How PR is Like The Walking Dead

Adapt or Die. There is no try. There are no other options in a world filled with Walkers (zombies).

If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead, October 23^rd can’t come soon enough.

Negan – that evil, yet intriguing character with his spiked bat, Lucille. Who ended up feeling Lucille’s wrath at the end of the season finale? How are Rick and his fellow survivors going to outsmart Negan, or are they destined to be his servants moving forward?

And like Rick and his fellow survivors, who essentially become a family due to the chaotic, unpredictable lives they now lead, PR professionals must be as prepared as possible, for everything and anything. You must be prepared to handle situations quickly, without hesitation, because if you don’t, there can be dire consequences for your clients as well as your agency/firm.

Here are a few similarities between the world of PR and the world of The Walking Dead:

- Press Releases + Media Relations: As a healthcare Public Relations agency, Scott Public Relations crafts press releases for clients and distributes them to key media outlets. Much like in The Walking Dead, if you don’t write a captivating message with a concise headline and insights to captivate the reader, reporters will click ‘delete’ and the release will float around the Internet with the other unread releases, much like a herd of roaming Walkers.

Client Relationships + Internal PR Teams: Any PR professional can tell you that your relationship with the client is 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 is talking to his fellow survivors, he clearly lays out what needs to be done, by whom, and when so that everyone has a clear deliverable in mind. In the world of PR, internal teams working with a specific client must make sure to have a clear strategy with goals and deadlines in order to provide the client with the desired outcome.

Crisis Management + Leadership: Whether you’re crafting a crisis management strategy for a client, or advising them on their organization’s day-to-day corporate activities, it’s crucial for PR professionals to plan ahead. Just as Rick and his fellow survivors plan escapes and/or attacks ahead of time in order to keep themselves as safe as possible, so too must PR professionals 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 on the other side with less casualties than they would have if some of them were on the fence about the plan.

While it can be argued that Rick is not the best leader, he sure does put in the effort. He’s demonstrated poor judgement and people have died on his watch, but he, like any leader in the business world, will make mistakes. When a crisis strikes, a leader must be able to learn from mistakes in order to move forward. Rick certainly has made mistakes over the past six seasons, but he continues to try and better himself and learn from them.

One of the most apparent similarities between The Walking Dead and PR?

We must always move forward, trying to think of new and innovative ways to tell our stories, much like how Rick and his group constantly try to find new ways of surviving the zombie apocalypse.

New ideas, innovations and collaboration are key to survival for any business today, and we’ll see how Rick and his fellow zombie-apocalypse survivors fare in Season 7.

Will they be clever and innovative, thinking of a way to outsmart Negan? Fans are all waiting with bated breath for October 23^rd.

(https://youtu.be/SmUz88zoIg0)

Watch the Season 7 Comic-Con Trailer above to see what’s in store for this next season.

The Walking Dead season 7 premieres on AMC on Sunday, October 23^rd.

Disclosure: All photos and videos are property of AMC.

GIF Source: weheartit.com (https://giphy.com/gifs/twd-wveQVMMa2ftO8).

If you’re in healthcare, insurance, technology or other professional services industries, and need help with a PR, marketing or social media campaign, contact Scott Public Relations.

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