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Recovering backpacker, Cornwallite at heart, political enthusiast, catalyst, writer, husband, father, community volunteer, unabashedly proud Canadian. Every hyperlink connects to something related directly or thematically to that which is highlighted.

Thursday 12 September 2013

Memes and Motivation: The New Hearts and Minds Strategy






It didn't take long for @LakeridgeHealth to start trending after this brilliant ad; I wouldn't be surprised if its designers had a good inkling that's what would happen.  The message is the embodiment of everything that people are keying into at present; it's a statement of integrity, value and value add; it focuses on creating solutions instead of dividing-and-conquering and it was delivered in just the right package with just the right amount of detail.

More than that, this ad has people talking - not in the Ezra Levant, road-rage inducing way, but in a thoughtful manner.  By offering a clever, appealing contrast to the xenophobic charter business coming from the PQ, Lakeridge is helping to shift the narrative from one that feeds Pauline Marois' populist theme of "the sea of ROC is lapping at our shores, we need to keep the tide back" to one that presents inclusion in an appealing light - "hey, ROC's got some pretty cool stuff going on, do we really want to be left out?"

For anyone whose job includes communication - that means, pretty much everyone - there are some important lessons to mine from this.  While wedge issues and pushing the anger button will always work with some, for the majority of Canadians of all backgrounds the themes that resonate the strongest are Compassion, Innovation, Courage and Trust.

Those leaders to learn to live these values will set the example for their teams, leading to greater aggregate success.

After all - diversity is strength.

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