Skip to main content
Commsy creative stuff straight to your inbox

Blog

“Mummy, what does integrity mean?”

< Blog home

“Mummy, what does integrity mean?”

Before I had a moment to respond, Ada, my 5-year-old, was straight in there with an answer to her own question. “Does it mean doing the right thing, even when people can’t see you?”

I was relieved to know Ada had been listening at school rather than daydreaming about rainbows and My Little Ponies. I was also reassured that, even at such a young age, she’s starting to understand the importance of values. I realised that, if kids as young as five can happily grasp the concept of values from a basic perspective, surely we, as grown-ups can find simpler ways to explore them in life and work too…

 

Talk to me like I’m five

There’s no greater way to strip out all the unnecessary twaddle and focus on the stuff that matters. I was recently recommended ‘A Kids Company About’. Through over 50 charming children’s books, they tackle the toughest of subjects including climate change, racism, bullying, addiction, and anxiety. They also cover a range of books on values – bravery, curiosity, creativity, gratitude, optimism and empathy. The founder of the company, Jelani Memory says, ‘books are a magical way to open up conversations.’ A Kids Co brings that magic to life with empowering messages that are easy to understand. Take a leaf from the books of kid’s authors and keep your language nice and simple.

 

Use relatable storytelling to illustrate values

Ada explained that integrity had actually been the topic of her school assembly that day, and they watched a video with examples to explain it. One showed a little boy gleefully choosing some sweets to buy, then coming out of the shop, clutching his sugar-filled paper bag in one hand, his change in the other. When he realised he’d been given too much, he took a moment to think about what to do, and decided to return it to the shop keeper. Ada was able to immediately relate to the value of integrity. Stories don’t have to be epic tales. They can be short and impactful. But make sure they are relatable.

 

Keep values front of mind

Talking of assemblies, think back to those old school days when we trailed into the sports hall to gather on the floor for that daily ritual. The head would stand at the front to give the naughty ones a telling off, congratulate classes on their projects, and talk about the important topics of the day. Celebration Assembly is held every Friday at Ada’s school. Kids are awarded certificates and congratulated on their achievements. They also focus on values and how they can grow into decent human beings. It’s something that happens every week so it’s a moment to look forward to. Importantly, those values are reinforced at every opportunity. Even as grown-ups, we need regular reminders. We need messages to be repeated. Focus frequently on values to make sure they remain a priority.

 

Recognise the magic moments

During those celebration assemblies, one child from each class is chosen by their teacher to be publicly praised. They’re called out by the head and handed a certificate in front of the whole school. Those moments of praise centre on community values. They are clear and specific and recognise each child for going over and above to show perseverance in a particular subject, caring for a friend in need, overcoming a challenge by being brave, respecting the differences of others, demonstrating integrity when faced with difficult choices. Celebrating successes helps to promote these values in a positive way while recognising how individuals all contribute to making the school a great place to be.

 

Have role models like Applejack

Back to My Little Pony for a moment… You may not know this, but each of the main characters represents aspects of friendship – honesty, laughter, generosity, kindness, and loyalty. You can’t move in my house without stepping on one of these treasured little toys. Ada is mad for them. She’s also inspired by their individual personalities and the way they take care of each other. She loves acting out the scenes and playing around with their words and phrases. With the right role models in place, values can be brought to life and spark imaginations.

 

Make it fun! 

Whether you’re hopscotching with friends, junk-modelling at school, or plastering My Little Pony stickers on the furniture, everything’s fun when you’re five. But that’s not always the case when we get older. Enter rules and processes, duties and deadlines. But we can still make talking about values a fun thing to do. However you promote values, make it memorable, make it entertaining, and make it joyful.

 

The lessons we learn from our children and the way they behave are often the most valuable ones. They are not complex and confusing because kids have a great way of keeping things simple.

And when it comes to clear messages about values, I’m happy to hop on the My Little Pony bandwagon as they perfectly sum up the way to be…

“We’re all being ourselves and we’re all accepting of one another.”

Plain and simple.

 

By Caroline Roodhouse for Alive!

“I feel like they own and care for the project as much as we do! I would not use anyone else for my creative work and think Alive is ahead of the game.”

Jo Hobbs — Communications Manager

“Thanks for all your help. We are delighted with the campaign, both in terms of the creativity and messaging but also the thought taken over the rollout of the materials. All looks absolutely fabulous!”

Sarah Crowdy — Campaign and Media Officer Communications, South East Water

“We went to ‘Alive’ for ideas on how to run a specific employee program in Europe. Alan and his team were brilliant in coming up with fresh, creative and practical approaches. The team took charge and executed brilliantly. We are pleased with the progress made so far and hope to have the same level of partnership and commitment going forward.”

Sobha Varghese — Tata Consultancy Services

“Alive helped us create a video of our response to the floods of winter 2019. Our Chief Officer received messages from all round the country praising us for it and was really pleased with both the video and the response to it.”

Alexander Mills, Communications Manager — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“We had the privilege to work with the Alive team. It was our first time to be involved in creating an animation for our patients within paediatrics. The team were approachable, friendly, creative and very accommodating. Your vision for what you want to create, is at all times acknowledged, appreciated and accommodated by the team. They worked effectively and with great passion towards our project and worked not only alongside health professionals but also our patients who really enjoyed the experience of working with the Alive team. It has given our team the confidence and inspiration to do further projects in the future. We highly recommend Alive and their exceptional team.”

DR ELENI ATHANASAKOS, Lead Paediatric Clinical Scientist — NHS Barts Health

“‘The short animation developed in co-production with clinicians and young people is outstanding! Informative, developmentally appropriate, vitally fun and engaging. We are really grateful for the expertise of the Alive with Ideas team for their innovative approach in building children’s health literacy.'”

Kath Evans — Director of Children’s Nursing at Barts Health

“Our mission was to update our brand visuals to better reflect our innovative and forward-thinking organisation. After receiving numerous pitches from different branding agencies, Alive stood out with their clear passion and understanding of our identity and goals. We thoroughly enjoyed working with the Alive Team to create an engaging new brand that we are immensely proud of.”

Lianne Springer — Communications and Engagement Lead

“Alive wowed us during the pitch process and they didn’t stop wowing us throughout the whole project. Every person we worked with at Alive were so friendly, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about what they do. They have worked with us to really understand what we do and have created a new brand and website that really stands out from our competitors. Thank you!”

Louise Burnard, Head of Marketing and Communications UK — Be | Shaping the Future

“I think the team have done such a brilliant job, particularly with responding to our requests. It's one of the best mental health videos I've ever seen. Very proud to be associated with your exemplary work. Thank you so much.”

Dr Anna Batho — Clinical Psychologist – Critical Care, UCLH

“We have worked with Alan, Caroline and the wider Alive With Ideas team for many years. In that time, they have provided a dedicated service that is second to none. We appreciate their attention to detail and creative approach to bringing our brand, communications and stories to life. And would recommend them to anyone looking for creative communications support.”

Georgia Beech — Internal Communications Specialist, Ocado Group

“This is brilliant. I wanted to give my heartfelt thanks to all of the team who worked on this. You all understood exactly what we wanted to communicate and why, and then managed to do it in a way that was far better than anything I could have imagined. I’m a bit choked up to be honest!”

Sarah Wright, Head of Communications and Campaigns — NEA

“Each time I work with the team, I am always stunned at the effort and creativity that goes into each detail and am always eager for the end result. The team is extremely accommodating and always provide a fresh approach to our projects that elevates our communications materials!”

Alana Khaytin, Communications Specialist — Braskem America

“What I really appreciate about Alive is that they work with us as partners, and care as much about getting it right for our patients as we do.”

Sara Langston, Patient Engagement & Marketing Manager — italk

“Alive are unique in how much they deeply listen and invest in you and your ideas. I have not come across a company that listens as much as they do to ensure your needs are understood and met (actually - they always exceed my needs and expectations). Everyone I recommend Alive to has an equally brilliant experience. When you work with Alive, you are not only getting some genius creativity brought into your life, you are also hanging out with some of the best examples of human beings I’ve ever known.”

Steph Tranter, Hybrid Exec Coach & Psychologist — StephTranter.com

“The (Alive) team were able to creatively pull together and document (in just over 2minutes) everything our service has achieved over the last few months, from thousands of prescriptions deliveries to hundreds of phone calls made to the vulnerable. The final product was so powerful and reflective of what our service has and continues to achieve. It couldn’t have been better received within the service – thanks Alive for once again helping us to communicate our vision!’”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire & Rescue

“We worked with the team at Alive to create our staff recognition video.
At a time like this, its never been more important to share the amazing work that our staff have done and continue to do on a daily basis under very difficult circumstances. We wanted to shout about this and recognise that when the time came, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue stepped up to the plate. We didn’t want an ordinary thank you post on social media or a basic email sent out internally, we wanted something special. Enter Alive. ”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“Our company is fun, we have great brands, but most importantly we’re all about our people – and I wanted an agency who would understand that and help us bring it to life through our website and other comms. Straight away I felt that Alive ‘got’ us and provided the creative inspiration exactly where we needed it, as well as the technical expertise to deliver a well-functioning website.”

Keren McCarron, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications — KP Snacks

“Boom!
Thank you so much. Incredible work done at incredible speed by incredible people.
Outstanding work as ever and what a turnaround. As for the concepts – wow. These are that good it would be an insult to describe them as just good. It’s a joke, quite frankly. This is exactly the Alive effect I was after. Right now I feel like I am living in an Alive With Ideas wonderland. Thank you!”

Jack Grasby, Campaigns Manager — SYFR

“If you are looking to improve creativity and build teamwork, I highly recommend a session like this for your team. No matter where you are in your creativity journey, a workshop like this can give your team a boost of energy and ideas to invigorate their creative thinking.”

Amy Lilja, IC Manager — Hennepin Healthcare

“Alive were there to help when we were working every hour to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. They gave us the creativity, ideas and support we needed to deliver campaigns which empowered our residents in the most difficult time most of us have ever seen, personally and professionally. The team understood what we needed, worked closely with us and delivered fast without any compromise on quality. Working with Alive has been a joy in the darkest of times and I have no doubt will have helped to save lives. Thanks team x”

Julie Odams, Assistant Director of Communications & Customers — Derbyshire County Council

“We got 'Alive' involved to help us shift mindsets across our organisation and they delivered! Using simple, clear and creative ideas the team have delivered us a campaign which has seen a dramatic increase in idea sharing and development. They’ve also played a significant role in creating a culture of shared success. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with again, in fact, we already are!”

Gavin Buckle — B&Q
Alive logo