Ladies and gentlemen, in Northern England this week a powerboat was dumped on the street and as a result Doncaster Council won the internet.
The speed boat will not be the only thing dumped across the country with the cost likely to top £50 million across the UK.
Every council across the country is forced to pay to clean-up illegally dumped waste. But aside the financial cost there’s the cost to communities blighted by bags of rubbish.
An everyday story told in GIFs
GIFs are short animations which date from the 1990s. For the past 30 years GIFs have been used across parts of the internet to make a point or tell a story. The public sector at first hesitant to use these animated devices have started slowly to use them.
Doncaster Council’s comms team decided to tell this everyday story using GIFs. It is magnificent. Human, witty, warm and engaging. Will it work for everthing? No. Does it work for this? Absolutely.
The great twin triumph of this is not the web architecture of GIFs that creates it. What makes it a triumph is the reaction it gets from people, firstly. They smile and connect. But most of all it is the willingness to experiment.
A story told as a thread of GIFs
And the story begins…
We have found a speedboat. On a road. In Doncaster. THREAD: pic.twitter.com/7N9NU2Eqn5
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
First we had a car in a pond. Now we have a speedboat on a road. Just another day in Doncaster, apparently?! pic.twitter.com/A1YpEf7n9I
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
You’re probably thinking “Hang on, but Doncaster is 44.77 miles from the seaside?”. Well, you’d be correct. pic.twitter.com/6Ic8v35fCY
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
Despite our land-locked location, some funny person has decided to dump a boat directly under a no fly-tipping sign. pic.twitter.com/smKqgVke9I
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
We’re all in stitches. pic.twitter.com/lSQwJk42zS
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
Seriously, even the boat looks embarrassed! pic.twitter.com/is5tcPP92v
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
Fortunately, we have trained Enforcement officers who specialise in investigating fly-tipping. pic.twitter.com/6DXEgOmHVU
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
Our Enforcement team had a wonderful day on the boat, combing it for clues to catch the culprit. pic.twitter.com/QYx4G3JO9a
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
One line of investigation is that this guy could be involved. pic.twitter.com/sI60z6pUF6
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
Once we catch the culprit they could get a Fixed Penalty Notice, a suspended sentence, or maybe a more…nautical punishment would be fitting pic.twitter.com/9B1pSq7Dlg
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
The boat has now been removed and, having been investigated further, is now in boat heaven. pic.twitter.com/y3gVsqPzkf
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
The boat has now been removed and, having been investigated further, is now in boat heaven. pic.twitter.com/y3gVsqPzkf
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) October 31, 2017
The chief praises the work…
But perhaps the cherry on top of the cake is that Doncaster Council’s chief executive used Twitter to send them a fist-bump.
Great work folks , love this 👊🏽
— Jo miller (@jomillerdonny) October 31, 2017
The idea is to tell stories every week using the technique of Twitter thread and GIFs. That’s fine. But the real win in this is experimenting with how people are already using the internet. This won’t work in every piece of communications. That’s fine.
But where this does win is by creating human and engaging content. As a resident you’d want to follow the account.
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