At Wordville we have something of the pioneer spirit about us- you may have noticed the Wild West influence on our website. So, when faced with Easter, we opted out of eating ourselves into a chocolate induced stupor (temporarily), and instead decided to bake a cake.
As we all stood gazing at our creation- the looks in our eyes similar to those mothers bestow upon their firstborns- we fell to thinking how similar baking is to creating a PR campaign and how, as consummate PR professionals, we had approached it in exactly the same way.
The Recipe/ Planning
I am yet to come across a PR campaign that did not begin with a brainstorm. Some ideas are taken up and run with; others get lost in the wash. All contribute to make the finished article what it is. Before embarking on our cake, we brainstormed, debating the weighty issues of flavour/ decoration with a sincerity normally reserved for media targets.
Baking/ Execution
Any PR campaign involves an awful lot of processes. These may vary in fun factor- making a press list is probably the PR equivalent of greasing the tray- but all are important and all must be done. Our cake presented us with a similar ‘to do’ list and to complete it, we fell into characteristic patterns of teamwork and delegation… with one small difference. At work I may be a mild mannered AAE but in the kitchen I turn into something of a baking Hitler. Soon Steph/ Pema/ Jess were weighing/ mixing/ spreading whilst I enjoyed my first taste of directorship.
Icing/ Wow-factor
I like a lemon sponge as much as the next person but put it next to a chocolate confection, oozing ganache and adorned with red berries and it will pale in comparison. Understand this basic human attraction to the ostentatious and you have PR nailed. Every campaign needs that attention grabbing wow-factor; the icing-on-the-cake that makes the public/ media sit up and listen.
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