Legally Blonde is, without a doubt, a cinematic
masterpiece. It teaches us many important life lessons like the
bend and snap, or that happy exercise releases endorphins and endorphins make you happy.
But these are not the only lessons
Legally Blonde gifted to us. It also teaches us important skills and tips that every PR professional needs to know.
media update's Alrika Möller lays out five PR lessons in Legally Blonde here:
1. Teamwork makes the dream work
In this classic film, the protagonist Elle Woods decides to go to law school after experiencing a
terrible heartbreak. However, in order to get into the prestigious Harvard Law, she needs to achieve at
least a 179 in order to be considered for admission.
The other girls in her sorority might think she has lost her mind, but they all jump in and help her with the studying and preparations needed for her to get the score she needs. They skip parties and events with her and grade her practice test all so that she ends up with a glorious 179.
When push came to shove, these ladies jumped in and got the job done. The same is needed in PR!
You need someone to provide the
stats and analysis, someone to take on the communication and someone to handle any graphics or multimedia needed for your campaign. You
cannot create a campaign around
just one thing.
A good PR campaign is well-balanced in facts, stats, marketing, creativity and communication. Each part is important, and one person cannot do it all themselves or be an expert in everything.
Every PR professional needs the help of other departments to cover all aspects of a campaign.
So yes,
working as a team is the best way to achieve a
successful campaign!
2. Wording is everything!
In Elle's
unforgettable admissions video, she lays out all the reasons why she would make a great lawyer and all the skills she has that will benefit her in law school.
This scene is particularly great due to the fact that most of it is
technically not true, and yet she words everything in such a way that she ends up being admitted into the best law school in the United States of America.
How does this help you? A big part of PR is
communication and how you frame your message. You can use the verbiage that speaks to your audience and the outcome you are trying to achieve with what you are saying.
A lot of times, it is not about what you say but how you say it. Ask yourself:
Does the jargon speak to the audience? How you communicate can increase the public's willingness to listen. So, frame everything into a positive, and use the dialogue of your target audience to ensure that they feel comfortable reading or listening.
3. Presentation is everything
While at Harvard, Elle becomes a
force to be reckoned with, and her presentation is always on point. Yes, she does nail the law school
chic outfits, but that is not what I am talking about.
When she is given the opportunity to apply for a position in a team assisting on an actual court case, she hands her professor her resume, typed on
pink, scented paper. This does not go
unnoticed.
For any PR campaign to be successful, you will need to
present it in a way that is professional and to the point while still being memorable and unique …
like a resume on scented pink paper. Presentation gets people to pay attention and
engage with what you are saying.
The term 'presentation' can mean a lot of different things. Some questions to guide your directive can be:
- What platform are you using to communicate your message?
- Have you explored different forms of multimedia?
- What different types of partners / influencers should you use for these campaigns?
Think visual! It's important to consider everything from the fonts used to the graphics, videos and images.
Finally, ask yourself:
Am I displaying statistics in a way your audience will understand and what to read?
4. Think strategically and out of the box
During one of her classes, the students get presented with a case that they need to analyse and find a plan of attack for. One of the students presents a rather
adequate and basic solution.
In the end, it is Elle's out the box,
strategic thinking that amazes the professor.
She takes a whole
new approach to the case that is being discussed and shocks the whole class with her insight and daring answer.
Let this inspire you!It is important for any PR professional to be able to think on their feet when they are in the thick of things. Strategic thinking comes from exploring
all the angles and finding the solution that others might have missed or never see coming.
Basic and adequate might be okay sometimes, but you will need to be
daring and
insightful if you want to be successful in PR.
Let's use an example! After the book-burning craze of 2021 and 2022, Penguin Publishers released an
unburnable version of Marget Atwood's
The Handmaid's Tale. This campaign showed a level of creativity few have been able to replicate.
5. Knowledge is power
After an emotional rollercoaster of events leading to Elle wanting to drop out of law school, she returns to take on the big murder trial herself.
The victim's daughter is on the witness stand and states multiple times that she had a perm and then took a shower.
Elle, being quite
knowledgeable about the rules of haircare, cracks the case wide open by explaining why the witness's testimony is a lie.
Water deactivates the ammonium thioglycolate, duh!Her knowledge about the subject at hand ultimately led to her client being free and the trial being a success.
You will need all the
knowledge and
facts about a campaign or situation if you want to communicate effectively, answer questions correctly and run a successful PR campaign.
Having the knowledge to
back you up adds weight to what you are saying and makes people more willing to trust you.
So, how can the PR pro look into accomplishing this for themselves?
They can use
monitoring tools to gain all the
stats, analyses and information they could need to speak with authority and support their message.
There are a lot of skills PR professionals need to succeed! Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments section below.
*Image courtesy of Canva