The PR DNA
August 13th, 2008 by Mark Hanson
We often have discussions within PR agencies about training staff, recruitment and so on. You’re always striving to make your agency, your product, your staff better.
But how much of this stuff can you teach? I’m a big believer in formal training and a lot of informal stuff e.g. mentoring, but there are some uncomfortable truths related to the inner DNA of the successful PR person, the consultant or adviser as opposed to the ‘press release jockey’.
Stuart Bruce did a cracking post, like me sounding a bit old man’ish, but he’s right when he says to work in PR you have to grasp that the basics of getting media coverage for your client rest in your ability to fit what your client does and know about into what the outside world is interested in (the news agenda) with an understanding/relationships with the mediums (media) they use to find out about this stuff.
To do that you’ve got to read papers, watch TV output, check out sites, blogs and forums, way outside of the small number of media that the average person will expose themselves to. Its your job to be interested.
You also need to be interested in that news agenda stuff. You’ve got to expose yourself to it. The news agenda affecting your client might be very specific, so understand that, but you can bet that at some stage it will be influenced by trends in the economy, audience behaviour, government policy etc.
The more somebody has an enriching life outside of the office, the more they are likely to be creative inside the office during that specific hour that’s been set aside for brainstorm on xx client. Stuart B lists things like arts, politics and travel. Whatever it is just be interested and expose yourself to it.
I used to be a radio DJ on various radio stations in the north west. One of the key lessons it teaches you is to constantly think about your audiences. What’s his/her name, where do they work, where do they live, what are they doing right now, how do I join their conversation and get them to allow me into their home, car, office?? To do that you have to go to the kind of bars/places that they go to. You have to live the life, find out what’s going on in your audience’s world. Absorb it and you’ll be able to communicate with them.
