Hear me out: reality TV shows can teach you a thing or two about effective PR strategy, and I’m not just talking crisis comms.
Reality TV is like a live PR lab. You’re watching real people, some of them minor celebrities in their own right, fighting to control the narrative and win public opinion with their paychecks on the line.
After all the hours… and hours and hours of reality TV I’ve watched, something clicked. The larger-than-life characters, the jockeying for power, and multi-layered narratives that keep me glued to my screen resemble the techniques we employ in tech PR. Here are three strategies I’ve carried from reality TV into my day job.
Stay true to your brand archetype
Brand archetypes give you a framework for defining your brand’s personality by expressing otherwise abstract qualities as a recognizable human character. When your brand consistently behaves like a distinct archetype — the Sage, the Rebel, the Everyman, the Ruler — audiences know how to read you.
Over the last 25 years, Big Brother and Survivor have gotten personality-building down to a science (actual psychologist Carl Jung found rolling over in his grave). They cast for archetypes not so dissimilar from the same ones brands use: the lovable nerd, the hot head, the girl next door, the curmudgeon. Season after season, Big Brother and Survivor have relied on this narrative shorthand to signal to audiences how to perceive a character’s actions and motivations.
When a reality TV character falls out of favor with an audience, it’s often because they’ve strayed from their archetypes. Fans will sour on the lovable nerd who suddenly lashes out like a hot head because it’s not their typical behavior. The most successful reality TV contestants understand implicitly that the archetype is an asset. The moment you act against it, you’ve broken the social contract.
Pick an archetype and stay true to it. When your brand’s behavior consistently reflects the qualities associated with your archetype, you’ll come across as authentic. When it doesn’t, you’ll lose your audience.
Newsjacking: if you’re gonna seize the mic, better make it good
Newsjacking, when done well, can amplify your core messages, position your brand as topical and insightful, and deepen relationships with the media. When not, it can be a fast track to pissing off journalists. The trick is knowing how to crash the party safely. Here’s our full take on how to do it right.
I’m going to go out on a limb here. Nobody has studied the art of newsjacking as exhibited by the Real Housewives of New York City more than I have. If you give the Housewives an event — be it a charity fundraiser, a child’s birthday party, the soft-opening of a new business — they will, without fail, use the spotlight to further their agenda. That could be confronting the pot-stirrer du jour about something she said behind your back, or bringing up your friend’s drinking problem.
This is newsjacking in the sense that there’s the main headline (the event) and many players fighting for a bite of the apple (what everybody will actually be talking about after).
Here’s a classic example. At Countess Luann DeLesseps’s anniversary party, her season four adversary Ramona Singer announced that she, a 54-year-old woman, might be pregnant. She hijacked one of the yacht’s only bathrooms to take a pregnancy test, sending the rest of the cast into an uproar. Her symptoms were, of course, ones of menopause, and her friends clocked the whole charade for what it was: an attempt to distract from the rumors that Ramona’s husband was cheating on her. He was, by the way.
Ridiculous? Yes. Successful? Absolutely. Ramona steals Luann’s thunder at her own party. Strip away the dirty martinis and the Louboutins and the same principle applies for tech brands. Use an event or a story that already has an audience and insert yourself into the conversation. If you’ve got something interesting, you might be the talk of the town.
Know what you’re saving for prime time, but use your whole content ecosystem to tell the story
You’ve got a major announcement and you need to figure out how to distribute your key messages. The press release serves the information journalists will be interested in, but it’s only one channel for getting your story into the world. You can take advantage of your blog to provide in-the-weeds details to customers and investors. You can use your stakeholder’s social media to share a personal angle. The most successful announcements work the full content ecosystem.
For a case study on how to use all the channels at your disposal to weave a deeper narrative, look to Survivor. This absolute rock of culture has one of the most loyal fan bases in reality TV. I know because I’m one of them.
The main weekly broadcast is the equivalent of a press release. 90 minutes and tightly edited, it covers what happened. But the show also releases “deleted scenes” to its YouTube channel and places exclusive content with journalists. These storylines never drive the plot; they just show minor character-building moments that die-hard fans like me care about.
The producers know what belongs in the 90-minute prime time slot and what cutting-room-floor content they can release via other channels without contradicting the main narrative. That’s the same lesson for brands: reserve your biggest story for your most important platform. Use your secondary channels to fill in the character, the texture that doesn’t fit in a press release but matters to the people who are already paying attention.
Next time on: Good PR
Good PR is about managing narrative, perception, and timing. Reality TV characters do all three in real time with cameras rolling. I’m tuned in…. And taking notes.
About the Author
Theresa Carper is a copywriter who uses humor and candor to craft compelling content. She also executes content strategy, campaign planning and media relations. Previously she wrote for a viral PR agency and a luxury furniture brand and was the comms lead for a smart city startup.
