It was our turn with “Tinka” this past weekend. Tinka is the stuffed-animal class pet of my daughter’s pre-school class. The students take turns bringing him home and documenting his experiences with pictures and captions in his journal.
It’s a lot of pressure having Tinka. Not only do we want to show him a fun time…it’s also my daughter’s opportunity to share bits and pieces of what her life is like when she’s not at school. I spend the whole weekend shouting, “WHERE’S TINKA? LET’S GET A PICTURE WITH TINKA!” and shoving knickknacks off the counter behind his photo opp. We’ve taken him to a theme park, playgrounds, a museum, and the zoo. We even did a rainy-day photoshoot at IKEA.
This was our third visit with Tinka, and I was feeling a bit over his company. We didn’t do anything special. Still, I was sure to keep a record his visit for our report. And you know what? Tinka had an awesome weekend.
Documenting our normal moments made me realize how interesting they are. He got to try on Grandma’s jewelry, went out for frozen yogurt, danced to Grandpa’s guitar music, played games in a tent in the backyard and so much more. We were generating quality content without even trying!
It got me thinking…our “boring” days are more interesting than we think. We often hear from clients that they don’t have anything newsworthy going on that would warrant a social media post or newsletter update. If that’s you, imagine having Tinka. Pretend you HAVE to document what’s happening in your company and with your employees. What may seem like a mundane work day to you is likely entertaining or interesting to your audience. And when you’re building a brand, those interesting tidbits are what builds emotional connections.
If it’s the right fit for your culture, consider the stuffed animal/mascot approach yourself. Let employees take turns bringing it along for the workday and documenting its adventures. You may be surprised how much fun your team has with the assignment, and it will make great content for social media.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to turn the mundane into marketing success, call the pros at R2R Marketing.
