On Wednesday, August 15, the DFW AMA Dallas Executive Luncheon featured Dorothy Jones, VP of Marketing for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The topic is Brands That Bounce Back: How Marketing Can Help a Brand Return to Greatness.  There were over 100 people there from 80 different companies.  Paladin was a sponsor for the event.  Dorothy was at Frito-Lay for about 12 years prior to joining Susan G. Komen in April of this year.  She admitted that Komen has had its share of brand challenges this year but was addressing things head on.

She focused her talk in the beginning on some examples of great brands such as Target and Apple.  The simple icons or the apple and target symbols are immediately identifiable.  She later expanded into the cycle of a brand’s fall from grace, like a Martha Stewart, and where time and constant refocusing of message and the brand’s image can get back on track.

She also demonstrated on a more personal business level, a powerful view message of how cancer affects so many people.  One by one she asked for cancer survivors to stand and then the partners/spouse, children, siblings and co-workers of those who have been touched by cancer.  It wasn’t long until almost everyone was standing.

At the end she shared some upcoming print and broadcast ads for Susan G Komen.  They showed the diversity of people that have breast cancer and why finding a cure and surviving is so important to them.  It was very moving.

We were thrilled to have Kathy Gans- SVP and Mark Stevens- VP/GM for Paladin join David and I at the luncheon.

Our next Executive luncheon speaker for September is Sheryl Adkins-Green, CMO for Mary Kay.

Source: Social Media Explorer

Infographics are becoming are main stream medium use to effectively communicate within and outside of organizations. There are a number of different ways to use infographics to communicate with employees, management, and other stakeholders within your organization:

Decision-Making

• Use infographics to present comparative lists and to highlight pros and cons. Visual elements make it easier for people to compare and make choices.
• Use information design to expose data patterns and relationships. Visualizing data enables employees to analyze reports more effectively.
• Use infographics in situations where there is not a lot of time to interpret information and where prompt decision-making is required. Infographics help employees digest and understand information quickly and easily.
• Use infographics to visualize important strategic documents, reports, and plans.

Training

• Embed infographics into employee training manuals and guides to make them easier to consume and understand.
• Use infographics to create sets of training cards that can be distributed to employees as a reference tool or used by managers in workshops and training sessions.
• Place large infographics in highly trafficked areas in your organization to offer visual reminders of important ideas, processes, or policies.

Exchanging Ideas

• Use infographics to disseminate important information. Because they are unique and get shared readily, infographics help embed knowledge across the organization.
• Use information design to communicate in diverse internal environments where language or education barriers may exist. Infographics are a universal communication tool that makes it easier to deliver information with less likelihood of misunderstanding.
• Use infographics in meetings and presentations. Visualizations can help employees digest and understand information within condensed periods of time, making it easier to communicate takeaways and next steps more effectively.
• Use infographics in situations where you need buy-in. Infographics facilitate quicker consumption and comprehension of ideas and concepts, making it easier to garner support and obtain consensus from your audience.
• For this and more information on the creative, marketing and digital industry, visit www.socialmediaexplorer.com

Adobe recently released their “State of Create” study, a global benchmark study on attitudes and beliefs about creativity at work, school and home. The study uncovered interesting statistics and valuable findings regarding the state of creativity and how it affects our global workforce. Research firm StrategyOne surveyed 5,000 adults in five countries: US, UK, Germany, France and Japan. Initial findings provided insights into the most “creative” counties and identified attitudes and beliefs about creativity and its role in business, education and society.

The survey focused on “The Creativity Gap,” or the undiscovered potential of humans to reach their full creative potential. All five nations surveyed overwhelmingly indicated their strong belief in the correlation between creativity and economic growth. However, less than half of adults surveyed described themselves as “creative.” Only 1 in 4 people believe that they are living up to their creative potential. This findings shows a great opportunity for the increase in create professionals in the US and global workforce. Additionally, an overwhelming 76% of Americans feel that being creative is valuable to society.

In addition, the survey took a close look at the “Workplace Creativity Gap,” defined by the increasing pressure to be productive rather than creative at work. According to the Adobe survey, the average employee only spends about 25% of their work day “creating.” This low statistic depicts a large opportunity for growth in regards to employee engagement and creativity. In addition to the need for increased creativity within professional positions, the overall perception of creativity within the workforce was low. Many adults did not recognize that they were” creating” in non-conventional positions. It is important to take a closer look at our perception of creativity - and the ability to “create” in a much larger range of positions.

Additional findings within the “State of Create” study noted the universal concern that educational systems are stifling creativity. This particular survey questions also concluded that the US takes creativity for granted, while 70% agreed with that statement.

The US showed unique results in contrast to the other four nations. The majority of American respondents expressed strong concern that they were not living up to their creative potential, placing high value on creativity. Americans in general noted that they believe the US is the most creative nation, among the rest. Additionally, more than 50% of US respondents described themselves as “creative,” while only 39% did globally. The percentage of US adults who indicated themselves as someone who creates was 70%, while it was only 60% globally.

The survey also prompted participants to provide open responses, including to define “creative.” One US participant defined the word, “Being creative is being able to something unique in the world and finding a way to express that in a variety of ways.” Another response defined “creative” as, “To make something that did not exist before one creates it is being creative. To take something that exists and use it to make something else is being creative. To solve a problem by means of unconventional thinking is being creative.”

Creativity clearly plays a large role in the lives of American professionals. One respondent noted in regards to the role that creativity plays, “It is when there are problems in life that are blocking me from doing certain things, and I have to find a creative way to overcome those obstacles.”

For more information on this survey, and how Paladin can help you find your creative path, contact Paladin today!

Ever found yourself wishing there were more than 24 hours in a day? Or, that you could propel yourself back to last Tuesday to meet a deadline? Fortunately, there are plenty of things we can do to use our time more effectively and actually have more of it left over at the end of the day.