Over the weekend I was watching HBO’s Westworld and I noticed something odd. Not odd like the insanely intricate plot, the number of easter eggs that would put your local park district to shame, or anything that hinted at what crazy twist or turn the show will take next.
What I noticed was working for Westworld is a lot like working in public relations. Sound crazy? Hear me out…
A Unique Mix of What’s Old and New
Have you ever tried to explain the setting of Westworld? It is set in the wild west, except it is really the future. The inhabitants or ‘hosts’ are not real people but they may be more real than we think. The guests are human, except when they are not.
This is not unlike trying to explain PR in 2016. First off, it is a running joke in PR that no one outside of PR understands exactly what we do.
Second, PR exists in a weird juxtaposition between what is old and what is new. While we focus so much now on technology and tools, paid and organic digital tracking, multimedia, and social media, at the end of the day the basic functions of PR have historic origins. Storytelling for example, finds it roots in cave paintings and the earliest form of communication. Relationship management may be even older still, having been essential to the first tribes of humans.
While you spend eight hours a day working on a keyword-rich, data-driven piece of multimedia content to distribute for your client you may feel like a scientist working in some futuristic lab. However, the real success of public relations is as simple as what people are saying about your brand – whether it is said in a saloon, around a campfire or on Twitter.
The Maze of Many Masters: Who is running the show?
Before coming to Cision I worked for a public relations firm for several years. Each year someone would release a list of the most stressful jobs and PR was always suspiciously high on the list. I have two theories as to why. The first is that PR pros pitched themselves to be on the list. The second is that in agency PR, you have way too many bosses to keep happy. Let’s focus on the second one for now.
At a PR firm, more often than not you will find yourself with more bosses than you ever expected and they will rarely all want the same thing. Say you have five clients who you are working on two placements each for. Each client is your boss and wants what is best for their brand, while each media contact for each story can be considered a ‘boss’ as they have the final say what goes into the story and ‘spoiler alert’ – they will not be motivated by what is best for your client. They want to inform their readers, but your job is to bridge the gap between your client and the media. Now if that wasn’t complicated enough, each of your accounts (depending on how senior you are) will have a team lead. Basically, another boss but all of your team leads work for the same agency so they should all want the same thing right? Unfortunately, office politics are far too common and the drama that comes with them is much less entertaining than the drama you’ll find on HBO. If you are lucky, upper management will reign in team leads and ensure everyone works well together. If you are unlucky, upper management is basically the shadowy board from Westworld – another boss who steps in occasionally to cause unwarranted amounts of stress and generally make a mess of things.
I do not want to get into any spoilers for those who haven’t seen the show but let’s just say in Westworld, you are never really sure who is in charge. Is the Creative Director and Co-founder Robert Ford running the show? How much influence does the board have? Do they back Theresa Cullen or Robert? Who is Arnold?
Much of season one focused on the delicate balancing act Bernard plays between conflicting goals in Westworld. His own team vs Theresa’s team, Theresa vs Robert, his personal relationship vs his career, what the board wants vs what guests want, Westworld as a business vs Westworld as art. Much like in a PR agency, these conflicting motivations cause drama. However, while Westworld’s drama receives nods from the Critics Choices awards, public relations will have to settle for CareerCast’s ten most stressful jobs.
All About Story
When all is said and done, PR pros and Westworld fans tune in every Sunday and show up to work every Monday – Friday because they love the art of storytelling. Even if working for a public relations agency is one of the most stressful careers and Westworld causes hours of obsession over the endless fan-theories.
Much like Westworld’s eclectic mix of the wild-west past and a science-fiction future, large PR agencies are faced with the daunting task of mixing traditional PR expectations with an evolving media landscape.
In our new guide, Today’s Large Agencies: Demonstrating Value in a Multichannel Universe PR we explore this topic in depth. Access the full guide to learn how big PR agencies are evolving to meet changes in communication, and how goals and expectations as well as challenges and opportunities are changing for both you and your clients.
Author Bruce Kennedy is a social media manager at Cision, where he manages Cision’s global brands. Previously, he worked in public relations and firmly believes the art of storytelling makes the world go round. Connect with him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter.
(Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons)
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