Let’s face it, the dark days of January and February leave a lot to be desired.
It’s cold. It snows. You spent all your money at Christmas and, in business terms, there’s no budget to do anything. We also have an economic crisis to contend with.
What can you do?
Get creative, that’s what.
Whether you’re brainstorming new marketing activities, planning your communications or trying to make your website stand out from the crowd why not have a bit of fun with it?
Create characters and story boards, try telling your corporate story from a child’s perspective, or get your team to contribute to a poem, line by line, that says what’s great about your offer.
You’ll be surprised what you come up with – and a lot of it will be useable (though maybe calling your Chief Executive the Wizard of the far country, or your products wibble sticks, is a bad idea).
Creativity isn’t just for the marketing or PR team, that’s why so many training and development professionals have you making boxes or collages – or writing plays.
If you’re looking for a bit of creative inspiration, the Story Museum, Oxford, is encouraging adults and children to immerse themselves in reading, writing and sharing stories. The delapidated, old GPO building in Pembroke Street, is being prepared to house over 1001 stories when it opens fully in 2014.
By way of a preview of its plans to engage with the story teller in all of us the Museum is allowing its spaces to become home to a fantastic collaboration of writers and artists, creating a world of stories this Spring.
For the month of May, 2012 I’ll be collaborating with artist Julie Brooker to make the GPO’s old business banking room a completely different world – with thousands of stories just waiting to be told.
To get those creative juices flowing in the winter days ahead, find out more at www.storymuseum.org.uk/otherworlds .
Come and see us all this Spring, in Oxford.
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