When was the last time you got public relations lessons from a humpback whale?
This past Friday, as I was looking at various social media platforms, I came across a video that one of my Facebook friends had shared.
It was a video from the Great Whale Conservancy, a program of a project (not a typo) of the Earth Island Institute (I checked them out on Charity Navigator, and they are, I think, legit).
I’d never heard of them before, but the title of the video that my friend shared: “Humpback Whale Shows AMAZING Appreciation After Being Freed From Nets” drew me in.
I veered between smiles and tears – happy ones – as I watched it. Watch the video yourself, and you’ll see why.
Now, I could go into raptures about the beauty of the human-animal bond, of life set free, and all sorts of things.
And I do feel all that.
But you know what struck me most about this video?
What is most powerful about it is that it tells the story of what this nonprofit does … and it tells it perfectly.
You can tell people until the cows come home about the great work you’re doing via annual reports, etc. But this video, which isn’t slickly packaged, and rather long at that, shows you the work this nonprofit is doing in a very raw, real way.
More than that, they let the whale tell the story.
See how they followed it as it moved around the boat? As they let it lead them out? As they watched its sheer joy at realizing, in whatever way whales do, that it would live to take another breath, see another day, eat a few more fish (or whatever it is that whales eat)?
They showed the act of helping this animal, but they kept the focus on the whale.
And as I watched the way the whale reacted, what I realized is that nothing can tell your story like your subjects can. Their direct experiences – and telling of those experiences, even if they are “dumb animals” – will have an impact like none other.
Everything – everything – comes down to how you tell your organization’s (or your client’s) story. That’s at the heart of what we in public relations do.
Let’s not get lost in the tools. Let’s remember to focus on the story.
And may Valentina live to see many more days.
Image: flickkerphotos via Flickr, CC 2.0
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Yes. This is why I tend to stick with a few charities that I’ve investigated, and ones that friends introduce me to – due diligence is always key, on or off line. @Shonali @adamtoporek
@adamtoporek Yea, me too (re: CN). I also Google them (if they’re unfamiliar to me), and also Google ” sucks” to see if there’s anything I should be familiar with, controversies, etc. tinu
@Shonalitinu Can’t even remember the last time I looked at Guidestar. If memory serves, the registration chased me away. Don’t know of any others; CN is my go to. If it’s not local or I don’t have a personal connection, I definitely use CN to make sure that I am putting funds where they will be most effective.
@Tinu That’s exactly what I thought (about the length of the video) when I first saw it! But it had me hooked in moments, just like you.
I need to go over to your place and see what’s happening with the video challenge…
@Tinu That’s exactly what I thought (about the length of the video) when I first saw it! But it had me hooked in moments, just like you.
I need to go over to your place and see what’s happening with the video challenge…
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@JenMarsikFriess http://goo.gl/RYFo8
@JenMarsikFriess Thank you for sharing! @AHPCares
@JenMarsikFriess :)
@Shonali That was SO awesome. Great pick me up for the day. I was looking at it like “there’s no way I’m sitting here for 8 minutes, but I’ll watch the first 30 seconds or so”. Totally got me in. And I don’t know what I’m going to do about the video challenge. The medium is challenging for people (including me, both watching and using).
But I think it’s so important to find the best way to, as you said, tell your client’s stories and meet their needs – how do we do that if we’re not exploring every medium?
@causevox Thanks so much for sharing!
@rachaelseda So it is – I completely forgot about that!
@adamtoporek Well, thank you. :) Video is such a remarkable medium. I don’t use it enough, but I’m trying to use it more, even for clients, & so on. I know, tinu , I’m way behind on your video challenge…!
I think Charity Navigator is such a useful tool. Have you come across others, that rate nonprofits, that you like? Guidestar reviews them too, but makes you register for a lot of the information, so I don’t think you get as comprehensive an overview as with CN.
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@shonali You’re welcome. It was an awesome video and a wonderful, insightful post!
I had actually already seen the video, but I love how you were able to draw a great lesson about marketing/PR from it. No doubt that video — and that whale — tell the story of that organization better than a bunch of direct mail pieces ever could. It was basically a video testimonial — from the whale!
BTW, have always been a fan of charity navigator!
@beckygaylord Thanks for sharing!
@Shonali And how timely being it is shark week and all ;)
@Al Smith My pleasure, thank you for stopping by. :)
@jenzings I LOVED that article. Thank you for sharing! Ha, I’m still smiling at the image of “Little Nut”…!
Wow ! This is great Shonali, amazing video. The whale was showing “Appreciation” for the TLC it received from the kind and considerate people. Storytelling and telling a purposeful story is so powerful.
Great book on this; “Tell To Win” by Peter Guber.
Thanks again.
Al
In our C.A.R.E. message, the “A” stands for Appreciation.
@rachaelseda And then people start spreading that great message (like we’re doing). Thank YOU for taking the time to watch and read!
@MattLaCasse I know!
@JGaranttrevor young What really touched me about this was the way the whale “spoke” – and that the humans “let” her speak. They could so easily have made it all about themselves, but they didn’t do that.
The ability to effectively tell a story connects people like nothing else. I too loved this video.
PS–if you liked the video, you might like this article too: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/magazine/12whales-t.html?pagewanted=all
Whales are incredible. Seeing one is on my bucket list.
What a touching video! You are so right, like we are sometimes reminded – keep it simple stupid. They captured the essence of their non-profit without even having to tell you. The video spoke for itself. Thanks for sharing!
Amen. So many entities get caught up in putting the spotlight on themselves and how awesome they are, they forget to spotlight their customers; or audience they’re committed to helping. Amazing what happens to your PR efforts when you take the focus off of yourself.
You’re so right shonali . As I heard it recently described at a Marketing/PR panel event by trevor young, the multitude of platforms on offer connect with our human desire to gather and share stories- just as we once did congregating around the fireplace or the village square. As you say- it is the story that is the cornerstone of that communication and connection- and indeed of that of our client or organization.