As someone who refers to herself as a “casual” Catholic, I had the benefit of hearing stories about miracles from the time I was a little girl. And I must confess even though I was dragged to mass bemoaning over missing out on Sunday morning cartoons or sleeping in, it was usually the best time of the week to daydream and let my imagination run wild (not that I wasn’t paying attention, mom). Whether I was a believer in what was being preached by the priest in his sermon, I would go as far as to say my Catholicism is what helped spark my interest in telling (and selling) stories, and quite possibly, capitalizing on it as a career in public relations.
So when it was recently announced that Pope Francis was going to visit the United States for the first time, I would be lying if I didn’t admit to a forgotten feeling of pride and general fascination over his campaign for good – and the PR frenzy that it was causing.
But this isn’t a column about my lapsed Catholicism. Or really about religion at all for that matter. It’s about espousing the virtues of sometimes letting things happen in PR as they are destined, or could be, or might appear. Taking a leap of faith, so to speak. Because earning someone’s trust or endorsement should be anchored in creating the right environment for an idea or relationship to grow and flourish over time – or in a moment in time. However, there are never any guarantees the end result will manifest exactly as you hoped, though the built-in credibility of the journey is well worth the risk. Recall the adage from Michael Levine’s A Branded World: Adventures in Public Relations and the Creation of Superbrands: “With advertising you pay, and with PR you pray.”
At least we used to be able to say that.
These days, clients want “guarantees” that something will go viral. They want us to promise the majority will love their product, marketing slogan and company rhetoric. Some will even go as far as to pay for editorial, so the blogger says almost exactly what the company wants. And, as PR folks who are under the gun every day to show value and measureable results, we perpetuate the myth and hypocrisy. We do our clients a gross disservice by undervaluing the beauty of true “serendipity” or pushing for a brand story or moment so raw, so human in its form and truth that maybe – just maybe – it captivates because it wasn’t staged. Or photoshopped. Or photo opped.
Which brings me back to Pope Francis. I think we can all picture CBC’s coverage of the pontiff making his first journey on U.S. soil in a shiny, black Fiat, with his hand waving out the window to the crowd. In this case, the Fiat was worth a thousand words (and PR key messages) as he spread his message of humility by making the medium the message and humbly entering Washington in the understated Italian family car, with roots and homage to the American Chrysler.
Honestly, Chrysler couldn’t have paid for PR like that. Social media lit up like a Christmas tree and no one could have predicted the electrifying positive goodwill that ensued. And what makes this moment particularly special – unreal, really –is that appearances would suggest it was also a surprise to Fiat and Chrysler. And no PR person was behind it. Just the ultimate PR pontiff himself – Pope Francis.
So as much as public relations practitioners shudder when clients bring up “free PR” (and trust me, I am one of them), there are actually honest to goodness moments when divine intervention takes over, a miracle happens, serendipity reigns, the sun, moon and stars align, and angels sing – and PR stunts happen without PR people behind them.
We shouldn’t try to explain these moments. And as PR people, we also shouldn’t be afraid of them. We should embrace PR wonders because they are few and far between. And, frankly, they only reinforce the almost superhuman impact of PR on people, which is a nice reminder of its inherent and untouchable worth.
Of course, every remarkable practitioner also knows when you are handed a PR gift, there is power in knowing how to keep the story warm without exploiting the moment. This was certainly the case with the Pope’s visit. His camp and the Chrysler camp kept the proverbial Fiat engine running without ruining the purity of the photo opp.
Knowing how to PR a PR moment without it seeming opportunistic and contrived? That, my friends, is a miracle.
Krista Webster is president of Veritas Communications. Follow@VeritasComm
