If anyone were to spend a day in our Austin office, there’s a 99.9 percent chance that you will hear a Drake song or two, and that’s simply because we love Drake (except for Matt).
But, it’s also because there are some relevant PR tidbits in Drake’s glorious raps. Here are three lessons we’ve learned from Drake’s music and a recent little feud that took over the media last month (I’m looking at you, Meek Mill.)
source: perezhilton.com
Started from the bottom, now we’re here – Breaking into PR can be anything but conventional
With 14 simultaneous hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 List (tied only with The Beatles) and surpassing hip hop/rap heavy weights like Jay Z, Drake has come a long way from his days as Aubrey in the teen drama, Degrassi. His career path has been anything but conventional, and he overcame several stigmas to be taken seriously as a rapper and earn his credibility.
Similar to Drake’s path to becoming a rap God, the road to PR can be a tough one. It’s a hard industry to break into, and takes a certain type of person. There are many people from different industries and career paths that become your colleagues along the way. As PR professionals, we have to pave our own way to form the career path we want whether it’s agency life or working in-house.
Lessons Learned:
- The PR industry is made up of a wide range of professionals from different backgrounds.
- Know your strengths and use them to your advantage.
source: rollingstone.com
If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late – Always be prepared.
Earlier this year, Drake pulled a little surprise on his fans surprising them with a new album – If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late.
Just like the title of Drake’s most recent album, PR folks must be prepared and ready to go before it’s too late. It’s important to have crisis plans in place for clients ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Lessons Learned:
- Be prepared for when a crisis arises
- An element of surprise can go a long way if done right.
- Always be thinking of your next step, but be flexible.
Know Yourself, Know Your Worth – Stay true to yourself.
Last month, Drake made headlines after being dragged into a social media feud with Meek Mill. Although, the fight started with Meek’s tweet taking a dig at Drake’s credibility for not writing his own music, Drake had quite a different approach with his response. Rather than a quick (possibly regrettable) response, he took a few days and fired back by dropping “Back to Back” instead of taking to his Twitter handle. He took social media in his own way, with the help of his fans and memes.
Lessons learned:
- News travels through all channels – both social and traditional.
- If customers trust you, they will be loyal and spread your message, but you must stay true to your brand.
Just like Drake, PR pros must stay true to themselves and help clients do the same. Although social media is something we stress clients join and be active on to build their brand and connect with their audiences, it is also important to keep the client brand in mind and use various social and traditional channels to spread their message.
No matter whose side you’re on, it’s easy to see Drake has come a long way in a few years. From working his way to the top and staying true to his image and handling crisis, there are a lot of lessons we can learn from Drake’s career moves. Public relations can seem a little hectic at times, but sometimes you just have to remember to hold on because at the end of the day you’re going home.
P.S. Drake, we’ll see you in Austin next month at ACL!
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