Royal Caribbean & Sysco for the Win!
Last week we were able to send great news to two clients who have been hit hard by the effects of the pandemic. “You won an IABC Gold Quill Award!” Both teams needed the pick-me-up, and it had us looking back to see what these three great projects had in common. What was the secret sauce that helped these project teams go from good to fabulous? Here is what we found:
#1 Relentlessly simple — From convincing a tough employee group and changing leadership behaviors to sparking a global transformation, these teams made super hard topics very simple. They weeded through layers and layers of messaging that would have confused rather than convinced audiences and worked relentlessly to find simple ways to change minds and spark action.
#2 Laser-focused actions — They scripted the critical moves (shout out to Chip and Dan Heath!) that they wanted their audiences to take — speak up, shave minutes off of your day, practice having a tough conversation. They were so laser focused that they created live experiences that simulated the shift and got people moving.
#3 Won the interactive battle — Each of them fought hard for interactive media so that audiences could hear and feel the message. It added cost and time—and didn’t come easily. But they stuck to their guns, got creative, and used video and interactive media to move both hearts and minds.
#4 Laughed hard — These weren’t easy projects. They didn’t have the timeline they needed and faced distractions, last-minute curveballs, and even the occasional leadership naysayer. But they also found lots of times to have fun. These teams laughed…a lot. It’s interesting right?! These teams liked working together, so the outcome was light-years better than even other projects on their plates.
#5 Deep trust — For us, as an outside partner, this is the biggest win of all — when a client partner trusts you, nothing else really matters. Winning is nice, but trust is the real trophy. Many times, on these projects we got the question, “Are you sure?” If we weren’t, we shot straight on the risk/reward and together tackled the decision. But many, many times we said, “Yes, absolutely sure.” And then there was no sweeter reward than hearing back, “Okay then, we trust you…let’s do it!”
Oh…and confetti cannons never hurt, either!
Thumbnail Photo Credit: International Association of Business Communicators
