It’s The Year of the Rooster and we’re excited. It’s as if we were named for this very moment.
When researching what The Year of the Rooster had in store it only took us a few clicks before we found ‘public relations officer’ listed under ideal career choices for Roosters, which, needless to say, we were pretty happy with.
Apparently other ideal jobs for Roosters include newsreader (we’ll take that), journalist (and that), teacher (puts on media training hat), athlete (naturally), restaurant owner (I’ll do the coffee run), travel writer (have you seen our Instagram feed?), security guard (drafts defiantly positive holding statement), fire officer (see ‘security guard’) and surgeon…
… So maybe surgeon was just this particular online astrologer covering their bases.
All in all, there is something distinctly ‘marcomms’ about Roosters and The Year of the Rooster. To celebrate we’ve cracked open the fortune cookies and picked out the top proverbs PRs (perhaps not always surgeons) can take something from.
1. “Progress happens when you dare to be different.”
Wait a second internet proverbs, wasn’t 2016 shaped by major forces who dared to be different? How even up-to date are your ancient wisdoms?
Described as compassionate, warm-hearted and instinctive, Roosters remind us that it is important to differentiate positively not negatively. I think we’d all like to leave as much destruction, division and negativity as we can in the past.
Differentiation in The Year of the Rooster will be achieved by those who dare to stand side-by-side with their customers on big issues that matter and whose acts of defiance will consist of defending the good rather than attacking the bad.
After President Trump’s first week in office, The Dutch Government, the ‘Tweeters of Badland’s National Park’ and ‘Rouge NASA’ have attained hero status by standing alongside citizens as the defenders of environmental science and reproductive health funding.
If the Year of the Rooster is the year for businesses to put their weight behind pro-consumer defiance and positive action, then I’m in.
If I had my way we’d see more campaigns like BrewDog’s LGBT beer, but with a chasing shot of activism and action.
2. “Fortune favours the brave (and those with a PR plan).”
Oh internet proverbs! You contain explicit mentions of Public Relations – you are doing well – or are you a post-truth alternative proverb?
With huge volumes of regulation, legislation, industrial and international relations set to be thrown up in the air as we leave the European Union, there has never been a more important time for communicators to take on the broader view.
A PR’s job is as much to be the eyes and ears of an organisation or client, so it’s a good job Roosters are noted for the observational skills needed to keep ahead of a rapidly changing landscape.
Fortune however, will favour the PRs who know where they want the pieces of airborne legislation and regulation to land and are brave and impactful enough to help them land exactly where they need them to.
3. “Good things come to those who wait, brilliant things come to those who don’t.”
Described as hardworking and resourceful, for Roosters this will be a year of getting stuff done and not waiting around.
But, like any true Rooster, I’ll be honest and outspoken.
I really hope this is the year we can ditch ‘press releases’ as we’ve known them and put more effort into appreciating what truly makes a great story that our target audiences will want to read in a format our media will want to publish.
I hope PRs can quit waiting for journalists to transform & re-shape our ‘release’ into something they can use and just do the job ourselves to get on with it.
Like the restaurant owners Roosters may have been in different lives, let’s cut to the chase and serve up stories on a plate – whether it needs four GIFS for ‘web banter’ or finding your own respectable sources to add proper weight to your pitch.
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Happy Chinese New Year and thank you for letting me be the centre of attention. I’ll not be boastful about it.
By Aaryn Vaughan
