Slow food. Slow life. The paradigm changes are as real as permanent in our new century culture. The old paradigms associated with the culture of mass consumption represented by the ideals of «better bigger and faster» are in decline, and new generations of young clients have developed a new awareness about the world around them.
Concern over the environment and new concern over existence: these are the values adopted by the youngest citizens in different parts of the world. Both, millennials , who are already approaching their early forties, and the centennial generation. They adopt technology and new forms of communication, but of course! They also require that companies have global awareness and commitment to the society in which they are inserted.
All this – which, in general, we are aware of and it is clear to us all – has led me to think that there are many things in our society that we are used to think about (and we end up being modified by these thoughts), but we do not realize that there are other important issues about which we neither discuss nor we consider the need for them to be reviewed. For instance: communication.
We are too much concerned about eating well, exercising, taking care of the planet, but we are not very focused on having healthy communication. As early as in the 80s people started talking about information pollution. Forty years later, there are more than 500 audiovisual stimuli that we daily receive from different screens which offer us multiple user experiences.
Less is more
In 1929, Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, last director of the Bauhaus school, would pronounce the famous phrase that proclaims minimalism as a way of life: less is more. A concept that was fervently embraced by humanit, since it placed nature and the organiin the center of a stripped and fluid system.
The proposal today, is shifting this idea from architecture to the world of social communication, and specifically of public relations: we are putting forward the concept of slow communication. What does it mean? Being responsible for the contents we produce:
- Take 10 more minutes: it will help us analyze if what we are offering to the audience is relevant or not. Let’s write only what we would like to read!
- Let’s be specific, and use as few words as possible. Being accurate is part of being aware of normal contamination.
- Let’s achieve a good balance between image and text. Remember that while the image attracts people, the meaning ends up defining the text. A good balance allows us to facilitate reading.
And above all, let’s learn to stand in the reader´s place. We are culturally taught and induced to look at ourselves. How many food dishes photos have you taken this month? How many pictures of yourself?
Let´s be more responsible and accountable for our communication. Being better in our public relations means to stop navel-gazing and start minding others. It also means raising awareness of the others´ genuine needs by lowering the noise that the hyper efficient modern society is making.
So, what about starting to try today?
