Journal

Tips from our team... keeping remote working creative

More from Faith this week on keeping creative when your team are all working remotely...

"We've learned that remote, or even blended working patterns don't have to mean the loss of co-creation, team collaborations or creative projects. In fact, there's opportunities to do even more to keep your communications creative, relevant and impactful.

Think sprint not marathon; find new platforms; bust the brief…

These are just three of the top tips for keeping teams creative during the pandemic restrictions that we shared at a Charity Comms conference a few months ago. If you're interested in hearing what other charities told us about their biggest challenges, join the recording of our presentation. If join the recording to dive straight into top tips to run great remote creative ideas sessions.

Inject some new thinking

We've set up a (slightly silly, definitely useful) new idea prompt generator on our website. If you're stuck and need a quick injection of something fresh, take a look and scroll to the bottom where you'll find our 'New thing please' prompt generator right there!

Don't rule anything out

In spite of current restrictions, we've been helping clients to run incredibly sucessful, engaging events, running focus groups and continuing with audience testing for our digital and campaign work, making new films for clients and running Covid-safe photo shoots. There really is no need to feel that you have to put any of your charity's plan on hold - now more than ever is the time to increase your presence, engage your supporters and wider audiences and express exactly who you are as an organisation.

We're running Zoom sessions right now to help clients navigate all of these issues and many more – so if you think we can help (even if its just to assess your current site, without firm plans to make radical changes) get in touch.

Tips from our team... briefing in a film

This week Chris shares his top tips for briefing in a film to your agency:

"If you’re planning some filming for the Autumn, here’s a few pointers to help you get the most out of your shoot…

Ask yourself, is it a film?

This might sound daft, but film is great at taking your audiences to interesting and unusual places and to capture emotions and opinions. Not everything makes a great film, so the first big question to ask is - is film the best and most compelling way to get the information across?

Covid-safe

It’s an obvious one but follow the guidance on safe shooting. Our team have all taken the Covid-safe filming test and have the certification. We can guide you through this if needed to make sure we all stay safe on the job.

Planning makes all the difference

A successful film takes planning and organising. Getting the best locations, the most interesting angles and the most interesting interviewees all takes planning and visualising the final film before you even start.

Vox pops are rarely the best approach

We are often asked to capture ‘vox pops’ which in reality are interviews simply because the subject matter can be more complex than a simple vox pop question. We’d suggest planning your film by thinking about the message first and then decide the best way to communicate your message or story. Vox pops are rarely the best way!

Film it once, use it many times

If you are going to invest in capturing some film content, think about how you can use this content across different channels and formats. This might mean making a few different edits or re-purposing your film to work in portrait or square format. We’d recommend getting the maximum value from your filming by running the content across all of your channels.

Would you watch it?

This last point is critical - only make films that you would watch! What we mean is, make sure your films are as interesting, vibrant and visually dramatic as possible. If you enjoy watching them, then so will your audiences

Good luck!"

Charity webinar: mastering digital and social advertising for your charity

NEW DATE!!!

Creative Concern and Root Media have teamed up to offer a free webinar for charities on 3RD NOVEMBER, 11AM - 12.30PM

When it comes to using using digital to increase fundraising, increase awareness and engagement and build a charity’s brand, there’s a huge range of options that you can take advantage of. But many of us stick to the same few approaches, time and again, because we don’t have the time or knowledge to explore other (potentially far more impactful) routes.

We're inviting charities to register for a 90min, interactive live webinar on 3RD NOVEMBER, 11AM - 12.30PM to bring you up to speed on the latest opportunities available to charities across digital platforms, and give you a chance through questions and group discussion to explore the potential for your organisation. We’ll get stuck into:

- social platforms; does it really have to be all about Facebook? Ways to expand your profile effectively across other social platforms

- integrating your off and online efforts, so they work together and help you build momentum

- how you can ensure that your digital activity doesn’t just drive traffic to your website or social channel, but actually leads to meaningful engagement

- how to maintain high levels of creativity, even when working with strict formats

There are limited places. Please get in touch with Faith on faith@creativeconcern.com to reserve your space. See you there!

Tips from our team... proofreading

This week, our Senior copywriter, Rebecca shares some top tips for tip top proofreading:

"Proofreading is an important part of any job – it picks up those typos and grammar mistakes that can often slip through earlier drafts. It’s always a good idea to get someone else to proofread your work, a pair of fresh eyes can be key. If you’re proofreading your own work, here are three top tips to spot those mistakes:

1. Don’t rely on spell check. Even when words are spelt correctly, they may be being used incorrectly or be a simple typo (‘an’ instead of and’, ‘dairy’ not ‘diary’). For example spell check won’t pick up ‘What is there name?’ as it’s all spelt right, but it should be ‘What is their name?’.

2. Read aloud. You’re more likely to spot mistakes and awkward sentences if you read them out loud. If you stumble over the words, chances are your reader will too.

3. Check it twice (at least). You’ll do well to spot everything in just one proofreading session. There will be checks for consistency, cross referencing (page numbers etc.) and so on that you’ll need to check back over after the first run through.

Good luck!"

Tips from our team... providing amends to your designer

This week, Faith (our Business Director) shares some tips on how to provide amends and feedback on drafts of creative work.

"We know there's always going to be amends on creative drafts and we build in time to cover these of course! But there's some simple, practical ways to make sure that your designers really understand what you mean, and rounds of amends are kept to a minimum.

1. Think about three key areas: content, accuracy and design, when you're reviewing creative drafts. Ask:

Are all the written and visual elements that you expected to see in the draft included (as occasionally, images or lines of writing may be accidentally cut when being added to the draft)?

Are you completely happy with how the document reads?

Are you happy with how the images and graphical elements in your draft appear?

Are all contact details (telephone numbers, email addresses, web addresses etc) included in your draft are correct?

Are all figures (statistics, quantities etc) included in the draft correct?

Are all references and photography credits correct?

2. If you're marking up PDFs, try to use the correct markup tools; there are specific commenting tools for text deletions, replacements, insertions etc. Sticky notes should ideally be kept for general queries or design changes, as it can be difficult to locate exactly where in the text the amend is. There is helpful advice on the Adobe website: https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/using/commenting-pdfs.html

3. If you're supplying replacement copy for any part of the document, please supply this as a typed version on email or word document and provide the page and paragraph number for each amend (so we’re clear about what we’re amending)

Super practical - but helps to speed the amends process up and get the final result ready for you much quicker!"

Happy amending! Faith

Arriving happy in Merseyside

In January 2018, we helped Liverpool City Region transport chiefs launch a powerful new campaign to promote the health and wellbeing benefits of walking and cycling to work on so-called ‘Blue Monday’, the UK’s ‘saddest day’ of the year.

The launch of the first ‘Arrive Happy’ campaign took place at the vibrant Avenue HQ in Liverpool. Walkers, cycling groups, mental health campaigners, health experts and local businesses were on hand to explain how walking or cycling for just 10 minutes a day as part of your commute to work, can help to lift your mood, give you more energy, reduce your stress levels and help you sleep better, too.

Many of the campaign's ambassadors – who can seen in the advertising campaign across the region for months to come – were on hand to talk to fellow commuters about the small changes they have made to their daily commutes to improve their health and wellbeing and share their top tips for getting started.

Arrive Happy, backed by Merseytravel, runs through to July 2018.

Getting Greater Manchester moving

Successful cities have something in common: a happy, healthy population that makes short trips on foot or by bike. When Chris Boardman MBE was made Greater Manchester’s first Cycling and Walking Commissioner, he made this his priority: to double and then double again our region’s cycling rates and make walking the natural choice for as many short trips as possible. Made to Move is Chris Boardman’s report to the Mayor, Andy Burnham, setting out exactly how he intends to achieve this and calls for £1.5 billion investment over a decade to make it possible.

We worked closely with Chris and his team to write, edit and design the report. We also commissioned photographer Jonathan Keenan to capture perfect shots that reflect the report’s ambitions and aspirations.

Photo credit: @mayorofGM

A forest for the north

Last week saw the launch of the Northern Forest, an ambitious vision from the Woodland Trust and Community Forests to plant 50 million trees over the next 25 years. The Northern Forest covers over 120 miles from Liverpool to Hull and the trees will help to provide natural flood management and boost wildlife habitats as well, protecting ancient woodland areas and iconic species such as the red squirrel. It will also providing a tranquil space for millions of people and generate more than £2 billion for the country’s economy. And if that’s not enough, it is estimated that the new tree planting would lock up an estimated 8 million tonnes of carbon.

We love being part of this project. We’ve produced a prospectus outlining the vision as well as extensive research and insight to demonstrate the need for the project.

We’ve also worked alongside the Woodland Trust PR team – managing regional press across the north to drive public engagement and excitement and generate investor interest to make the vision a reality.

The Northern Forest was launched in an announcement by Environment Secretary Michael Gove. The Government has pledged £5.7 million to launch the project, and forms part of its 25-Year Environment Plan, which sets out how we will be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it.

Follow all the latest from the Northern Forest on the Woodland Trust blog
Check out the prospectus

2002 – 2017: new brand, new website, new work

This November see us reach a bit of milestone: fifteen years of working with some amazing clients, fifteen years of creating work that matters. To mark the occasion, we decided now was a good time for a new brand, new website and a new way of talking about what we do. If you have a minute please let us know what you think, feedback is always welcome.

Recruiting future adopters

Creative Concern has worked in the adoption sector for several years, supporting local authority and charitable adoption agencies to raise their profiles, and to encourage a more diverse range of people to consider adoption as a way of growing their family.

Recently, we have been honoured to work alongside two of the new ‘regional adoption agencies’ in the North of England, developing their brands and identities, and powerful launch campaigns. In early 2017, a partnership of five local authorities in Greater Manchester and Cheshire commissioned us to find a name, and create a high profile launch recruitment campaign. The result was Adoption Counts. Alongside a high impact brand and new website, Creative Concern created the creative for its extensive outdoor and digital campaign. The results speak for themselves: over 300 enquiries from future adopters have been taken since the campaign launched in July.

In summer 2017, Adoption Now (the Regional Adoption Agency for Bury, Bolton, Blackburn with Darwen, Rochdale, Oldham and Tameside) commissioned Creative Concern to develop its visual brand. Customer and colleague consultation led to the creation of a brand that reflects the agency’s eagerness to tackle the tricky questions that surround adoption and help Adoption Now stand out. The brand is set to launch in winter 2017.

You Can Foster

You Can Foster is a region-wide recruitment campaign that aims to shift perceptions of foster carers and recruit new carers within particular areas of need. The campaign has recently been extended to cover Yorkshire. As part of this, our PR and Content Team has been working with poet Tony Walsh and children’s authors Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Cathy Cassidy, Dan Worsley and Livi Michael on a writing competition that encourages young people in foster care across the North of England to tell their own stories.

The aim of the campaign is to encourage new foster carers to sign up and make a real difference to a child’s life. Huge media interest in the campaign has led to hundreds of entries from youngsters wishing to show the world the scale of their ambition. www.youcanfoster.org