God is in the Details

For the past few weeks, media publications have been promoting today, July 4th, as the day that researchers from CERN in Switzerland would announce the discovery of the “God Particle,” also known as Higgs boson which has been touted as “one of the biggest scientific discoveries of the 21st century.” But the scientists who developed the presentation forgot to consult a marketer or PR professional to help with the design and delivery of their message. Instead, they used their own judgement and crafted the presentation using Comic Sans font. According to this story from CBC.ca, their poor taste in graphic design sent the Twitterverse into a frenzy. Just check out the screenshot of today’s trending keywords on Twitter (to the right) to see what I mean.

While the announcement was remarkable, the message got lost (in some people’s minds) because it was delivered in an unprofessional manner with the use of a font reserved for kindergarten classrooms and children’s birthday parties. It’s a reminder that god is in the details – especially when you’re announcing such a huge accomplishment to the world. While your story is important, it’s also necessary to ensure you are delivering it in the right format. Otherwise, the message may get lost in translation.

If you’re not 100 per cent sure about your message delivery, make sure to ask someone who specializes in that area. Do you agree? Please share your thoughts below.