Five Things PR Students Can Learn From Alice in Wonderland

I stayed home tonight and whilst flipping through the channels, I came across a childhood treasure-Alice in Wonderland. As I watched the magical film as an adult, I took many lessons from it which I never got as a young girl.

Alice 101

1. Never be late
Time is of the essence. Rabbit, may take punctuality to the extreme, however we can learn a lesson from our furry friend. By being on time, you are acknowledging that the other persons time matters, it shows you respect them.


2. Encourage creativity
Alice says she thinks if six impossible things every day. Challenge yourself to think of at least two. Step out of the box and into an innovative creative think.

• Here are my two for the day:

Slamming a revolving door & finding something to rhyme with orange (Flourange, pourange, gourange.... work in progress)

3. Brand yourself
Alice constantly questions who she is. When businesses do this it causes consumer confusion. Ask yourself what you stand for and if you are representing yourself or your client in that light. Know who you are, build your brand, and stick to it.


4. Decide where you want to go
Alice does not know where she is going and blindly falls into a hole. While this may lead to an exciting adventure, most of the time this carelessness leads into a confused mess. Know what you want to achieve and do not stray from that path.For example, when creating a strategic plan, do extensive research so that you are aware of the challenges that may arise and are prepared to handle them. When it comes to a business plan never go in blind.


"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to go," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn't much matter which way you go," said the Cat.


5. Effective communication
"Say what you mean" is the advice Alice is repeatedly given. This resonates in creating key messages for strategic plans. Figure out what it is exactly that you want to get across and focus on that. Create a concise, succinct, and memorable message that your target audience will never forget.

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."-Walt Disney

PR Is A Chocolate Cake

It is my belief that too many PR campaigns center around social media. I think of a campaign as a delicious chocolate cake and social media as the delicious buttercream frosting that finishes the cake & keeps it moist.

To make a cake:

1. You find the best recipe: ( RESEARCH! Too many PR practitioners jump to the tactics before researching not only the client, but the target audience) After all when baking a chocolate cake, you want to find the best recipe instead of just jumping to the first cake recipe you come across.

2. You measure out the ingredients: (Evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and see how you can use all of these to your advantage and which problems may arise while creating your campaign)

3. Take out your baking utensils and preheat the oven:(Survey you audience and test out the market to see how well your target responds to your potential campaign)

4. Mix the ingredients in a bowl and whisk: (Evaluate which tactics worked and mix those tactics together to create a campaign: key messages, event plans, press releases, newsletters, website.. etc)

5. Put the cake in the oven and mix the frosting:(Social media is the frosting of the cake. Only after the meat (cake) of your campaign is built, you want to reach out to the audience in their medium which nowadays is social media. Only after your key messages and overall message of your campaign is certain, should you communicate those messages over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest... the list goes on)

6. Frost your cake and serve! This is important. Watch for the reactions of the people digesting your cake: (EVALUATE! Now that you have cooked up a delicious campaign measure the success and evaluate your tactics. Did you reach your goal?)

When all is said and done, everyone loves the frosting on the cake. Social media is important and relevant in todays society. However, we cannot forget to bake the cake first so that we have something to frost!