Embracing optimism in a climate of fear
Distinctive Dispatch #36: Accentuating the positive; national award shortlisting for Distinctive; how to write a narrative, and how not to campaign; catch us in Manchester and Leeds.
Better comms for people, places and work
Scrolling your feed, listening to the news, crises surround us. Their impact is felt in boardrooms, at the pumps, in supermarkets and by millions of people directly.
We’re thinking about the importance of balance - between urgency, anxiety and the courage to put something more optimistic out into the world…
This Dispatch starts a busy month for the team, as Ben and Ryan head off to UKREiiF, while Arianne prepares to lead a session at the Nuclear Institute’s inaugural conference. If you’re at any of these events, it would be great to see you there.
In the meantime, switch off the news, put down your phone and take time away from the noise. Amazing things happen every day. It’s worth making time to notice them.
Thanks for supporting the Dispatch. As ever, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
This Dispatch contains hope – or at least a plea for saying something positive
Many voters go to the polls on 7 May against a gloomy backdrop. With Labour at risk of losing more than 1,000 council seats, the party is leaning into fear-based campaigning to motivate its base.
Its recent ad campaign, shared by ministers, contains quotes from Reform candidates in a bid to turn voters off the insurgent party.
While I understand the urge to fight back against Reform, this strategy raises a fundamental question. Can a brand or organisation build its identity purely in opposition to another? When the whole message boils down to “we’re not as bad as those guys”, I’m not convinced that’s strong enough.
Without suggesting that the Greens have all the answers, when they dropped this video a few months ago it felt like a breath of fresh air in a political landscape that’s often either stale or outright vicious. A small glimmer of hope on the horizon, perhaps.
I’ve noticed other strands of positivity in pop culture as well. From Raye’s phenomenal, soul-baring album THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE to intergalactic buddy film Project Hail Mary, in which a science teacher finds the future of humanity in his hands and summons all his courage to sort out some sparkly space pests. Both received critical and commercial success – suggesting we could all do with a bit of hope at the moment. In gloomy, uncertain times, I know I do.
There are plenty of campaigns out there, playing on our fears – of ageing, of getting it wrong, of the world generally falling apart. And I understand why. Fear gets attention.
But right now, it also feels a little exhausting. And maybe that creates space for something else: work that lifts people up, rather than weighs them down.
So, in the spirit of that, here’s a small round-up of campaigns that have made us feel good recently.
Upbeat campaigns
This Girl Can – 10 years on: Unbelievably, it’s been 10 years since This Girl Can – a fantastic campaign by Sport England encouraging women from diverse backgrounds to engage in physical activity. I remember raising my eyebrows as the swimsuit elastic pinged to Missy Elliot – its daring but authentic style certainly spoke to the right audience at the time, and watching it again, it’s making me reassess my current (lack of) fitness habits! This video revisits the data-driven concept behind the campaign and interviews the team that made it so effective.
Tesco’s fruit giant gives schools a bigger helping: A new one from Tesco, built around a simple but well-executed idea: boy befriends giant fruit monster.
It might just be because my own little one starts school this September, but it’s a genuinely sweet, optimistic concept underpinned by a serious message – that children across the UK are missing out on the fruit and veg they need to thrive. I’d take this over a two-minute lecture on the dangers of rickets any day.
British Heart Foundation – In Living Memory: Earlier this year, the British Heart Foundation created a meaningful campaign titled ‘In Living Memory’, dedicating bright red benches to real survivors of heart disease whose lives have been saved thanks to BHF-funded research. It’s gentle and relatively understated, but powerful – with that core of hope, and the impact of science and knowledge, running throughout.
The case for optimism
So, what does a genuinely positive campaign look like – and why does it matter?
At its best, positive work doesn’t ignore reality or gloss over challenges. It earns its optimism. There’s usually a clear truth at the centre – something grounded in lived experience or real data – and a sense of forward motion. Not empty reassurance, but something people can recognise and feel part of.
The campaigns that land tend to share a few common threads: they put people, not problems, at the heart of the story; they offer a sense of agency rather than helplessness; and they balance emotional pull with something tangible – whether that’s practical support, new information or a clear next step.
While fear can be effective in the short term, it’s much harder to build affinity, trust and long-term engagement on anxiety alone. In a landscape where audiences are already saturated with bad news, optimism – when done well – can be a powerful differentiator. It invites people in, rather than pushing them to act out of obligation or concern.
For organisations, that doesn’t mean abandoning urgency or pretending everything is fine. But it does mean asking a slightly different set of questions:
What are we giving people, not just warning them about?
Where is the sense of progress or possibility in this story?
And how do we leave people feeling after they’ve engaged with us?
Ultimately, the most effective communications don’t just tell people what’s wrong. They give them a reason to care, and a reason to feel that change is possible.
Photo in the header is by olga safronova on Unsplash.
Celebrating CIPR award shortlisting for stand-out client care
The phrase ‘client delight’ runs through our work. It’s in our commitment to quality, features in our weekly team discussions and shapes how we behave.
So we’re thrilled to be shortlisted for the CIPR’s Excellence Awards in the long-term client care category.
For a business that values strong relationships, it means the world to us to be recognised in this category.
Things we’ve seen
Music video of the month: GENER8ION & Yung Lean’s “Storm”: Featuring brilliant, bold choreography that you can’t look away from, it’s no wonder this music video has caught the eye of the creative industry across the internet. It’s bold, brave, and there’s not a shred of AI in sight, and although it’s not the sort of thing we might usually share here – it’s a testament to human storytelling. A heads up – the full 7-minute video gets a little uncomfortable in places, but the link above takes you straight to its epic visual finale.
Your Name in Landsat - NASA Science: Absolutely great move from NASA to celebrate Earth Day here – a website that lets you use beautiful satellite imagery of all the wild and wonderful natural features on earth to spell out your own name. Brilliant.
Here’s a particularly lovely example.
Things we’ve read
Why ‘glue work’ can finally shine in the age of AI – Financial Times (gift link): People who joins the dots in their team, build connections see the big picture are doing the glue work that’s often overlooked in busy organisations. Sarah O’Connor offers a fascinating perspective which speaks to what makes communications valuable to organisations, as connectors and collaborators who see around corners.
From Barcelona to Paris, cities thrive with women in charge – The Guardian: This piece makes the case for more inclusive, people-first place-making, highlighting the senior women leaders helping to drive it. From Barcelona to Montréal, they are reclaiming city space from cars and giving it back to people, with more room for walking, cycling and greenery – and creating better accessibility for buggies and wheelchairs. Boldly reimagining the space ultimately ends up benefitting everyone.
Instagram chief debunks popular engagement hack – Social Media Today: Focus on your audience, analyse what resonates, follow those patterns. That’s what Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri said when discussing ‘hacks’ to boost post reach on an Instagram Story Q&A. Straight from the horse’s mouth, it’s all about your followers and what they want, not trying to game the system.
Things we’ve heard
Don’t panic! – When it hits the fan: David Yelland and CIPR President Farzana Baduel discuss why PR leaders need to act like meerkats: looking ahead for signs of trouble before they strike. They also cover Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Machin’s comments on switching off on holiday, and Wales manager Craig Bellamy’s poetic response to World Cup qualification heartbreak.
How to build s narrative – Cut Through: Former UK government comms boss Simon Baugh has clearly experienced that moment when someone says ‘we need a stronger narrative’. This podcast and post set out what you need to do to build a narrative that works.
Things we’ve said
How storytelling supports place-making: Glossy CGI images on building site hoardings are all well and good, but purposeful, place-based storytelling creates deeper engagement. By leading with the tangible benefits to local communities - from schools and transport to green space, high streets and jobs - places can create a positive narrative that sticks.
Holed below the waterline: why Starmer needs a vision for the country: Smart money says Labour will sink in the local and devolved elections next week. Reform could be the main beneficiaries. This post explains why the country desperately needs a positive vision that counters populism. Attack ads only get you so far.
Making time for connection at UKREiiF: This post shares thoughts about how next month’s mega property conference event is shaping up for us, what we’re looking forward to, and what we’re not going to do. We’ll share daily updates from the three-day event to built environment contacts who subscribe to the Dispatch. Let us know if you’re going and want to meet.
Catch the next edition on 5 June. If you have any suggestions on what you’d like to hear from us, as ever, we’d love to hear from you.