January 20, 2006
How to Create a Healthy Atmosphere and Using Fun to Break the Old Paradigms
How to Create a Healthy Atmosphere:
There are detailed and practical ways of creating a healthy atmosphere in the workplace; but the major factor in creating a healthy atmosphere in the workplace or at home is so simple that it’s almost ridiculous…
What do you think would happen if you were just nice to people?
That is really what we all want, for people to be nice to us. That’s way too simple isn’t it? Sometimes we forget about the simple things that make a difference in our lives and for various reasons come off the rails. We have to be aware that this is happening so we can correct it.
Part of being nice is having fun with people. Fun and laughter is a very simple recipe to success and like any recipe it has to be mixed well and there has to be work and effort put into it. You can have all the ingredients, which we all do have, but if you don’t use them nothing is going to happen.
Of course, there has to be sincerity because you will always come unstuck being nice to people just to benefit yourself. And we have to be careful how we use our humour because we can also hurt people with sarcasm, racism and sexism while thinking it’s humorous.
Using Fun to Break the Old Paradigms:
By using fun as a core aspect of their branding, a liquor store chain broke down two of the unwritten rules of liquor retailing in Australia -
- All advertising is price-driven
- You have to have ‘liquor’ (or a synonym) in your brand name
The advertising was dramatically different to existing liquor advertising. The press ads had one of each of the three main categories (beer, wine, spirits) taking up less than 20% of the ad space. The main message was not “this is the place to get your cheapest alcohol”; rather, it was “this is the place where we help you to enjoy yourself."
This was backed up in the merchandise range. Rather than restricting themselves to alcohol and related products, their stores started stocking products that enhanced the image of the ‘one-stop fun shop’ where you could get everything you need to celebrate. They brought in gift wrapping, greeting cards, giftware. In some stores, the biggest seller in the pre-Christmas period was chocolates!
The store gives an image that is relaxed, fun and young. No more ‘Liquor Barn’, ‘Liquor Mart’ or ‘Bottle Shop’. Simply by being different, it was easier for people to remember who they were.
This concept can be used with any industry, it just needs some imagination and thinking out of the box by enhancing your Comic Awareness.
Other news articles from the same month
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
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