Sometimes, there’s something that just works brilliantly as a piece of communications.
There’s been three of late that have caught the eye. One from NASA about a petition for a Death Star and one from an Elvis impersonator singing about council gritting. One about using Star Wars to make a point.
Elvis? This was a YouTube clip made by Torfaen Council’s comms team the clip features a local singer who sings – or maybe croons – about the job the council do to keep the roads clear. You can see it here.
Yes, we can use Elvis to be human…
It’s January 2013 and Neil Jones and his team should clear their mantlepiece for the silverware for that film that will rightly come their way. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Ben Hur, Titanic and The Lord of the Rings rolled into one. Best short film, best PR on a shoestring and best use of a Welsh Elvis tribute act. Step forward, Torfaen Council.
In a fine blog post for comms2point0 Neil says they’ve had more than 250,000 views, 7,000 Facebook likes and more than 2,000 Facebook shares. They’ve also batted away FOI requests demanding how much (budget: zero) and made the BBC TV news.
But what was the success? You can read the full post here but as Neil says:
‘In the depot’ goes global using a simple, sticky message which ticked all the viral boxes. People love discussing the weather, people love discussing snow, people love Elvis and people love having a laugh. The final viral ingredients were a sprinkle of planning and perfect timing.
Fun is the key. Fun makes people smile and remember and share.
Yes, the White House can use Star Wars to be human…
I’m struck by how much it chimes with other things that work. I’m also struck by a post by Philadelphia blogger Jim Garrow who writes the fine ‘Face of the Matter’ blog points to the quite brilliant response from the US Government’s Paul Shawcross who is Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
That’s a grand job title but in ruling out a request for the US Government to start work on a Death Star Paul writes:
The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn’t on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:
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The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We’re working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
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The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
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Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?
Yes, council gritters can use Star Wars to be human…
The third? Lincolnshire County Council’s skillful editing of a snowy scene to shot an At-At (that’s an enemy walking thing that’s not to be messed with) that is walking across the road with a reminder to stay safe on the roads.
It was picked up by the @starwars official account and re-tweeted to 300,000 accounts in one go.
Our cameras show Lincs drivers today must beware black ice,frozen standing snow +an Imperial assault on the rebel base. twitpic.com/bxks6r
— Lincs County Council (@LincolnshireCC) January 23, 2013
Hats off to Jonathan Fitzgerald and the comms team there.
“Our gritting teams are receiving overwhelming support and praise on our @LincsCC_Winter gritter twitter and on @LincolnshireCC for their efforts in the 2013 Snow Wars; we’re proud to give our residents – and, it seems, half the planet now, the benefit of our timely advice, warnings and updates, along with a smile.”
So in short, being human is a good way to talk to people and to ask people to listen.
That’s not rocket science.
Picture credits:
Snow Wars?! Ha! I love it!
Great post, Dan, I’ve been singing this song for years. Unfortunately, I still get push back from our subject matter experts who think we should talk like government automatons.
Jim
Fantastic examples. And respect due to those higher up the tree who backed the creativity. So often the best ideas are spiked by nervous managers – outside the comms function. All of these examples show that creativity and a bit of humour go a long way – and show that some individuals in comms teams are worth every penny of their salary. No extra budget required. Impressive stuff.
Thanks for the comments and for the blog, Dan 🙂 I agree with vindicat that trusting us comms officers to run with such creativity is vital in any organisation / council. In Lincolnshire, I’m fortunate in that regard but it’s also been down to a degree of bravery of just doing it! I was confident enough that my ideas would work to simply get on with it as the ‘comms expert’ rather than feeling like I need to run every idea or individual tweet by someone. The results are then there for everyone to see and the free reign is endorsed.
I encourage others to try similar things on social media accounts across our council, to such a degree that I let them know if they try something and it appears to ‘fail’ eg. some Followers abandon ship rather than increase, then that’s OK – part of learning what works well is learning what doesn’t work too!
Cracking stuff, Jonathan.