new campaign from UNICEF Sweden identifies a general dislike of a well-known social media tactic (“liking” x to get y). While some digital strategists might disagree with the claim that a like has no value, it’s a thought-provoking way to help social media users translate awareness into action.

Stockholm’s Homeless Write Their Own Résumés
Selected by Charlotte Haigh

To combat a 22-percent drop in sales of Situation Stockholm, a magazine sold by the city’s homeless, the publication created a series of posters showing the “résumés” of its homeless salespeople. This moving campaign garnered a great deal of attention among consumers and the media, increasing sales by 101.5 percent the month after it launched. A nice example of using creativity to support a worthy cause.

Still Babies After All These Years
Selected by Anne Mathieu

Bottled water brand Evian has featured healthy babies moving and dancing in their ads for 15 years, building its brand positioning on trust, health, natural benefits and quality. The brand’s newest video takes the concept to new heights and shows that a successful platform can be extended to live a long life – the new video has already been seen 42 million times.

Admit It, You Want to See Them
Selected by Jeff Lewonczyk

Readers of the Onion know that its absurd comedy serves as a Trojan horse for social and political commentary – and the same holds true for this ridiculous piece called “74 Normal Photos And Two Kinda Weird Ones.” Did I click 76 times in order to get to the bottom of it? You bet. Even though the Onion meant it as a parody of silly Buzzfeed-style lists, the truth shines through: You can never go broke by bluntly, shamelessly exploiting human curiosity.

All Hail This Video!
Selected by Amy Andrieux

One Sentence: Using classic New York cab-hailing moments to convince us why the city’s Smartphone Hail App is not only necessary, but kind of late = Awesome.

Seeing-Eye People
Selected by Abby Lovett

This campaign from comedy group Improv Everywhere got my attention initially because it’s hilarious – and, while unbranded, it got me thinking about funny ‘everyday moments’ that can be tapped into on behalf of brands.

The London office of Ketchum was treated to a visit by Erin Ganju, CEO of Room to Read, an impressive non profit organization dedicated to children, literacy and girls’ education. Erin’s inspiring talk, which included a story about a child Suma who was saved from slavery in Nepal, reminded me of a conversation with a friend not based in a Room to Read beneficiary country who decried: “charity starts at home.”

I was glad my friend challenged me because it got me thinking: “what is home?” and where should precious time or money be spent on helping others? I’ve had the privilege of living in urban centers and blue collar towns in the US (New York City, Wright City), Japan (Tokyo, Hidaka-cho) and now London, so it struck me: home starts with ourselves. Thus, home starts with our own PASSION alongside our commitments and priorities.

I am a mother of two girls with an interesting job in charge of shaping stories and finding ways to frame them to people, communities and networks. I’ve come to realize that children, education, girls and storytelling are where my passions lie, no matter where my home may be located. Room to Read helped me see this. And you know what?  Something interesting happened on my way to this realization. Suddenly, my home got a little bit bigger.

Room to Read prompted me to think about how the acute  stresses of poverty and payday loans might affect a parent’s emotional and financial well being when working to provide their child with a supportive home life and robust education. This is why I support the aims of Kensington & Chelsea’s Your Credit Union.

Room to Read also inspired me to think about who is telling our stories and what the narrative landscape might look like if more women made films (less than 10% and 15% make up the directors and screenwriters, respectively) and this is why I support Birds Eye View.

Room to Read led me to think about my own daughters’ Addison Primary School one block away, which is benefiting from the good works of thoughtful parents and staff and it makes me appreciate them all the more.

Room to Read even led me to think about boys – lest my support of girls be misinterpreted – and how partnerships with my husband, friends, neighbors and work colleagues have proven crucial and why, yes, I support men, too! You see, charity and home can start small on a localized level, but look how much bigger it can be when we think about it on a macro scale and care for a child in Nepal the same way we care about a child on Folgate Street in London.

Photo credit: thelightbox.net