4 PR Lessons From "Saved By The Bell"

Editor's Note:  The following is a guest Marketing Mulligans post written by Arik C. Hanson, the principal of ACH Communications, a digital communications consultancy, and which originally appeared on Ragan's PR Daily. We happen to love "Saved by the Bell," so we couldn't resist posting this today. You can follow Arik on Twitter @arikhanson, or read his blog, Communications Conversations, here. 

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It’s so retro to love the now classic sitcom "Saved By The Bell" these days.

I was a fan back in the ’90s. I spent way too much of my college career soaking in Tiffani Amber-Thiessen and Lark Voorhies.

The show was very campy, but it did tackle tough issues from time to time.

Remember the episode when Jessie took the speed to stay up all night so she could study? What about the episode in which Zack made the fake IDs to impress a girl? OK, so maybe that’s not a hard-hitting issue, but the show did have some teeth, right?

Fine, maybe not.

The show did teach us something else:  A number of PR lessons.

That’s right: PR lessons. Bear with me.

1. Persistence Doesn’t Always Pay Off

How many times did Screech proposition Lisa? The number is probably north of 500.

How many times did Lisa say no? Probably a similar number.

Yet, Screech never gave up. He looked for new angles, tried different approaches. Unfortunately, Screech didn’t end up with Lisa.

The lessons?

Persistence doesn’t always pay off. In PR, that means badgering a reporter won’t necessarily get you the placement. In many instances, you need to work smarter— not harder.

2. When Everyone Is Zigging, Try Zagging

Remember some of Screech’s outfits on the show? They were borderline outrageous.

What Screech realized long before most of us is that when everyone is zigging, you should be zagging. That is, when your competitors are telling the same story and lauding the same benefits over and over, you should try a different tack.

Don’t be afraid to go a different direction in your blog posts — even if it’s not a wildly popular opinion. On your Facebook page, take a stand on a pivotal industry issue. You might be surprised where all this “zagging” leads you.

3. Success Is Never As Easy As It Seems

Think back to the episode in which Jesse took the speed pills so she could stay up all night studying.

Jesse was that kid in school who got straight A’s. The kid who seemed to get it all so easily. The kid that was going to an Ivy League school — on a scholarship.

As it turns out, life didn’t come so easy to Jessie Spano. She had to work just as hard (if not harder) than everyone else to keep up those grades.

That’s the key lesson. Those people who appear to be killing it and winning by leaps and bounds? Chances are it’s not easy. They’re probably putting in 80-hour weeks to start. On top of that they probably don’t see their family as much as they would like. And there’s no question that they are absolutely working their tails off.

So, the next time it appears that someone is “making it look easy,” don’t assume that’s not coming without a pretty heavy cost.

4. Regular Communication Is Key To Productive Relationships

Did it ever seem odd to you that Zack was in Principal Belding’s office virtually every day? Or that Belding came to class to talk to Zack at least once an episode?

Sure, Zack was the class clown, but was Mr. Belding just riding Zack, or was it part of his ingenious plan to build a stronger relationship with Zack in hopes of helping him realize his full potential?

OK, that might be taking it a bit far, but you see what I’m getting at. Constant and regular communication is the key to any productive relationship.

Think about the client/agency relationship. If you don’t have open lines of communication — and regular meetings — things can go haywire quickly. Think about what the lines of communication look like between you and your team, you and the agency that assists you, and you and your boss. Make sure you are honest, forthright, and punctual and that you always respond in a timely manner.

What about you? Learn anything from Zack, Slater, and Jessie?

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