You want to make a difference in the world, but how do you turn your passion into action? How do you design and execute a creative strategy that aligns with your vision, values, and goals? How do you measure and communicate your impact effectively? In this article, you'll learn some key principles and steps to create a creative strategy for making a social impact.
The first step to creating a creative strategy for social impact is to define your purpose. What is the problem you want to solve, the change you want to create, or the cause you want to support? Why does it matter to you and to others? How does it relate to your personal or professional mission? Your purpose should be clear, compelling, and authentic. It should guide your decisions and actions throughout your creative process.
The strategy is to be authentic and real. Pick a cause that is dear not only to you as a corporation, but your consumers and employees. Not just because it is sexy or in the zeitgeist. And then go all in - purposefully and doing meaningful contributions that are aligned with your mission and what your stakeholders care about.
Keep it simple and laser focused. This should go hand in hand with your own vision, passion and mission but also - as a consumer facing brand, one that resonates with your customers/clients and ' where they are now' - mismatch is real. What you want may not be what they want, it's vital to find the balance for true impact or success.
The purpose of a brand is also defined as "raison detre"; a French phrase that means "the most important reason for existence." Understanding the purpose of a brand is the first critical step in developing a creative strategy for social impact. It provides the North star that guides creative inspiration and ideas ensuring cohesive between what a brand stands for and its external interventions. A simple approach to discover a brand's purpose is to use the Epitaph test. The epitaph test is what a brand wants to be written on its epitaph if it ceases to exist many years from now.
Making a social impact usually involves tackling a particular social or environmental problem and applying innovative approaches to bring about positive changes. It's important to keep in mind that creating a social impact is a journey that needs time and consistency. It demands creativity, devotion, and a steadfast resolve to make a constructive difference in the world.
Justo cuándo crees que tienes un propósito cuestiónalo al máximo. La idea de tener un proyecto es disfrutar el mismo proceso de avanzar. El resultado puede cambiar tanto como cambias tú mismo cada día. Claro que la meta es necesaria, pero si sólo te enfocas en la meta, las posibilidades de impacto se van a reducir significativamente por no estar abierto a otras posibilidades de resultados.
The next step is to understand your audience. Who are the people you want to reach, engage, and influence with your creative strategy? What are their needs, motivations, challenges, and aspirations? How do they perceive and interact with your issue or cause? How can you empathize and connect with them? You can use various research methods, such as interviews, surveys, observations, or personas, to gain insights and empathy for your audience.
The most effective creative strategy is one that approach the audience as partners for collaboration and not some data on a spreadsheet to be analysed. A good formula to help with understanding the audience is Segmentation and Targeting. Segmentation helps to uncover as many audience segments as possible using both primary and secondary data. Targeting helps to filter audience segments into a target audience with the most potential or opportunity.
You can also use other peoples audience too! Via social listening, gauge the right keywords and do your research - what are your target audience talking about cross platform? What are their challenges *today* what do they care enough about to write about or comment on?
Conocer a las personas parece un manual. Pero en realidad, las personas están definidas por muchos factores. Para mí, el punto es entender estos factores tanto o más que a las mismas personas. Entender la mentalidad, comprender las motivaciones.
Once you have a clear purpose and audience, you can craft your message. What is the core idea or story you want to communicate with your creative strategy? What is the tone, style, and voice you want to use? How do you want your audience to feel, think, and act after encountering your message? Your message should be relevant, memorable, and actionable. It should convey your purpose, values, and vision in a compelling way.
One way a good creative strategy helps messaging is to craft a big idea. The big idea is a concise, powerful word, phrase or sentence that anchors the strategic intent of the messaging. Without a big idea, the messaging will be all over the place, reducing its effectiveness and impact. The simple approach to craft a big idea is uncover an insight rooted in the lifestyle, behaviour or culture of your target audience. Insight is a breakthrough thinking on how a tension can be converted into an opportunity when addressed through communication or an initiative.
The communication should not shame/force people into a social cause. The communication should make them feel that they want to make this change for themselves. It should tug at their heartstring but not push them.
The messaging is driven by insight - the human truth that will resonate with your audience. The insight is also a perspective, something that's visible to us but it's said in a new way. And this message needs to be just one simple idea, not layered or intellectual.
Un mensaje eficaz es aquel que mueve emociones, si partimos desde las necesidades "locales" el mensaje va a fluir solo, en coherencia, y con propósito.
Hasta aquí ya puede ser un proceso sinceramente arduo así que hay dos opciones. Hacerlo sol@, y complicarte la existencia. O hacerlo con alguien que de por sí sepas que se sabe comunicar. Desde allí el mensaje debe ser claro. ?Cómo vas a ayudar a los involucrados en el proyecto? No solo tu audiencia, los participantes, el equipo, incluso como te vas a ayudar a ti mismo.
The next step is to choose your channels. How and where will you deliver your message to your audience? What are the best media, platforms, and formats to reach them? How will you leverage the strengths and limitations of each channel? How will you integrate and coordinate your channels to create a consistent and coherent experience? You can use various tools, such as media maps, content calendars, or channel audits, to plan and optimize your channel strategy.
Go where the eyeballs already are - it might not be obvious, and so many assume - think distribution and algorithm, not perceived 'prestige' or where the CEO wants to be seen!
Según mi experiencia, escoger los canales es casi tan fundamental como el mismo mensaje. Mantener un flujo simple y efectivo tanto en el mensaje, como en el equipo que lo está transmitiendo. Esa es la clave.
Now you can create your content. How will you express your message through words, images, sounds, or other elements? How will you use your creativity, skills, and resources to produce high-quality and engaging content? How will you test and refine your content based on feedback and data? You can use various techniques, such as brainstorming, prototyping, or storytelling, to generate and refine your content ideas.
El santo grial de los problemas jajaja. Para mi, hay dos tipos de personas, los que saben crear contenidos y los que no. Si eres de los primeros, no hay mucho más que decir. Si eres de los segundos, contrata a los de arriba. Crear contenido es fácil cuándo es uno o dos videos. Pero cuándo se trata de una estrategia de comunicación, lo mejor es contratar personas que solo piensen en ello. Así te puede dedicar a lo importante: que el proyecto funcione.
The final step is to evaluate your impact. How will you measure and demonstrate the results and outcomes of your creative strategy? What are the indicators and metrics that reflect your goals and objectives? How will you collect and analyze data and evidence? How will you communicate and report your impact to your stakeholders and supporters? You can use various frameworks, such as logic models, impact pathways, or theory of change, to plan and assess your impact.
As a creative director, my creative strategy to make a social impact is to leverage the power of storytelling marketing. By crafting compelling stories around a brand, product, or service, we can connect with the audience on a deeper, emotional level. This approach goes beyond traditional marketing by creating relatable and memorable experiences that resonate with consumers. Through this strategy, we can convey a brand's values and messaging, captivate the audience, and inspire action.