We're all communicating throughout the day. At Elf, we consciously choose to be optimistic and positive in our approach to everything. It's part of our DNA. :)
While we begin our communications work with research and discovery to find the facts and fully understand the market, subject and context, we are fortunate to not be a news agency or other press-related kind of company. Our work instead is client and consumer-focused, based primarily around products and services. We get to write about things people and businesses can use and ideas that further that progress. We are instinctively positive, future-oriented and solution-focused.
We create and deliver high quality consistently. That takes some time and effort. We're still fast but we get to shape and sculpt what we create to the best of our ability with the time we have.
In addition to content accuracy and presenting the facts, there are 3 essential components we take into consideration when we communicate. They are:
1. Optimism
When you communicate, there's an energy that comes across even if you are writing a technical piece. You reveal your writing prowess and appreciation for the written word every time you string some words together. We consciously choose to be optimistic.
Optimism fuels people! It gives life to ideas, teams, projects, businesses and more.
Our optimism is not separate from the world. In fact, we embrace what's happening around us. Change is inevitable and essential to progress.
While we know there's been a lot of turmoil and confusion in the past year pertaining to the uncertainty of the election, we also know that our country has been doing well economically increasingly. We know that opportunities are present despite changing political, business and market conditions.
As Winston Churchill said, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
Optimism takes guts. It requires resilience, practice and a certain determination. It's not a luxury - it is a conscious choice that can fuel an individual, team and company to do great things. Optimism wins.
At the same time, being optimistic does not mean that you fail to accept any difficulty reality you may face. We have found that optimism works collectively through a direct assessment of all realities, the open sharing of information, believing in the best in your people and working together to use your natural momentum to act.
Optimism is also contagious. It's easier to work with people who are willing to hear you out and to believe in you by default. An optimistic leader is more fun to be around but most importantly, can bring people together to be their best.
2. Originality
As a creative agency, Elf interacts with creative people, ideas, products and businesses every day! In recent years, we’ve been happy to participate in the acceleration of technology that can benefit people on a daily basis, enhance aesthetics and support creative endeavors.
Art and science are truly beginning to meet. It's a very exciting time to be a creative person.
Being original drives creative people - the ability to create and imagine something new. It is also how you contribute in any truly meaningful way to progress any idea, product or solution. You have to look at it anew.
Being original means you start with a fresh, clear slate. We believe this approach enables us to take on bigger challenges and instead of just retrofitting or working with outmoded technologies, we can approach problems with a direct, solution-oriented approach with original concepts and technologies. This approach that we use in our design, carries over into our communications.
We always push our clients to look for more than what's just on the surface and to clearly articulate genuine value to their customers. We always learn from our clients. Sometimes, through our work together, we spur our clients on to create new products and services!
3. Being Articulate
After you have done your due diligence, fact finding and research to find what's of real value and offered this original value in a positive context, then you can get to the last part of the puzzle - being articulate.
Is it succinct? Is it clear? Does it convey a well defined message?
Did they learn anything? Did it engage them? Did it lift them up in any way? Did it make them eager to learn more and to grow and engage in some way?
These are some questions we think about. We also think about conveying the facts as honestly and clearly as possible. Being articulate and positive makes a difference. We strive for a balance between a simple, direct explanation of facts to a positive presentation of that material as best as possible.
This last part - being articulate - is something we think about throughout the creation of any piece, whether it is written, visual or multifaceted. Communicating concisely and clearly takes effort. There's a lot of editing involved with the end goal of communicating clearly in the fewest words possible.
Finally, we think about what we leave our audience with - the facts we've presented, the story we've told and the energy we've conveyed.
What's the feeling you leave your audience with?
We hope sharing this helps you understand our approach better and also in your own communication and expression.
There's a lot of opportunity today and a lot to be happy about and thankful for. We believe in the future and in our agency, our clients and our ability to do great work together. Thanks for reading!
