‘Twas dark in the office, and all through the night,
Cats and dogs decorate, wrapping presents so tight,
The tinsel was hung along cubicles with care,
Leaving no spot in the office looking so bare

In a break from the usual office holiday traditions, the Nyhus team set out to make a holiday card that wouldn’t get tossed aside into a stack of unread mail. Our goals were simple: wish everyone a happy holiday season, and find a creative way to benefit the Seattle Humane Society. Now that you’ve seen the video, here’s a quick behind-the-scenes take on what went into making our 2014 holiday card.

Play to Your Strengths

Before we could schedule the filming, we needed to develop and refine a creative concept. That process started with a simple question, “What makes Nyhus office culture special?” Luckily, we pondered this question on a Friday afternoon in November. And for those of you who don’t know, the Nyhus offices turns into what can only be described as a full-on dog park each and every Friday.

We often use storytelling as one ingredient of the integrated communications campaigns we create for our clients. So for this greeting, we opted to play to our strengths as creative storytellers to spread some holiday cheer.

Adapt

The Nyhus digital content and marketing team took the reins on the holiday card. As experts in content design and execution, we created a story concept that highlighted Nyhus’ culture of creativity and innovation. The result was a script with no lines, a cast that (mostly) had four legs, and an office with more cheer than a CBS primetime holiday special.

Working in communications, you can only control so much. Being able to pivot, willing to drop your favorite idea when it isn’t working, and all the while remaining open to new angles of engaging with your audience – these are hallmarks of any successful communications program. We took on that attitude with this project. Despite being well-trained (for the most part), our office dogs just weren’t able to walk single-file out of an open elevator door. So when things got hairy, we adapted. “Let them run,” we said!

Follow Through

Sure, filming a video with 9 of our favorite adopted friends might sound like a walk in the dog park, but that’s just a sliver of the work that goes into a final product. Any project demands multiple rounds of review. You may have to revisit entire components of your program–things that looked great on paper but were eventually replaced by something more compelling. A commitment to the final product is worth any headache suffered along the way.

So next time you’re faced with bland or boring, think about your strengths and how you can leverage them to add value. Don’t settle for ordinary, but use every opportunity to think creatively to find your message.

Don’t be afraid to roll around in the mud. Some of our best friends take every opportunity to do just that, and we love them all the more for it.

We hope this little video made your tail wag.

Happy Holidays!