The first three episodes of the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel dropped last week, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m a big fan of the Amazon Prime show and its lead character, Midge Maisel, who uses her unique talents and viewpoint to become a successful comedienne.
Our heroine, Midge, clearly isn’t perfect. But her angle on the world and her unflagging energy and enthusiasm to improve things ultimately benefits her and many of the people in her orbit.
But this isn’t a Variety Magazine TV show review, it’s a blog about PR. So, you may be wondering, how exactly does Midge Maisel relate to public relations and content creation?
Excellent question. Let’s explore that and analyze how to apply the Midge approach to PR.
Have a unique point of view
Companies across a wide range of industries and disciplines endeavor to use content creation and larger PR efforts to gain the attention of media, prospects and, in some cases, investors.
What the companies say and how they say it have an enormous impact on whether media will take the time to listen to and read their stories. What you say and how you say it also helps determine whether journalists and editors will then use your input to write and/or run a story.
Avoid parroting what everybody else is saying about your topic. It didn’t work for Midge in Season 1, Episode 5, in which she bases an act on hackneyed jokes from index cards provided by the comedy coach-for-hire character played by Wally Shawn. And it won’t work for you.
Be sure you are prepared to provide a point of view that is unique and worthy of the time and attention of journalists, and their readers and listeners – your potential customers and investors. Work with your team to ensure you deliver your unique point of view in every piece of content, every pitch you bring to media and every newsjacking quote you offer to reporters.
Share your personal stories
In The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Midge’s stand-up act is based entirely upon her person stories.
However, I’m not suggesting that you spend all your PR efforts talking about yourself.
In fact, you should avoid specifically referencing your products and services in articles, newsjacking quotes and pitches to reporters. The companies that are most successful at getting media coverage are those that can speak to the news of the day and look beyond their own interests to offer commentary about the issues they care about in the world at large.
But telling your personal stories is an excellent way to share your experiences and illustrate how you landed on your unique point of view. You can then use those stories as jumping-off points to share what you have learned along the way and offer advice on how best to move forward.
Keep the momentum going
Every human tends to struggle to some extent with keeping a good thing going.
It is easy to lose momentum after breaking out of the gate. Just consider all of the failed New Year’s resolutions. Even the effervescent Midge lost her spark to pursue comedy at times.
Plan ahead to prevent such inertia. For example, make sure you have reliable and rapid writing resources to ensure you can continue to produce a regular cadence of contributed content.
Create a calendar of topics you think are important to pitch and write about.
But create that plan with the understanding that you will need to be flexible as new trends develop. You must be willing to shift your focus as needed to ensure that your company remains in the zeitgeist and provides your unique thought leadership on what’s happening now.
Sharing your stories, learnings and unique point of view – and keeping the momentum going by planning ahead, having the right PR resources and adjusting along the way – are critical to enabling you to leverage your PR efforts to move into the spotlight and enjoy breakout success.
