Today’s brief is an exciting and topical one that is designed to help Manchester, the home of One Minute Briefs.

Just before the lockdown we (OMB) were looking at offices of our own in the City Centre until things changed. But now we’re once again on the lookout for some space to build from. It’s great to have the ability to work remotely. But to grow and really have that team bond, being around other people is important.

Technology allows us to work from home but also has it’s limitations. I feel communication and productivity is also so much better in person, and wellbeing improves when you get yourself out there rather than spend too much time at home.

And, coincidentally, today is our first film-shoot of 2020 at MediaCity. We’re delighted to be back doing shoots, talks, events and social campaigns under our umbrella company, the Bank of Creativity.

We’ve all seen the current calls to get people back into working environments. We know some people are raring to get back out there and some not so much.

That’s why we’re looking for creative ways to communicate how we can get back out there safely and effectively, whilst feeling positive about the future.

We want ideas to help get businesses working together… to get us all back working together!!

Because we really are better, together.

Our campaign needs to be a bold and confident rally cry for business leaders to actively address leading their teams back into the city centre – safely but confidently.

We can’t build back this city from our kitchen tables or garden offices in the suburbs. We’ve seen hospitality initiatives helping people to feel comfortable to go out socially and now we want to make sure that the same happens to help people get back into their working environments in the safest ways possible.

We’re excited to see the OMBLES working together to help communicate this in positive ways. It’s a challenging one but with the right message, we can begin to get back to where we were and move forward.

Please tweet your submissions to @OneMinuteBriefs, @RDPRTweets, @OBIproperty & @BruntwoodUK with the hashtag #BetterTogetherMCR

Prize: £200 cash prize to today’s winner.

We want to remind businesses that cities thrive because of the people and it’s the people that put the heart and the financial stability into the city centre.

Tone of voice is

As always, Manchester looks after its people, we’re not going to let you down
As a city we are invincible together and we need to be together
Can’t be cavalier but we can be confident and we have empathy but we can’t have inertia

BACKGROUND:

A group of Manchester city centre business leaders are working together to call on peers to actively encourage and support their teams in an imminent return to the city centre to ensure its economic recovery.

Created by Sir Richard Leese, the newly formed Business Sounding Board, chaired by Bruntwood CEO, Chris Oglesby, comprises leaders from across each key city centre industry including hospitality, hotels, music, events, education, social enterprise, property and the creative and digital sector.

Says Chris Oglesby: “We obviously understand the need to counter a safe return with individuals’ concerns around health and safety in offices and access to the city centre via different methods of transport. Within the steering group we have professionals who can support and advise business leaders to ensure that they are able to practically and emotionally support their returning workforces.
“Over the next month we will be sharing our strategy with business leaders across the city with a view to get Manchester City Centre up and running again throughout the working week. We have seen massive impact on the night time and weekend economy on the back of schemes such as “Eat Out to Help Out” and there is no doubt that thousands of people are comfortable in resuming social activities. However, this is just not reflected in the numbers of people in our city centre during the day mid-week. Our business leaders can really help to change that.”
“It goes without saying that the city’s eco-system is broken without a confident and collective return to work and that an economic recovery for the city - and millions of people who rely on that eco-system - is impossible without a shared impetus to get this city moving again.”

Brief ran in partnership with @RDPRTweets, @OBIproperty & @BruntwoodUK.