Rick and his fellow survivors essentially become a family due to the chaotic, unpredictable lives they now lead.
In a similar manner, PR professionals must be prepared to handle situations quickly and without hesitation—because if you don’t, there can be dire consequences for your clients and your agency.
It’s not the only similarity between public relations and the hit AMC show.
Here are lessons PR pros can learn from “The Walking Dead”:
1. Avoid lifeless press releases.
If you don’t write a captivating message with a concise headline and insights to captivate the reader, reporters can click “delete” and the release will float around the internet with other unread releases—much like a herd of roaming “walkers.”
2. Clear communication is crucial.
Your relationships with your clients should be first and foremost in your mind at all times. You want to make sure you are delivering on what was promised to them—and much like in “The Walking Dead,” clear communication is crucial.
When Rick talks to his fellow survivors, he clearly lays out what must be done and by whom, so everyone has a clear deliverable in mind.
In PR, internal teams working with a specific client must have a clear strategy with goals and deadlines in order to provide the client with desired outcomes.
3. Plan ahead.
Whether you’re crafting a crisis management strategy or advising clients on their organizations’ day-to-day corporate activities, PR pros must plan ahead.
Rick and his fellow survivors plan escapes and attacks ahead of time to keep themselves as safe as possible. So too must PR pros.
Plan ahead and have strategies in place for potential crises. All stakeholders from the organization must be on the same page so as to present a united front when confronting a crisis—otherwise, the organization risks appearing fragmented and weak.
When Rick and his team presented a united front against threats such as The Governor, they came out with less casualties than they would have if some members were on the fence about the plan.
Rick might not be the best leader, but he puts in the effort. He’s demonstrated poor judgment (leading people to die on his watch), but he—and many leaders in the business world—can make mistakes. When a crisis strikes, a leader must be able to learn from those mistakes to move forward.
4. Tell your story.
PR pros must continue to think of new and innovative ways to tell your stories, similar to how Rick and his group constantly find new ways of surviving the zombie apocalypse.
New ideas and collaboration are key elements for an organization’s survival—and we’ll soon see how Rick and his fellow zombie-apocalypse survivors fare in the show’s seventh season.
Audrey Chittick is an account executive and social media manager for Scott Public Relations. A version of this article originally appeared on the agency’s blog.
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