Embracing the Blur for Good
Issue 2
by the Georgetown University Center for Social Impact Communication Student Editorial Board
Examining how integration works across marketing, communication, fundraising and journalism.
About Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication is a research and action center dedicated to increasing social impact through the power of marketers, communicators, fundraisers and journalists working together. The Center accomplishes its mission of educating and inspiring practitioners and students through applied research, graduate courses, community colalborations and thought leadership. Learn more about our work by visting our website: csic.georgetown.edu
Letter from the Managing Director Dear Reader: Embrace the blur for good. That’s our mantra and guiding principle at Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication. It’s our ‘North Star,’ if you will, and also the focus of our second magazine created by the Center’s graduate student editorial board. In this issue, we’re bringing to life the important concept of social impact integration by debating and reflecting upon the power of marketers, communicators, fundraisers, and journalists working together. Our editorial board itself is a model of this concept. With seven student representatives from across the School of Continuing Studies’ four degree programs and focus areas like public relations, marketing, journalism and global communications, they are the epitome of what it means to embrace the blur. Through articles like Seven Personalities You Might Need in the Room for Perfect Integration to a case study on the Social Good Summit and how connections between communicators were created through the convening, our authors examine how social impact organizations can work effectively across functional areas, sectors and human strengths. Happy reading! John D. Trybus, APR Managing Director & Adjunct Professor Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication
Meet the CISI Student Editorial Board
ELIANA BARDI
MICHAEL CLARK
VINCENT CUELLAR
COURTNEE DAVIS
Eliana is a Master’s Degree Candidate in the IMC program at Georgetown University. She is a brand lover fascinated by bringing ideas to life. Speaking three languages has expanded her ability to understand diverse environments and facilitate global communications. Currently she is interning at the World Wildlife Fund’s Private Sector Engagement team, building collaborations with multinational companies that drive more sustainable business practices and raise awareness and funds for conservation issues. Prior to joining WWF, Eliana started her career in CPG marketing, executing regional IMC campaigns for The Coca-Cola Company in Central America.
Michael is a business advisor with 30 years of communications expertise. He’s worked in ten nations, 30 states, two provinces and reservations, helping global brands build relationships with stakeholders. As former COO and shareholder of Mitchell, he led operational growth from three to 140 with offices in Fayetteville, Chicago and NYC. Attends Georgetown University’s Executive Masters in Global Strategic Communications. With the encouragement of his family and colleagues, he’s advising organizations, VC firms and social entrepreneurs with their strategic communications. He’s on the Board of Trustees for Arkansas – The Nature Conservancy. Husband, father, sportsman, farmer, and conservationist.
Vincent is a current student in Georgetown University’s master of professional studies in Integrated Marketing Communications. During the day, he leads integrated marketing efforts for the Jelena Group in Alexandria, VA, a firm that specializes in connecting organizations with general and multicultural American communities. He has helped corporations like Wells Fargo and MassMutual to develop and implement national multicultural outreach initiatives while honing a focus on the burgeoning U.S. Hispanic population. Within the social impact space, Vincent is eager to help clients build bridges to multicultural populations and to advance the practice of reaching niche audiences with stories that inspire.
Courtnee is a student in Georgetown University’s master of professional studies in Journalism program. She currently works as a marketing manager for Fishbowl, Inc. where she manages email and social media platforms for restaurants nationwide. Prior to Fishbowl, Inc. Courtnee worked for Ketchum in their Social Marketing practice. She graduated from Oklahoma State University with a dual degree in Public Relations and Broadcast Journalism.
Connect with Eliana:
Connect with Michael:
Connect with Victor:
Connect with Courtnee:
Integrated Marketing Communications
@elibardi
Global Strategic Communications
@clarknwark
Integrated Marketing Communications
@VCTweeting
Journalism
@CourtneeNicolee
MEGAN HONOUR
COLIN STOECKER
RINA ZELAYA
Megan is a student in Georgetown University’s master of professional studies in Public Relations and Corporate Communications program. A native of the Washington, DC area, Megan currently serves as the communications manager for the Technology Student Association (TSA), a national non profit that provides STEM competitions to middle and high school students across the country. Megan has a passion for humanitarian work and storytelling, and has leveraged this passion through pro bono consulting work with groups such as the United Nations Foundation and the Coalition for Adolescent Girls during her time in the PR/CC program.
Colin is a graduate student of journalism at the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies. He attended Denison University in Ohio, and graduated in 2012 with a degree in English Literature. He was an English teacher in China for a year and is interested in international news and reporting.
Rina is a Guatemalan student in Georgetown University’s master of professional studies in Corporate Communications & PR program. She has worked within Puente for over four years, a Guatemalan non-profit that works with 3000+ families. She loves traveling and spending time with friends and family. Rina has a passion for creating brand experiences within the non-profit and corporate sector.
Connect with Megan:
Connect with Colin:
Connect with Rina:
Public Relations and Corporate Communications
@MCHonour
Journalism
@stoeckercolinw
Public Relations and Corporate Communications
@rinazelayam
Telling a Story vs Selling an Idea By Eliana Bardi and Courtnee Davis
Journalists and marketers share the same goal —to be good storytellers. In a conversation between a journalist and a marketer, both natural communicators, we discovered how to integrate the narrative with an outcome, the truth and the art of persuasion, how the audience and the consumer have more in common when we talk about conversations and finally how telling a story has more points of parity than differences with selling an idea. The following integrated approach on storytelling reevaluates both disciplines’ structures and shows how the two fields have long blurred.
JOURNALISM
MARKETING
Audience vs Consumer: It’s about conversations.
Conversation Starters
Transactions are Conversations
An audience can vary depending on the publication or news outlet. And how we communicate with our audience can vary depending on the medium (i.e. digital, broadcast, print, radio, etc.). Through research, we become familiar with the demographic including: age, reading habits, education level, preferred method of receiving news, and much more. Additionally, communicating with the audience face-to-face helps us understand the key elements of a receptive audience. Once we know who is going to receive the message, we are ready to start a conversation.
Marketing views transactions between brands and individuals as a sort of conversation. A consumer is anyone who participates in a transaction. A (brand) promise is one element that draws people into a conversation. And when a brand is something that an individual takes home, the brand becomes a sort of affiliation, which sends a message of belonging. As such, the consumer is more than just “the one who pays to consume the goods and services produced.� We see the consumer as the one who chooses products and experiences based on that promised expectation to find a place in a culture.
Sources vs Insight: It’s about relationships.
Facts and sources create credibility in journalism
Insights generate identification
A successful news story can rely heavily on the information given from sources. Building your “rolodex” and acquiring sources, individuals willing to be interviewed and speak about certain topics— doesn’t happen overnight. As journalists, we work to establish relationships and maintain them because in the long run, your network is both your source of information and the audience’s judgment for reliability; it’s important to gain their trust. With diverse and established relationships, it becomes easier to receive information because trust grows and transparency is created for the audience.
In this conversation between brands and the consumer, marketing is the function responsible for creating and sustaining the relationship through identifiable “truths”. As marketers, we continuously seek to discover cultural tensions better known as insights, in order to identify the connections between a given product or service and those who will be more receptive to the message.
Truth vs Persuasion: We need both.
Truth isn’t always sexy, but truth is synonym with credibility.
Persuasion sells but trusted brands incorporate transparency in their conversation.
Our job is to tell the story exactly how it happens with no filter—to give a voice to the voiceless and shine a light on issues not being discussed. Readers can tell when a journalist is being authentic or when a fluff piece is being written. As journalists, we have the obligation to
“Make things worth talking about.” says Seth Godin, bestselling author of more than 18 books about marketing and the way ideas spread. Through the art of persuasion, we have the ability to alter not just action, but attitude. And sometimes, that ability can be confused with altering the truth. However, trusted brands incorporate transparency in
take responsibility for the accuracy of our work and verify all information before releasing it. While telling the truth, we aim to provide context, while remaining cautious of exaggerating the facts when telling the story.
their conversation. Consumers gravitate towards brand that help us find meaning—the kind of meaning that can change behavior. And as marketers, this is our field of expertise: identifying the meaning that can influence consumer behavior.
Opinion vs Call to Action: It isn’t always about the dollars spent.
The overall arching question is what do journalists want readers to do after reading a story? The answer to this is endless, and involves opinion by sharing a non-biased layout of the facts where the reader gets to decide which side to agree or disagree with. However, creating a conversation and keeping the conversation going is a start. Raising awareness and getting the audience to know something they did not know before can also be the main objective of telling a story in the first place.
Being informed can also be an outcome. Brands have incorporated “awareness” in the marketing objectives because it isn’t always about dollars spent. Marketers create journeys to guide consumers and the brand towards a mutually desired outcome. We have the responsibility for every part of the company with which the consumer comes into contact so that the desired action can take place. Even though marketing is naturally oriented to sales and ROI, brands have incorporated “Return of Inaction” and “Return of Information” when measuring the outcomes, because we have learned that it isn’t always about dollars but also about relationship building—about brand love.
Conclusion Journalists give awareness to issues often overlooked, and influence their audience to react and evoke change regarding these issues by telling a story. Marketers are selling ideas to influence the conversation far from only facilitating transactions. When both journalist and marketer incorporate the steps above while telling a story and selling an idea, we are able to work together seamlessly and effectively while integrating the consumer.
Creativity & Data
How the Intangible and the Quantifiable Can Work in Harmony By Vincent Cuellar & Colin Stoecker
As a social impact communicator, telling your story effectively to your audience is a critical mission. We tell the stories of the greater good so we can unite the hearts and minds needed to create community buy-in and reach our goals. Readers and audiences are drawn to creative stories and ideas that cause them to re-think what they knew and engage with your message. However, in today’s media ecosystem it is not as simple as putting together a good story. We need to understand the deeper meaning behind the research we’re receiving, and believe in the conviction of a good creative story. News and branded media content is subject to the whims of social media and search engine algorithms, which are updated on a daily basis. Analytics may return puzzling findings on the content created. News and the stories we read are refreshed, retold, remixed and optimized just as frequently. We are living in a time of unprecedented fluctuation in the way we tell and receive stories. How can a journalist or branded content creator walk the fine line between writing a story that both exciting and creative, yet doesn’t veer away from the proven strategies--strategies that allow data to ensure the story is on the right path? Why is it that one story can take off and create national attention, while others are only posted, commented on once or twice, and then fade away never to be looked at again? To arrive at an answer, we looked at key factors that promulgate creative and data-driven stories that will break through the clutter. These tips should point you in the right direction! Thinking About Storytelling in New Ways by utilizing all your channels creatively. The medium in which we receive stories dictates not only the kind of content produced, but also who sees it. Different channels are appropriate avenues for distributing content to a wider audience. But how do we ensure that this information is reaching the appropriate audiences? Here are a few of the most popular now Try Facebook and Facebook Live for sharing with peers, be careful not to overshare unrelated information. Facebook live is growing in popularity, and creating the opportunity for an instant audience. Try Twitter for sharing links to information or sponsored content in 140 characters or less, primarily for small Announcements or updates tying into something larger.
Try Snapchat for sharing video content in short clips, a lively snapchat account can provide an intimate and inside look into the workings of a company and satisfy the social media curiosity today’s consumer craves. Try Instagram for promoting photographs and videos, this can be great for promoting stories and bolstering views from an audience looking for visual engagement. Try Crowdsourcing as an increasingly popular way to raise capital and interest for private endeavors that support socially conscious ideas, platforms, or communities. Measure, Then Find the ‘Why’ To your Analytics by looking deeper into the reason why things are occurring. If you’ve ever received a 30-page document with research findings, the prospect of all the information can be overwhelming. However, the impact of that data can only be realized if we understand what the bigger story is. So what if a reader stays on the story for 30 seconds longer than the others. Take the time to understand what are the factors that create those extra 30 seconds of interest, and figure out a way to emulate, then optimize. At the end of the day, focus on the engaged, and the recurring information. It is loyalty over time that will win over your next customer, donor or reader. Know Your Goals by aiming for relativity among a target audience rather than just mass audience. If a leader ever promised that a video should go viral or requests that from you, feel free to bang your head against your desk. The goal shouldn’t be virality. Instead focus on relativity among the right audience. Moving one person with a high aptitude for your brand’s story can have a larger impact, than engaging a crowd of people, who won’t take your message to heart.
This is accomplished in journalism with A and B headlines. These are different headlines for the same story, where the publisher will go with whichever headline gets more views. Marketing and data analysis can hinder and idea just as much as they can bolster its ability to reach a wider audience. Stories can become diluted by links other sites, bogged down by an over analysis of data, and marketability. The true grey area between the integration of marketing and journalism here is the thin line between good content and a writing a story so specifically that no one reads it. Niche writing can be good for marketing, but measurement is needed to know whether or not the niche writing serves a purpose or not. Balance Data and Creativity by working with data analysts to target a certain audience or demographic. Ideas are foremost, and it is crucial that they grounded in data analysis or backed by a product. However, creativity can be sacrificed in the same way that over-categorizing certain demographics can serve to put them in a box. It is important to be creative, and also to remain respectful to the practices, traditions, and cultural sensitivities of cultural groups. Using proven data to develop your story, is likely to have some success, but may not have enough flavor to stand out. The potential for a novel idea may be enough to differentiate your story from the rest. Meaningful data analytics should arrive at intangible ideas and provides the consumer with a usable, reliable, and trustworthy product. In fact, reliability creates the larger tropes associated with companies, like Apple for technology, or Red Bull for giving you wings every time you drink it! To Take Away: Creativity can seem limited by the loads of data analysis behind content. But the good news is that platforms on the internet are rapidly developing to meet the needs of audiences looking for writing, visual, video, and anything in between. Tomorrow’s internet will be ruled by experience, but experience grounded in findings that balance the winning formula of data and idea. Creativity will always remain as the driving force behind consumer experience, but what is creativity without someone to admire it and to see the end product?
Source: http://jimc.medill.northwestern.edu/2015/11/13/in-defense-of-the-intangible/
Difficulties and Successes in Integrated Storytelling By Rina Zelaya & Colin Stoecker
ing yourself. Rina Zelaya is a Master’s student in the Georgetown SCS Communications and PR Program. Colin Stoecker is a Master’s student in the Georgetown SCS Journalism Program. When asked about storytelling for organizations and how organizational storytelling will look in the future, this is what their opinions are on the matter. 1. Why should a company resort to true stories instead of traditional marketing practices like ads and sponsored content? Rina Zelaya: Nowadays, consumers are bombarded with information from every brand imaginable. Storytelling is able to cut through the clutter, providing a unique perspective on a brand, product, or experience. True organizational storytelling allows people to connect emotionally because it goes beyond providing branded taglines. It gives a genuine perspective, it makes the brand relatable. Storytelling also provides an insider look to an organization, how it works, operates, and the impact it has in the people and environment it interacts with. Brand authenticity is crucial to the stories behind the brand. For example, Tom’s Shoes has a good story because of where the money goes when it gets donated. You feel as though you are helping others while help-
2. Building a profitable brand name takes good storytelling, but how do we ensure that the storytelling is authentic and trustworthy? Colin Stoecker: Truth is important in storytelling so that readers can be the most informed. People want to trust brands to be reliable and honest in their brand authenticity and storytelling. In order for a story to build brand authenticity, it is important for the story to cover diverse viewpoints and actually show real people, giving their true and honest perspective or take on a topic. These stories should not feel scripted, but rather reflect the views of real people. These stories should also present the facts that are either apparent or hidden from the viewer. The viewer should come away from the story feeling enlightened to the facts and able to make a more conscious decision around a social cause, brand, or product. Journalists produce news, which is a kind of storytelling. News has to be true, and is not able to be swayed by the opinion of the writer. Depending on the media outlet or news organization, the overall spin of this news can fall on the left or right of the spectrum politically, but it cannot present exaggerations or facts that are not entirely true. If a journalist makes a mistake in reporting a fact that is mistakenly true, he or she must issue an apology to save the reputation of their company and themselves. Recently, brands have begun utilizing Facebook live, iPhone shot videos and Periscope, for storytelling as they give the appearance of a closer and more authentic take on the story. You see this trend in social media and how it has incorporated more “live” features, instead of polished, edited content. Consumers crave authenticity and will stick with trusted brands!
3. What are the key functions and goals of an organizational storyteller? Rina Zelaya: The organizational storyteller is a person that is able to connect with the different functional departments within an organization. By connecting, this person is able to gather interesting data and stories. These are later curated and crafted in a way that is not only compelling but is able to transcend diverse audiences. This role requires strong interpersonal skills but also a strong background on research and writing in order to craft stories in interesting ways. Interdisciplinary collaboration is important to the organizational storyteller. This role should be able to work with people who “speak different languages” and have a different perspective on how the business works; the role requires a true understanding of diversity and what it brings to the table. Last but not least, the storyteller is able to select the correct medium or platform in which to share these stories with other people. This person acts as the company’s “database” identifying stories, crafting them and deciding when is the right time to release them in the perfect medium. 4. Why do companies need diverse viewpoints and real people giving their honest perspective on a topic?
points so that it is interesting and relatable to a wider more global audience. Diversity is also important in fact checking, to provide viewers with diverse viewpoints. Because fact checking has become so central in political speeches with the Presidential debates and election, it is all the more crucial to represent diverse viewpoints of moderators, fact checkers, and journalists. This is so that the right questions are asked by an array of different journalists with different viewpoints. A central role of the media is to present a diverse and unbiased view of the news to alleviate the public of the burden of confusion around facts, and to give the public the knowledge to be informed participants in a democracy. 5.Why should socially responsible businesses or social impact organizations use storytelling to get their story out to the world?
Rina Zelaya: The primary reason behind sharing of a story is to reach a larger audience. There is a mutual benefit between the storyteller and the listener, or in this case the consumer/ donor. Going back to the social impact of Tom’s Shoes, there Colin Stoecker: Diversity is just as importis a blog about the lives that are changed on their website, so ant for the storyteller as it is for the story you can track the impact that your dollars have made when being told. If the storyteller is of one back- giving a pair of shoes to someone else in need. Every time you ground, he or she may not be able to bring wear those shoes, you think of that story and it stays with you a diverse viewpoint to readers/buyers who on a more intimate level. are from a different background. The story itself also needs to include diverse viewSocially responsible businesses and social impact organiza-
sensitive information can be damaging to the family members of victims who were injured or killed in these types of situations. 7. Where do Journalism and Communications find difficulty in integration? Colin Stoecker: Journalism is more focused on the facts and presenting an unbiased view of a social cause of event that is newsworthy to the reader. This is important to the viewer because they need the facts around an event or social cause. Without these facts, it can be difficult for a viewer to be able to understand or take sides on an issue. This is why news organizations avoid bias in their coverage of the news, to allow their viewers to make independent decisions on what is most important to them.
tions are usually more story-rich than any other businesses; it is easier to connect with a product or brand that is having a positive impact in society. By sharing stories of the impact they are generating, they are able to bring more people to the cause and garner support! 6. Should news or stories have an emotional appeal to readers? Colin Stoecker: It is valuable and at times the duty of the media to report on events that have an emotional impact. Instead of just sharing information you are sharing experiences and feelings you are able to connect on an emotional level. An emotional connection is way more long-lasting than a product´s facts and features. Think about 9/11 when the world trade centers were hit by two airplanes. This disaster was arguably the most covered event by news organizations in American history. Every story reported in this situation had an impact on Americans across the country and viewers across the world. It is important to be careful about the emotional impact that the news can have as it is reported. Because
Rina Zelaya: Communications focuses in the good aspects of a brand or product, highlighting only those elements that make it appealing to the viewer. When working with a journalist, he/she might be focused on double-checking facts or getting to the bottom of things, when usually communicators are more about staying on message and providing information that helps create and reinforce brand value. Nevertheless, working with Journalists can help have a more rigorous approach to storytelling, which is always valuable.
7
Personalities You Might Need In The Room For Perfect Integration By Megan Honour & Rina Zelaya
Integrating members of the marketing and communications teams can lead to major crossover success if done correctly. However, before integration is possible, creating a team with the proper team members is necessary. Take a look at the seven personalities we believe you should include on your team!
1
THE VISIONARY Visionaries see the big picture; they start at the end and tend to work backwards. They don’t necessarily envision every step along the path to success, but they know what the end goal is before anyone else. Visionaries are able to create an inspirational vision for the future and share it with their teammates. Their excitement and energy creates an exciting and fun atmosphere.
Proper care and feeding
Visionaries may need to be reined in since they are endgoal oriented. Give them specific tasks focused on uniting all team members around the overall goal — they will thrive in this role.
Suggested Roles
Strategy Lead, Creative Director, Business Development Specialist
THE FORTUNE-TELLER Fortune Tellers have the ability to see the long-term effects of data. They are talented in interpreting how data, such as web analytics or consumer behavior, will affect business. They can quickly identify patterns and trends, and are able to see potential consequences and advantages of actions taken based on that data. Fortune Tellers are great at identifying cause and effect relationships, making them the ideal problem-solvers (and finders).
Proper care and feeding
The Fortune Teller is similar to a goalie on the soccer field — they have the best angle of the entire field, and can see what moves need to be made to ensure success. This “full-field” view makes the Fortune Teller one of the most critical players on the team, and they are one person who should always have a seat at the table. They will provide your team with analytical feedback that will lead to success in the long run. Sometimes evaluation and analysis falls by the wayside for a variety of reasons, including time and resources — but incorporating a Fortune Teller onto your team will ensure both remain a priority.
Suggested Roles
Data Analyst, Strategy Development, Head of Evaluation
2
3
THE CREATOR Creators are idea machines. They are the creative backbone of the team, and their strategies bring campaigns to life. Creators have a unique ability to transform a concept into a jaw-dropping idea.
Proper care and feeding
Creators sometimes lose sight of the main goal and get wrapped up in the details or tactics. Partner a Creator with a Visionary to keep them on track. Give Creators enough freedom to explore new ideas, but also give them a timeframe for delivering results in order to hold them accountable.
Suggested Roles
4
Account Director, Brand Manager, Head of Promotions Design
THE GO-GETTER The go-to person when you want something done, and fast. The Go-Getter is resourceful and is able to find multiple solutions or alternatives to get things done. The Go-Getter is very good at efficiently organizing team efforts; however, they are all about the end-goal and may overlook details, quality, and relationships when trying to complete tasks or projects.
Proper care and feeding
Develop work guidelines but give them the freedom to improvise when appropriate. Explicitly mention any details surrounding task lists to ensure they are completed.
Suggested Roles
Business Development Manager, Team Lead
5
THE TASK MASTER Task Masters tend to be trustworthy and are great at completing specific tasks with attention to detail and quality. Personal discipline is one of their greatest strengths, and they will leverage it to complete tasks in a group setting. Task Masters are usually great help to the group leaders as they ensure that no detail is being overlooked.
Proper care and feeding
Task Masters can be overlooked by other team members who disregard their attention to detail or their focus on administrative tasks. Don’t fall into that trap — encourage them to share how their work contributes to the overall goal with the rest of the team. Give them opportunities to shine by assigning them specific tasks and letting the rest of the team know how much they are contributing.
Suggested Roles
Executive Assistant, Content Curator, Event Coordinator
THE SOCIAL BUTTERFLY Social Butterflies know not only how to build relationships, but how to cultivate and maintain them over time. This allows them to connect with people beyond common courtesy, regardless of differences in personality, which makes them especially talented at uniting a group around a common goal. Leverage their talents to foster strategic business development.
Proper care and feeding
Social Butterflies do not tend to do well in activities where they are not interacting with other people. Put them in roles where they will engage with multiple people in the group and organization. Appointing them as a point of contact or a mediator will utilize their strengths for the good of the team.
Suggested Roles Public Relations Executive
Specialist,
Client
Services
Director,
Account
6
7
THE RISK TAKER The Risk Taker is a master at uncovering opportunities where no one else sees them, and can be perceived as daring and fearless. The Risk Taker is a master of strategy and is able to see the relationship between people and opportunities. This person may come across as unconventional, and will almost always choose the path less traveled. Be sure to give them project or task parameters so they don’t fall off track.
Proper care and feeding
Risk takers sometimes need flexibility and do not like being held to a tight schedule or constrained to an office. Allow them to improvise and experiment in and out of the workplace. Above all, encourage them to trust their gut instinct when making decisions—they tend to be very intuitive.
Suggested Roles
Strategy Director, Client Insights Manager, Market Research Director
Stream of Consciousness By Vincent Cuellar & Michael Clark
Americans consume an astounding 150 gallons of water per person per day. The disparity between American usage and that of people in developing nations–where 4 gallons a day is a common number–can be shocking. Odds are, you may not be thinking about water and its impact on your life and the world. Water is one of the most important–and least discussed–issues of our day. Enter our podcast, Stream of Consciousness. We connected with some of the world’s water thought leaders, like Jon Freedman, Global Government Affairs Leader for GE Water and professor at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton’s the Future of Water; and Scott Simon, Director of Arkansas -- The Nature Conservancy. They shared with us the latest thinking on water conservation strategies, the strategy to effective private-public partnerships and even a few key ways that professional communicators can contribute to this important cause.
The Social Good Summit A Case Study in Integration and Creating Connections Between Communicators By Eliana Bardi & Megan Honour
The Social Good Summit, held in New York City September 18-19, 2016, brought together world leaders and activists to find solutions to global issues, and to explore the impact of technology and new media on social good initiatives around the world. After working with the United Nations (UN) Foundation in
Georgetown’s cause consulting class, two members of the Georgetown CSIC editorial board, Eliana Bardi and Megan Honour, were invited to and attended the Social Good Summit to work with the UN Foundation and the +SocialGood digital team.
In this article, we will dive into the “bridges” responsible for blurring the lines and making communication an integrated, holistic effort — and the way that blending allows everyone to be included in the conversation.
Integrating Technology
Social Good Summit and Communication As two passionate communicators, we had the opportunity to participate in content creation for the +SocialGood social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Storify, and the +SocialGood blog, among others; creating an “ecosystem” of communication channels. Experts were invited to the Summit to discuss strategies to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Some of the topics were heavy — the sessions discussed poverty, malnutrition, global health, and human trafficking — but that did not stop the speed and fluidity of the digital conversation surrounding the Summit. These topics are global in scale, and had serious competition in the digital world, including the Emmys, the presidential election, and the bombing in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan that happened just hours before the Summit began. Successfully creating a seamless continuum of communication and getting the world to talk about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals was no small task, but the Summit was able to do so by leveraging key players and creating the necessary “bridges” to achieve an integrated conversation.
Looking into the audience during various panel discussions, you can see the glow of phone and laptop screens reflecting on attendees’ faces as they furiously take pictures, live-tweet, update statuses and albums, and send messages about the event. This encouragement of technology is thrilling, and it is easy to see how this encouragement has an effect on the conversation around the event — dozens of tweets continue to roll in every few seconds using the event hashtag #2030Now. During the week of the Summit, #2030Now was tweeted 85,000 times, creating 1.9 billion impressions, reaching over 24 million people. That kind of reach is simply not possible without integrating technology seamlessly into an event. Behind the scenes, the Summit made their technological resources desirable by offering a digital media lounge and headquarters for attendees (application and approval for the lounge was required, and the headquarters was also only available to approved attendees).
Selecting and Leveraging Experts/ Influencers
The digital media lounge provided a “home base” for anyone covering the Summit, and was complete with a live-stream of Summit panels happening in the auditorium, outlets/power strips and electricity (which, as any communicator knows, is perhaps the most important item to have on-hand), food, and space to spread out and network with other people in the industry. This space allowed for discussion, collaboration, and enabled communicators to do their job well. Integrating technology into the event in this way allowed the Summit’s message to reach audiences faster, and promotes the Summit’s main goal — to leverage technology to create solutions.
Half of the challenge of delivering a message successfully in communications is determining who is going to deliver that message, and what the voice behind it is going to be. The voices (or, speakers) behind the Summit’s message were carefully selected, which benefited the Summit greatly in the long run. The lineup of speakers was impressive, and included Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry, representatives from the Refugee Olympic Team, representatives from the United States Paralympic Team, and activists Chelsea Handler and Alec Baldwin, among many others. These speakers were chosen for a variety of reasons — their humanitarian work relating to the Sustainable Development Goals, clout, but perhaps most importantly (at least in terms of communications), their influence and following. While the selection of speakers is critical to the success of any event like the Summit, the selection of the audience, was, in this case, also absolutely key. The panelists and speakers sparked each conversation, but the communicators in the audience were the gasoline that turned those sparks into a fire, spreading the Summit’s message around the world. Viewing attendees as influencers in this manner and leveraging them to deliver the Summit’s message was a huge win for the Summit — and the success of #2030Now can certainly be attributed to the digital engagement created by attendees.
Cross-Discipline Collaboration Creating conversation around a topic as big as the Sustainable Development Goals is no small task. Big issues need big solutions — in the communications world, creating a team consisting of variety of specialists with diverse, top-notch skills
is a great place to start. Pulling team members from diverse backgrounds can lead to new ideas and collaboration. Both of us (Eliana and Megan) witnessed this during the Summit. We are from two different cultures (Eliana is from El Salvador and Megan is from the United States), have different first languages (Eliana’s is Spanish, Megan’s is English), and are from two different programs (Eliana is in the Integrated Marketing and Communications master’s program and Megan is in the Public Relations and Corporate Communications master’s program) at Georgetown University. Together, we worked to strengthen our messaging in multiple languages (on multiple platforms) during our work at the Summit, curate content that was balanced in design, messaging, and strategy, and simply determine if tactics we were each taking were strong from the other’s perspective. Integrating the roles of marketers and communicators can be tricky, and many companies and organizations are still in the process of testing and determining best practices for doing so. It is easy to silo marketing and communications into two separate arenas; however, pulling team members from each department based on personal strengths and project goals can be a good tactic. Knowing when collaboration between the two teams is appropriate is critical. Branding and design is just as important as the messaging and strategy behind it, and it was evident at the Summit that organizations and groups participating in the conversation were leveraging both of these things to work together towards the common goal of creating awareness of and finding solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Conclusion Integrating technology and a variety of key audiences/influencers greatly contributed to the success of the Social Good Summit. Achieving all 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 will take a lot of hard work, policy change, and program implementation. None of those things will happen successfully without efficient and effective communication. The Summit was a step in the right direction — if this strategy can be used to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (some of the biggest, most progressive goals in the world) — integration can certainly be implemented and used to achieve any other goal as well.