I’m not an expert Padel Tennis (Padel) player, but I’ve been playing a fair amount of this addictive game recently. Many years ago, I squeezed in to my county tennis squad, so I thought I’d be a Padel ninja. But it’s very different and if you try to play it like tennis, you’ll soon come unstuck!
I wondered (a little strangely perhaps) if there were any connections between Padel and the challenges tech firms face when they develop their PR programmes, so here are five initial commonalities.
- Get your positioning right
In Padel, positioning is key and you need to work with your partner–take the net together, move back together and be attentive to where you are on the court, in relation to each other and your opponent.
In PR, it’s similar: you need to understand your position in relation to your competition. How? By research and building your messages, to define the best PR strategy to help you move to where you want to be.
- Preparation, preparation, preparation
In Padel—like all sports–you need to stretch and practice before the game. Failing to prepare and not warming up will result in injury and put you out of action.
Similarly, when conducting a PR programme, having the right messages sorted is vital, but have you practiced and rehearsed delivering them to ensure they ‘land’ with your target audiences? You normally have just one shot. So, if you ‘fail to prepare’ then ‘prepare to fail’.
- The importance of consistency
My Padel partner likes to smash/kill most of the balls. While finishing the point matters, consistency (and finesse) is key to winning most points. My current view, when starting in Padel, or your PR programme is you should be more like Borg or Federer (with ice-man-type consistency) than Nick ‘bad boy’ Kyrgios.
In PR, whilst killer campaigns do play a role, once you are executing your PR programme, it’s advisable to be patient and don’t always look for instant (but risky) mindshare grabs.
It’s better to be consistent in your communications, as success doesn’t happen overnight. So, do the hard work every day (or on every point) as that’s the way to win the game on a consistent basis.
- Partnership is more than just a word
Both Padel and PR are team games, so partnerships are key. In Padel, working closely with your partner is vital: talking and encouraging each other pre-, during- and post-matches can make all the difference.
By the same token, working in partnership with your executive team, and the right PR agency team that can effectively advise and seamlessly execute will take you that bit further.
- Analyse and evaluate
In Padel, a level of analysis is useful—both as you’re playing and after the game to see how you could adjust your tactics, do better next time or deal with a specific opponent.
And in B2B tech PR, evaluation is just as important. You need to integrate the right outcomes, yet be flexible as you progress your plan, given what is happening in and outside the business.
So, in summary, and injuries aside, I’m learning so much about this great new game via Instagram and by watching/speaking to my peers who are ahead of me on that Padel learning curve. So, do the same with the experience, insights and know-how your PR partner can offer.
I am sure there are many other commonalities, but the most important one in Padel and PR is to have fun!
To discuss your PR programme for 2024 (or Padel technique) click to book a short intro strategy call.