Author Archive

The Times October 11, 2006
… taxpayers’ money. Mark Borkowski, a PR and marketing expert, said: “The people who use MySpace are not going to fall for this. Things …

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2398306,00.html
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Radio 4 Today programme 29 September 06

Mark Borkowski discusses the impact new legislation on age and employment will have when it comes into force on Sunday.

Click here to listen

As the battle rages over Tony Blair’s refusal to name the day for his
departure Mark Borkowski gives a PR perspective on the issue on the
Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2

Click here to download MP3

Tony Blair’s aides want him on Blue Peter as part of a ‘farewell tour’. But are the presenters sure to go easy on him? Tim Dowling imagines how the chat might turn out. And Emine Saner asks PR experts how they would manage his exit.

Mark Borkowski (Vodafone, Virgin)
“They must be desperately embarrassed about this plan being leaked. The beauty of PR is for people not to understand what you’re doing so I would go right back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that would surprise people.
You have to choose what to do very carefully against the backdrop of how it will be pulled apart. If he goes on Jonathan Ross, or Sharon Osbourne’s show, or Charlotte Church, or if you put him on X Factor or Love Island, it all comes with the air of desperation for publicity. You could put him on Chris Evans’s or Terry Wogan’s radio shows and hit a huge amount of people but do people believe it?
I would look at a digital platform, to try to hit the first-time voters. That isn’t by getting Bono and Chris Martin to support him. He needs to take control and do something that demonstrates what little integrity the party and he have left. You’ve got to find a way to get him to open up, show him warts and all. YouTube could be a fantastic opportunity or MySpace. Give him a camera and put him on the web.”
But before I put him on anything, I would want to make sure he scored some goals. If there was a major disagreement with George Bush over something which showed he stood up for what we believed in, that we were not in America’s pockets, or if he got support from families of soldiers who have been killed, that would help.
He can sign off but not a triumphant farewell tour. He needs to bow out as gracefully as possible.”
http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr/story/0,,1865893,00.html

EXCLUSIVE Have the Big Brother couple found true love or is it a …
Mirror.co.uk – London,UK
… As celebrity agent Mark Borkowski puts it: “Their celebrity was beginning to wane. By getting married so soon they’re trying to re-establish themselves.”. …

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17624139&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=fairy-telle-wedding–name_page.html
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Getting ink and free publicity is essential for any Edinburgh Fringe show; the much used stand bys like fly-posting and flyering are omnipresent come Festival-time. Every stunter tries to turn a trick to get noticed, but this year shock and outrage has taken a back seat because one comedian has broken the spell. Tonight Mark Watson finishes his 36-hour stand-up show and has achieved instant fame is this best PR stunt of the 2006 Fringe. Mark Borkowski talks “shock awe and column inches” with veteran journalist Stephen Gardner. Click to play MP3

‘She just wants enough to look after their daughter…’
The Scotsman 17 Aug 2006
FOR tabloid editors, it is a divorce made in heaven. For weeks now, the tabloids have tracked every twist in the separation of Heather Mills and Paul McCartney… Mark Borkowski, one of Britain’s top PR exponents, says: “The beauty of Phil Hall is he’s very well connected, he’s a former editor, he will know what the headline will say before it is written.”
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No nudity? Now that’s a scandal
The Sunday Times – UK
… “It’s become a deep cliché,” says Mark Borkowski, the publicist famous for his promotion of extreme acts such as Archaos and the Jim Rose Circus. …

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-2289430,00.html
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Smile when you do that, Mr President
Sunday July 16, 2006 The Observer
Vladimir Putin has hired a gaggle of western PRs to boost his image for the G8 presidency.

Mark Borkowski, founder of Borkowski PR, believes the Russians ‘don’t quite get it – they are a tenth of a second off the beat. But Putin’s polishing up really well and you hope he’s being trained to dodge the curveballs.’
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1821270,00.html
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In years to come perhaps they’ll use Zinedine Zidane as a test question at PR school. The question would be this: How do you spin the red card that ended his career in shame so that we remember him as one of the greatest players of all time – rather than one of the biggest idiots?

It would be fun to play the game and no doubt there is someone desperately trying to spin ZZ out of his predicament as I write. But it’s hard to imagine a single thing that Materazzi could have said to him that would exonerate him.

The current theory, as I write, is that it was, to paraphrase the film director Pedro Almodovar, all about his mother – that old stand-by of Latino male culture, guaranteed to inflame every Catholic boy from Bologna to Buenos Aires. Before that the theory was that it’s something about his brother. Or perhaps something about Islam. Or something dating back to French colonial history – pied noir remains a potent insult in North Africa.

But to be honest I wouldn’t want the job of trying to save Zizou’s reputation. It would be like trying to save his hair – too late.

The best thing in a situation like this is to own up, hold up your hands, prostrate yourself before the masses and say sorry. Penitence is best. I’m tempted to feel that ZZ should keep the exact words that Materazzi uttered to himself, because whatever they were, they won’t help him. They will simply vilify Materazzi. Which in turn will make Zidane look as if he’s trying to wriggle out of his situation. By keeping silent he could maintain a smidgeon of dignity.

Besides, the ‘It’s a fair cop guv and I’m sorry’ defence is a tried and tested way back into the public’s affections. It worked for Hugh Grant when he was caught bang to rights. It’s worked for so many politicians that I’ve lost count. It always works.

The public like to see their untouchable heroes brought down to earth. We like to know they’re venal, that they have the same weaknesses as us. It makes us feel that we’re quite like them, really, even if we can’t do stopovers that leave Italian defenders floundering on the floor or chip penalties in off the crossbar.

At the moment Zidane would seem to have ruined his entire career. Right now everyone is talking about how, instead of being remembered as one of the best players of all time, he’ll only be remembered for head-butting an Italian in the chest and getting sent off in the World Cup Final.

It must feel like that to Zizou today as he wonders what on earth he must have been thinking when Materazzi muttered to him. But being despised for the Hand of God didn’t stop Maradona being voted second only to Pele in the BBC’s recent poll of football legends – ahead of our own Bobby Moore.

Talent will out. And ZZ will always be top. Check you tube for the evidence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4aaQTdAcQ&search=zidane