5 PR Lessons from Bruce Springsteen

As anyone who knows me can tell you, I am a HUGE Bruce Springsteen fan. I've usually kept my PR and Springsteen worlds separate, but today I'm going to merge them. I'm currently in Philadelphia to visit college friends and go to Bruce's concert Tuesday night at the Spectrum.

In addition to being a world-class performer and songwriter, Springsteen has played the PR game to near perfection, changing his strategy to adapt to the times and paying attention to what's important. So here are 5 PR lessons for our profession courtesy of the man they call The Boss:

1. Pay attention to your audience: Bruce is a master of the audience. He has them in the palm of his hand from the moment he steps on stage 'til the very end. And that's because he pays attention to them. He doesn't just sing to them, he calls out to them, checks in with them, and gives them what they want, which, in addition to a show, is attention. Don't we all want attention?


2. Words matter: As gifted a musician as Bruce is, it's his lyrics that set him apart. He may have started out talking about drivin' cars and chasin' girls, but he has evolved to address the weightiest of issues: life, death and existence. (Example: "the soul of the universe willed a world, and it appeared," and my latest fav, "we reach for starlight all night long, but gravity's too strong, chained to this earth we go on and on and on.") Words do matter a great deal, and I know we in PR put a lot of effort into word choice, but are they the right words, or just the ones our bosses want to hear? Why do we call something a "personal entertainment device" instead of an iPod or MP3 player? Simplify, use the LEAST number of syllables you can, and try get your information across to the most people using common, descriptive words and phrases.


3. Different times call for different media strategies: When Bruce first came on the scene, the rock radio medium was very powerful, so he let his music do the talking and gave few MSM media interviews. In recent years, as rock radio has dimmed in importance, Springsteen has reached out to media as diverse as his fanzine, Backstreets, to USA Today and The Daily Show. His Super Bowl appearance this year was no accident -- he was trying to reach that event's hundreds of millions of viewers, many of whom had never seen or heard him play live.


4. Stay above the fray and focus on what's truly important: Springsteen has had an extramarital affair and was named recently as the "other man" in a New Jersey divorce proceeding. In each case, he has said little or nothing and let the stories run their course. On the other hand, he has burnished his image by supporting Amnesty International, and more recently, Democratic Presidential candidates John Kerry and Barack Obama.


5. Admit your mistakes quickly and then move on: Springsteen's camp worked with Wal-Mart to produce a low-cost Greatest Hits CD exclusively for Wal-Mart, and when the news got out, Bruce was criticized for "selling out" and collaborating with the notoriously anti-labor retailer. Soon after, he told the New York Times he was sorry about the decision and that it was a mistake. The incident is now largely forgotten.

We can't all be Bruce Springsteen, even if we try. But we can emulate his PR success.

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P.S. If you're also a Springsteen fan, you can catch some of my writings about Bruce on the fan blog on his official web site, BruceSpringsteen.net. I'll be writing a post this week with my thoughts from the Philly show I'm seeing, and there are some previous ones up there as well.