At the beginning of March, the world got to see an exclusive conversation between Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle - an interview that quickly saturated conversations across all social media platforms. Whether marketers have any particular opinions on the event or not, there is plenty to learn from the entire situation, as it can help plenty of companies if they ever face their own PR crisis.
There are several key lessons that marketers could take away from the interview and apply to their own businesses in the future.
Message
The old saying goes “practice makes perfect” and this is especially true for high-stakes media interviews like the one that the world watched between Oprah and the royal couple. Knowing what the key message is, rehearsing and repeating it several times means that it’s going to be conveyed to the audience clearly.
These types of situations don’t leave much room for confusion or questioning from the audience, and it’s best to not leave anything up to the public’s interpretation. It’s also a good idea to avoid saying anything that might sound bad or harm the company’s reputation.
This is something that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle clearly mastered, as they had been training for it both as celebrities and as royals, and it became incredibly valuable as they didn’t let the conversation stray or miscommunicate.
Media
There’s a reason why the royal couple decided to sit down and have a conversation specifically with Oprah Winfrey. She attended their wedding, and now, all three are neighbors in California. That goes to show they all have a deeper relationship with a lot of success, which is why Harry and Meghan decided to grant their first joint interview since their engagement to Oprah, instead of anyone else.
That’s the best way to go about high-stakes interviews and situations in general - talking to journalists or reporters that already have a good relationship with the company. However, there’s one thing that brands should remember, and that’s that at the end of the day, they’re still communicating with a reporter that has a job to do.
Opportunity
During high-stakes interviews, being honest and transparent is crucial, as it’s a bad PR move to tell lies. Of course, there might be some questions that are harder to answer than others, but the key is to recognize that each and every question presents the interviewee with an opportunity.
For questions that are genuinely tough or impossible to answer, the interviewee can always say that they aren't able to comment on certain matters. There is also the bridging option where the question is acknowledged but the answer is focused in a direction where the interviewee is comfortable - such as the key messages.
Getting Ahead
Finally, the last thing that helped the royal couple really hone in on their story with the public is that even before the interview itself, the two were still in the eye of the public, humanizing their situation and making it more understandable for the public.
Between articles and media appearances, it's important to have a strong media plan in place so the key messages really end up sticking with the audience.
