Keeping it real

 

Artwork (c) Savannah Harper 2012

 Just as a disclaimer, I don’t have nearly this many cats. My friend and grad school classmate Savannah Harper is a chronic doodler, and sometimes embellishes her lecture-note drawings to the point of absurdity. And at first glance, it’s no more than that—a silly representation of a Crazy Cat Lady and her fuzzy companions.

On the other hand, it’s a perfect illustration of contemporary public relations: you might start with a big idea, but you have to make it interesting and personal to keep my attention.

For example, this drawing started with an American Heart Association “Go Red For Women” red dress sticker, provided by our class speaker, Malinda Mason Miller. The principal and proprietor of EmCubed Creative shared insights into her role with the AHA campaign as it entered a second—and critical—year. While her presentation detailed specific challenges and changes, the bigger point was one of “keeping it real.” Heart disease transcends statistics; it touches real people and changes real lives. The campaign had to find a way to do the same.

The AHA approached it just as Savannah did—starting with a core concept (the sticker, the comms basics) and filling in details until I could see myself at the center as an active participant.

I think this notion is core to the rise of social media in the communications field. Technology has finally caught up with our need to be more than “an audience.” We’re individual people, and are looking to be addressed as such. As a consumer of products and information, I love it. As a communicator, I’m a bit out of my league—though, apparently, so are many of my colleagues, as evidenced by the flood of resources now available. For instance, PR Newswire offers a  free downloadable e-book called “Unlocking Social Media for PR.” There are countless apps to organize social media workflow. And major business analyst firms like IDG are publishing articles on the growing role of personalization in marketing campaigns.

Buried in this frenzy is a critical concept that all communicators must remember: these digital connections should facilitate, not become a substitute for, real-life interactions. They’re a starting point for a bigger conversation. Savannah’s drawing conveyed a message, certainly. It took an abstract concept of a stylized dress and made it into something that resonated for me. But it also started a dialogue—in person, face to face—that built upon a bigger relationship and helped it grow. In the end, isn’t that what communications is really all about?