Mapping a sacred space
I received a delightful email today from Charlene Dy, a creative soul living in Vancouver. Charlene read my book, Where Is Here: Canada’s Maps and the Stories They Tell, and was struck by how First Nations groups used maps as a way of communicating their understanding of the world, and by how hobos used chalk-drawn maps […]
When it’s better to keep your selling points hidden
Late in 2009, Nestlé issued a press release in the UK to announce a fair-trade version of its Kit Kat candy bar. Traditional print media picked it up, but it didn’t attract much buzz on the internet. A few months later, Greenpeace created a graphic video parody of the Kit Kat campaign showing an office worker […]
Communicating corporate social responsibility to Generation Me
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) presents communicators with a special challenge. CSR initiatives offer great opportunities to reposition a company and connect with stakeholders. But communicators have to be careful not to make CSR look like a marketing ploy. This “promoter’s paradox” is a difficult balancing act. It probably explains why corporate communicators tend to take […]
Shining the boss’s CV: when culture rears its head
So you’re the corporate spinmeister, and your assignment today: write a profile of the CEO that makes him/her look competent and on the ball. What do you focus on? Well, that depends on what side of the Atlantic Ocean you company is based. If you’re with a North American corporation, you’ll likely practise the black […]
Why are we smarter but less creative?
Put upon by demands at work and home, people in highly developed countries feel their creativity is being nipped in the bud. That’s one of the conclusions of the recently released State of Create report, sponsored by Adobe. The survey of people in the U.S., UK, Germany, France, and Japan is a global benchmark on attitudes […]