How Persuasive Creativity Enhances Government Communication

There’s no understating the important role that the government plays in each of our lives. At the same time, accessing resources or need-to-know information through government agencies can sometimes pose a challenge, as government platforms and communication often aren’t at par with what people are trained to expect from the private sector.

Yet distinct, intuitive digital experiences aren’t outside of governments’ grasp. The Odd Shop—an agency founded in 2010 by Oscar Hamming, Niels de Wit and Robert van der Lans specializing in combining behavioral science and creativity to great success—is joining our team to power a range of government campaigns and activations.

Government Digital Experiences Often Come Up Short

Governments have historically had difficulty when it comes to connecting with audiences digitally, often due to challenges like archaic platforms or struggles to build insights that enable engaging experiences. These challenges take a new relevance today, as governments join brands in rapid virtualization to reach people in need. “We see that there’s still a lot to be done for governments when it comes to their digital strategy,” says Regina Romeijn, VP Business Strategy at MediaMonks. “With the expertise of the team, we’ll make communications for this sector smarter and more effective and help them target audiences that are often out of their reach.”

And amidst a pandemic and political disruption, governments also have a critical responsibility to serve crucial information for people in ways that are relevant and easy to understand. A great example of this is The Odd Shop’s famous Brexit monster, who stars in a campaign for the Government of the Netherlands.

Over the span of about four years, Brexit has brought uncertainty to both citizens of the UK and business owners throughout the European Union in ways that weren’t easy to anticipate or predict. The campaign takes a fun, lighthearted approach to highlight Brexit’s tangible impacts on Dutch business–and it resonated so well that just a single tweet about it from the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stefan Blok earned 2.7 impressions with zero media budget.

Elicit Emotion Through Behavioral Science

Emotionally resonant experiences succeed in combining insights on user behavior with the power of creativity—a foundation of our unique unitary approach to combining data, content and media. “By integrating the power of persuasive creativity with the best digital company in the world, we create endless possibilities,” says Oscar Hamming, Co-Founder of The Odd Shop. “Complementing Sorrell’s holy trinity of content, media and data with the power of behavioral science, we offer a unique skill set that can truly elevate campaigns.”

For The Odd Shop, insights and creativity combine through the team’s Persuasive Creativity Canvas. It’s a process that aligns two things. First, the team analyzes the organization and its target market to develop insights into the audience and the digital environment. Second, they examine behavioral determinants that can lead to desired behaviors. Together, these analyses map out opportunities to reach audiences as effectively as possible—blending emotion into the code, a crucial ingredient when building meaningful, data-driven experiences.

This strategy complements our own promise to connect with people through differentiated, effective digital experiences at the intersection of creativity and technology. “We’re able to translate scientific findings into creativity that stands out, and effective communication that hits a nerve,” says Niels de Wit, Co-Founder of The Odd Shop. “To be able to do this within the MediaMonks and S4Capital’s network is a dream come true.”

With an urgency to show up for constituents with easy-to-access information and intuitive experiences at speed, the time for governments to virtualize their services has never been so urgent. Through its Persuasive Creativity Canvas, The Odd Shop’s expertise strengthens our own approach to developing emotionally resonant content for brands and government agencies alike, helping them show up for audiences with added value through data and creativity.