What does Mongolian BBQ have in common with public relations? Last night I went to dinner at one of my favorite family-owned restaurants in town, and as I was enjoying my delicious mixture of noodles, beef, chicken and veggies, I started to think about how this scrumptious meal was like PR.
What is Mongolian BBQ?
What does Mongolian BBQ have to do with public relations?
For those of you that haven’t tried Mongolian BBQ yet, it works a bit differently than most restaurants. You grab a bowl and go through their buffet of raw meat, noodles and vegetables. Then, once you select the food you want, you top it with your selection of the various sauces they have available: soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, Szechuan sauce, fruit juice, etc. After that, you give your bowl to whoever is working the grill and they cook it for you. Seriously, if you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it; it’s delicious!
How is Mongolian BBQ Like Public Relations?
Here are 4 similarities between public relations and Mongolian BBQ:
1. The bowl is only so big. You can only fit so much food in the bowl, just like you can only fit so many public relations activities into the day. As you approach your PR strategy, think about your capacity and which tactics you want to prioritize. Of course, if you want more than fits in your bowl, the good news is you can always hire a public relations firm to provide services you don’t have the means to take on yourself.
2. It’s all about the combination. The way you combine your meat, noodles and vegetables can be amazing or under-whelming; just as you need to think about the way you combine the various elements of your Mongolian BBQ, it’s important to think about how your different public relations activities fit together in the overall campaign strategy. Are you blogging just for the sake of saying you blog, or is it a valuable piece of your digital marketing?
3. Everyone’s dish is different. Each Mongolian BBQ customer is able to customize their meal to their preferences and dietary needs, just like each business needs to create a public relations strategy specific to their company. Sure, you can look to others for ideas or suggestions, but don’t expect your PR campaign to be identical to another organization’s.
4. Give it time. Unlike a buffet where you load up your plate and go eat it right away, with Mongolian BBQ you need to give your food time to cook before deciding if the combination was delicious. The same is true of public relations; give your strategy time to play out before determining the success of your campaign.
Do you enjoy Mongolian BBQ? From considering the combination of elements to giving it time, there are a lot of similarities to public relations. Can you think of any I missed? Share them in the comments below!
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