There are several important lessons from the 2024 Presidential Election that PR people can apply to non-political accounts, from dealing with media to performing research to preparing client talking points.
Do Your Research
The Situation: Throughout the presidential election—right up until its final days—different political polls showed different results and predicted disparate outcomes, due to a variation in sampling techniques and other factors.
PR Lesson: Don't be lazy when doing research for a client's speech or a new program. Never rely on one site. It's best to search several different sites and dismiss the ones that are outliers.
Have Consistent Talking Points … and Know When to Break From Them
The Situation: Donald Trump has been using the same talking points since he announced for the presidency in 2015—mainly, what he considers the open border problem at the U.S. southern border. Whether you agree with his analysis of the situation or not, the constant reiteration of his point of view has convinced many people that he is correct—just like advertising commercials repeated on loop eventually hit home with viewers.
PR Lesson: When talking to the media, be consistent. And remember that when pitching, choosing a few talking points and repeating them consistently is more likely to result in convincing a journalist to interview your client.
The Situation: Since the day she announced her candidacy, Vice President Kamala Harris was criticized by the media for sticking to talking points instead of answering questions. But when polls showed that she was falling short among Black males, she changed her talking points and announced policies that would specifically help them, resulting in criticism that she is not serious about her positions.
PR Lesson: While sticking to talking points by client spokespersons should always be a priority during media discussions, they should not be used as answers to a direct question.
Protect Credibility
The Situation: Because he consistently lied to the public, Donald Trump’s comments were not accepted by the mainstream media as truths. Similarly, due to the exposure of mistakes in Tim Walz’s biography, he also was not accepted as a credible person by elements of the media.
PR Lesson: Lying or misleading the media should never be done, even if you are pressured to do so by your manager or a client. Once you're caught in a mistruth, journalists will never trust you again. Never lie, exaggerate or mislead a reporter.
Beware of ‘Loyalty at all Costs’
The Situation: When the story broke about Trump’s alleged admiring statements regarding Hitler, some GOP spokespersons looked silly when trying to make excuses for the statements, even suggesting that the candidate might be unaware that Hitler’s generals were Nazis.
PR Lesson: Remember that being loyal to a supervisor doesn’t mean that you have to remain loyal under all circumstances. Being too loyal can also get you into legal trouble, depending on the circumstances. Never lie to protect your supervisor or agency if things turn sour. History shows that when push comes to shove, you’ll be scapegoated if necessary—as Donald Trump has done numerous times to people who reported to him.
Stand Out From the Crowd
The Situation: Vice President Harris ran a traditional political campaign. Some issues might have been new, but the tactics she used dated back decades. From the moment Donald Trump announced that he would run for president in 2015, he campaigned outside of the traditional political playbook, gaining immediate national recognition.
PR Lesson: The best way to be noticed by top management is to discard PR tenets that date back decades—and are still used, such as limiting a pitch to only a few words and pitching only one reporter at a news outlet—and use techniques that you developed on your own.
My advice to PR people is to pay close attention to all facets of the news. As was the case with the presidential election, it can provide lessons that can only be learned from unexpected everyday happenings—that are not taught in classrooms.
Arthur Solomon was an SVP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller, responsible for restructuring, managing and playing key roles in significant national and international sports and non-sports programs. He also traveled internationally as a media adviser to high-ranking government officials.
[Editor's Note: The writer’s views do not necessarily reflect those of PRNEWS. We invite opposing essays from readers.]