I have recently concluded a very exciting and rewarding 7 month consultation contract with the Boys & Girls Club of America. While I was brought on board to consult the club on developing various media and ‘edu-tainment’ programs for children and youth, what I actually learned from THEM is beyond priceless.
Being the leading, and most influential American organization with an un-paralleled impact on over 4 million kids and teens on a DAILY basis, they must have been doing something right. And they have been successfully doing it for over 100 years!
So what’s their big secret? But before I jump into the big secret, let me share with you a brief background and how it all ties together..
Throughout the years, I have successfully consulted many companies (including Fortune 500), non-profits, startups and individual entrepreneurs who had all shared one common goal: to engage and inspire children through storytelling.
Whether my clients were looking to tell the story through a book, a toy/ product, animation or film, an app or a game - I found out that there is a key element which is essential in order to keep the kids engaged and inspired for a long lasting relationship with you and your brand.
To me, that essential element which I have persistently adviced to my clients to consider has been to make a positive impact on kids, giving them a life long VALUE. And that always worked, in addition of course to stimulating visuals, engaging stories and compelling characters.
But then, I learned from my work with the Boys & Girls Club that there is actually something even BIGGER to consider, and that is the big secret. Are you ready?
So, the secret is to inspire and empower kids to BUILD SKILLS so they can become their own individual creators and producers of value for themselves and for others.
When I say skills, I don’t necessarily mean professional or vocational skills, but what I mean is the skills to be independent THINKERS and to be able IMAGINE. If your intellectual property, product or service empowers and inspires children to cultivate these most valuable skills, you are guaranteed to foster a life long relationships with your young audiences. Cultivating these powerful SKILLS is the kind of stuff that children are thirsty for, because it makes them more CAPABLE.
No wonder that the Boys & Girls Club of America has produced such a long and respectable list of celebrities and influential figures in all walks of life, such as Denzel Washington, Jennifer Lopez, Shaquille O’Neal, Sugar Ray Leonard and many others. They all were inspired, empowered and capable to cultivate the skills to live the life they dreamed of and imagined.
So there you have it, and now I would like to leave you with a question: if you have a product, service, intellectual property or a non-profit targeting children, how are YOU cultivating skills in your young clients/ audiences?
I truly hope that this inspired you to take your product, service or intellectual property for children to a whole new level.
It certainly inspired me, and I am super psyched to bring my new realizations to the services I provide to my clients.
Sincerely,
Baruch “I never stop learning” Inbar.
http://www.snaut.com