Accountable teachers - Accountable communications
Here I am sitting in a London hotel room, my body telling me I should have been asleep long ago, my brain saying I should hold out for a few more hours. What to do? What one always does when stuck in a hotel room ... start mindlessly flicking through the TV channels.
What's prompted me to open the laptop was a prime time slot on the BBC occupied by a live awards programme ... the 2006 Teacher Awards.
This is not some boring, stodgy, inward looking piece of self-adulation. The Teacher Awards are produced with all the pizzazz of the Oscars. A full theatre, trendy stage and lighting sets, great camera work and wonderful stories to tell.
All the big companies were there as sponsors of the individual awards - appropriately called a Plato - which were presented by famous actors, authors, sports stars and entertainers.
I'd much rather watch this production over any of the entertainment award shows. It was simply far more 'watchable'. The show didn't overshadow the real people receiving the awards and I'm sure the originators were happy with the positive image created for the profession.
What would happen if we applied this outlook to your communications?
Would your clients be nominating you for the "Most Engaging" award? Perhaps the award for "Best Business Building" award?
No, of course not. But they should be.
Your communications need to be held accountable. Less for their visual appeal - although that's important - than their success in achieving your brief. The advertising world is littered with award-winning creative that left their target audience cold and confused.
The real measure of success is the proportion of your audience who respond to your call to action.
Only when you make the commitment to measuring and reviewing your communications before embarking on the journey can you guarantee that what's learnt along the way is captured, understood and becomes repeatable.
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