Mark My Words

Not a great morning for the Royal Family and their troupe of PR wranglers. Although the Netflix #MeghanandHarry documentary redefines hagiography, this self absorbed reality confessional is straight out of the Kris Jenner play book. The tragic couple seems to be consumed by their own hubris. Nevertheless it will be a hit in US – certainly thrusts a […]

There’s a fascinating discussion around Annie Liebovitz’s photo of Ronaldo and Messi for Louis Vuitton. The symbolism of the image is brilliant; a chess match between football’s two grandmasters atop a trophy case containing the world cup. Ronaldo, the personification of a self-assured, single-minded purpose; Messi, studious and analytical, weighing up all the options. The chess board […]

In some ways the return to austerity is being messaged cleverly. The level of cost-cutting being trailed will have a human toll and a political cost, earning the ire of both the anti-tax right and the anti-cuts left. However, not so long ago Cameron and Osborne won a majority from a similar platform, and this […]

The world cup in Qatar is quickly turning into the #pr equivalent of Pandora’s Box.Hosting such a major event is a significant soft power exercise itself, but one that totally backfired for Qatar. From allegations, including by the US DoJ, of ‘buying’ votes during the tender to host the tournament – a subsect of a wider corruption […]

Sending solidarity and sympathy to anyone who has fallen foul of the 2022 Arts Funding Massacre. But there’s a lesson and a warning here too. We’ve had a government that has been nakedly hostile to the Arts in most of its guises throughout twelve years in power. During that time, the industry has had ample […]

If Boris Johnson leaves a legacy on British politics, it will be his decimation of the notion that senior public servants must be serious people.Matt Hancock going on ‘I’m a Celebrity…’ is the perfect case study, but it’s unclear whether his motivation for entering the jungle is more about personal fame or a circuitous route […]

‘I’ve had enough’ asseverated Tory Grandee, Sir Charles Walker, seemingly close to tears. ‘I’ve had enough of talentless people’. Speaking to the BBC hours after the resignation of the Home Secretary, and hours before the resignation of the Prime Minister, his words struck a chord internationally.Even before Liz Truss slashed the record for the shortest-serving […]

A lot of people are sending me Rob Mayhew’s sketches about agency life, correctly praising how funny a performer he is and how he’s nailed the universal experience of working in Advertising, Marketing, PR and their various adjuncts. Taking nothing away from Rob, certain of his sketches are so close to home that they cease to […]

An excellent TikTok by Mandy Lee https://lnkd.in/eKcNAQks it articulates something that those of us who work in the cultural sector have long felt; that aspects of the scene have been swallowed whole by consumerism, marketing and ‘content’. Coachella was her chief target, noting that the ‘fun’ of the festival is essentially a way to lure people into […]

Commentary on Elon Musk’s grab for Twitter has ranged from its potential impact on the simmering tension between big tech and society at large to the possibility of the elusive ‘edit button’ finally being added to the app, but the reputational impact of the deal on both Twitter and its major new shareholder is equally […]

Almost the first voice in Will Smith’s ear after slapping Oscars host Chris Rock for making fun of his wife, Jada, was his publicist. If we assume this wasn’t an elaborate stunt, this week the world may be wondering more than usual what on earth a publicist can do to influence a situation like that, […]

 As the outrage over the P&O scandal reaches the point of inertia, here’s my (slightly disheartening) take: We all saw the disturbing news of P&O Ferries sacking 800 people with no notice last week and the justifiable outrage it caused. We have seen protests from unions on the docks, captains refusing to leave their ships or let […]

As the world tries to understand and learn from these horrific unfolding events, one aspect of Russia’s vicious attack that hasn’t been interrogated to the same extent is the battle of images and words that has been a constant sideshow to the geopolitical and military developments.Vladimir Putin is no communications mastermind and is (rightly) often […]

Brewdog’s downfall has been a long time coming. And BBC’s Disclosure exposé ensured that, even if the business continues to go from strength to strength, the reputation of its founders as freewheeling punks with progressive hearts of gold is dead.The problem is that in self-defining as renegade rulebreakers while also peddling the mantra that ‘everything […]

There’s a logic to the decision for Essex to rebrand and distance Itself from TOWIE; the county is inarguably so much more than fake tan, nouveau riche nightlife and relationship dramas. https://lnkd.in/exPc2H4iBut the decision-makers must be careful about throwing the baby out with the bath water. Firstly, they’ve tried it before and it clearly didn’t […]

I have talked extensively about how the values of #genz and younger millennials are reshaping the concept of fame and creating new icons. Zennials such as Marcus Rashford, Greta Thunberg, Emma Raducanu and even cross-generational idols like Captain Sir Tom have built their reputations on authenticity, substance, consistency (lack of hypocrisy) and humility.As if to prove this […]

The GuardianIt seems like only yesterday that we were all enjoying the memes and videos parodying the decline and fall of Matt Hancock. The incredible brevity of his time in exile seems to strain the laws of PR physics, and suggests that the fallen minister still enjoys support at the highest levels of government.A hasty […]

The star power that Adele was able to bring together for her prime-time TV publicity juggernaut was truly something to see. In the US we saw Lizzo, Melissa McCarthy, Ellen Degeneres: the star-studded cast that went into the spectacle and its UK twin showcased the pulling power that Adele has to marshal old-school, highly engineered […]