Photo Friday: Columbus Circle

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It's a rare moment when all traffic — pedestrians and vehicles — just seem to disappear, especially in New York City.

Columbus Circle, New York City, shot on August 14, 2013, at 10:15 p.m.

Columbus Circle, New York City, shot on August 14, 2013, at 10:15 p.m.

Push yourself. @Nike says "possibilities" are endless.

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Push yourself. Challenge yourself. Heck, challenge others.

Just do it.

This great new "Just Do It" video from Nike really resonates, even if I was the 1,471,404th person to have seen it!

The campaign behind it solidly embodies the "Just Do It" brand credo — push yourself to places you hadn't imagined you could go. 

And the music is killer ("Future Starts Slow" by The Kills)! 

Hold a contest, build your community

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Everyone likes to win something.

And even when you don't win, you probably like to play (think sweepstakes, PowerBall and trivia nights).

Now a new study from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation shows how contests can actually improve philanthropy — and expand your community.

Knight President & CEO Alberto Ibarguën says:

Contests are a wonderful device for engaging the imagination of communities.

Knight offers six lessons about how contests can boost your "community:"

  1. "Contests bring in new blood and new ideas" by exposing your organization to new people and new thinking.
  2. "Contests create value beyond the winners." Most people will never enter a contest, but Knight suggests that just by holding the contest — and having people experience it, even from the sidelines — non-profits can engender more engagement and, ultimately, support.
  3. "Contests help you spot emerging trends." One example is the emergence of data journalism and the importance of mobile apps, which came from Knight's News Challenge.
  4. "Contests will change your routine" by looking beyond traditional audiences and funding sources and allowing you to "experiment" with your brand.
  5. "Contests go hand in glove with existing program strategies" by building on existing community priorities and even kickstarting areas where your traditional efforts have fallen flat.
  6. "Contests should thoughtfully engage the community." This is probably the most important because you can engage your community to judge your contest — and that is both empowering and engaging!

But remember, as with everything, don't just do it to try something new — make sure it is part of a broad and well-considered strategy. 

Knight's best advice:

Foundations shouldn’t undertake a contest as a lark or a just-for-the-heck-of-it enterprise. The most successful are embedded in existing program strategies. They are simply a different way to tackle a foundation’s key areas of focus. 

Download and read the study: "Why Contests Improve Philanthropy: Six Lessons on Designing Public Prizes for Impact.”

 

What is the voice of your brand?

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In health care, your brand voice is your people — your patients, their families and your staff.

Your brand is what each of these groups say about your organization.

It's what patients tell others about how they were treated. It's what they whisper, good or bad, about what they witnessed your staff doing in their idle time.

And it's what your staff — doctors, nurses, caregivers and non-caregivers — say about the what it's like to work for you.

When you have built a strong organizational culture — one of inclusion, listening, transparency and compassion — then you have a strong brand story to tell.

An out-of-industry example comes from the Danish shipping company Maersk, which sheds light on how focusing on the voices of an organization can bring life and attention to a brand. Writing for AdPulp, David Burn notes:

It is safe to say, “brand voice” is no longer something best whipped up in an ad agency brainstorm. Rather, a real living brand voice — one with resonance and power — is an amalgamation of the human voices who work at the company.

In health care, those voices must include the patients and their families. They already tell stories about their experience — you want those stories to always be positive and enlightening.

Source: AdPulp