How Wimbledon favourite Roger Federer’s sponsorship deals make him richer than the Queen and Kim Kardashian
Worth £23million a year, Federer’s latest contract is the most valuable sports sponsorship deal in the world.
PR guru Mark Borkowski says: “When this man loses there’s no tantrums. He is incredibly warm to people when they beat him. He’s the sort of perfect package.”
He is the ultimate pro. He’s always delivered and at the height of his career he was winning everything in front of him.
“Brands want winners. Sponsors want to be associated with winners.”
Unlike some top athletes, Federer has yet to fall from his perch. Fellow IMG client Tiger Woods was the golf’s most valuable star until his scandalous extramarital antics and substance abuse landed him at the bottom of the pile in 2009. In a year, he lost £16million of endorsements.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/6689841/roger-federer-sponsorship-deals-wealth-wimbledon-2018/
Looking at the emotion of the customer
Thanks to Lauren McMenemy below is my contribution to her article for Skyword
“Content from All Angles: Are SEO Content, PR Content, and Content Marketing All That Different?”
I don’t care about your ego or what your textbooks told you: Content and story are the nucleus of all communications. It’s true whether you’re looking at it as a brand manager, an SEO specialist, a PR manager, a content writer, or any number of other roles found in the modern marketing organization. Before you create a website, contact a journalist, or engage a prospect, you need to know what story you’re telling, to whom, and why.
Does that mean all content is the same? Not exactly. There are some nuances in how we approach content depending on both its objectives and its eventual home. And even though objectives and distribution methods still differ across marketing functions, we’re now seeing a merging of disciplines, finding ways to use the same content to suit multiple purposes.
Why Love Island will wow the nation
The Express
ON the face of it the show that throws together hunks in trunks and babes in bikinis is just yet another disposable reality series but in fact it offers a compelling insight into infatuation and romance. Pack a bevy of beautiful young things off to a sun- soaked Mediterranean villa, light the fuse and retreat.
“In short Love Island has become essential viewing or you risk being left out of conversations. “t has become the programme that everyone is talking about even if they don’t actually watch it or admit to watching it, “I was at a barbecue at the weekend that was full of 50-somethings who know about the show through their kids. It was astonishing.”
The big question now is whether this season’s show, known affectionately as LI18, can live up to all the hype” says PR guru Mark Borkowski.
Make no mistake. The royal wedding is a strategic move by the House of Windsor to rebrand and survive
i news
She ticks every last box on race, on modernity, on marrying outside the system,” says Mark Borkowski. “If anything, she’s too good,” he says, predicting trouble. “Meghan and Harry could be a power couple, any cause they choose to support is going to be turbo-charged, but that’s going to create jealousies between them and William and Kate.” The trouble with putting them front and centre is that youth and beauty fade, cracks may emerge and popularity fall, in which case Harry’s wedding could look in retrospect like a season finale. The one before the Queen died and this long-running royality show finally jumped the shark (or lost the plot) as they say in Hollywood, where Meghan grew up. That’s what royalists dread and republicans will love. “The Royal Family will look back on this period while the Queen is alive as a golden time, because it is all going to unravel when she’s gone. She’s the glue. When she’s not around, you’re going to get Game of Thrones.”
Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/people/royal-wedding-strategic-move-house-windsor/
Mary Berry can’t rise to the challenge of life after Paul Hollywood on Bake Off
The Mirror
Mary Berry can’t rise to the challenge of life after Paul Hollywood on Bake Off
PR agent Mark Borkowski says the original format was the winning recipe, and that’s why anything that follows it can never get the flavour quite right.
“Coming up with new formulas, like Mary’s new show, is really tough,” he says.
“Sometimes it’s better if things are just discovered out of nowhere.
There’s an assumption from the BBC that Mary will always bring the viewers with her – and if this latest show had been her first outing, she wouldn’t have had the same level of criticism. There’s this huge expectation and pressure to do as well as the original show.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/mary-berry-cant-rise-challenge-12493188
Pomp, pageantry and the PR spectacle of the royal wedding
CBC
Pomp, pageantry and the PR spectacle of the royal wedding.
It’s been one of focusing on the minute detail,” says Mark Borkowski, who has worked with everyone from Michael Jackson to Mikhail Gorbachev. (Hence we even got the names of the horses pulling the carriage — Milford Haven, Sir Basil, Tyrone, and Storm — among several other details.)Meghan ‘understands the game’.
It’s all been helped, Borkowski says, because “you’ve got an actress of Hollywood standing who understands the game.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/royal-fascinator-meghan-public-relations-william-1.4656053
Sir Cliff Richard awaits judgment on legal battle with BBC
BBC
Sir Cliff Richard awaits judgment on legal battle with BBC
The BBC said they could not have sat on the story as they would have been accused of protecting the star, but Sir Cliff’s former PR Mark Borkowski considers the coverage was a grave error of judgement.
“I don’t think we’ll see the same ever again where the BBC became like a city news station in an American capital,” he said.
“Very, very poor journalistic response to what was a plot, some people would say.”
https://news.sky.com/story/sir-cliff-richard-awaits-judgment-on-legal-battle-with-bbc-11365598
#subbuteo
The Guardian
“Why wouldn’t you make it commercially available? If they say they are supporting the women’s game but then not making it available for fans to buy then that doesn’t really sit right,” she said. “I understand that they maybe want to try it out but I am sure it would prove popular.”
Media commentator Mark Borkowski said that the launch was “a publicity stunt”. He added: “If it’s not commercially available, you put it out there to generate a huge amount of media interest, see what the interest is and then, perhaps, produce it further down the line. It’s a well-known, clever, marketing ploy.”
A spokesman for the FA denied the all-female set was a gimmick and said the organisation was in discussions with Hasbro about producing a commercially available all-female set. “There are ongoing discussions looking at opportunities going forward,” said a spokesman.
#subbuteo
Where next for Ant and Dec and ITV?
BBC
Strategic PR consultant Mark Borkowski agrees: “Could Morecambe go on without Wise? They are a double act. Would Dec have the same impact? What would that say to his pal who’s recovering (if Dec went on alone)? This is a very deep friendship that goes back to childhood.”
Mark says there’s a lot riding on Ant’s recovery.
“It’s incredibly difficult. They are proper A-list. It’s not dissimilar to the problems with Jeremy Clarkson but look what happened when he overstepped the mark – you lost the potency of the format (the Top Gear line-up featuring Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond),” he explains.
“Now it’s about putting some context into these issues, trying to focus on his ill health.”
But he cautions that there’s much more at stake in the modern age.
“There are some real issues – the commercial pressures of putting people back on the screen. If someone says they’re fit enough to go back on screen what are you going to do?”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43469574
The Generation Game returns to the BBC on Easter Sunday
The Guardian
Slapstick family favourite revived with just two episodes after bumpy ride.
However, the publicist Mark Borkowski said revivals could backfire and get the “wrong kind of publicity … if you lean too heavily on the nostalgia. It can set the bar too high for the new talent who feel they’ve got to become the next Brucie.”
He added: “It’s a double-edged sword. A lot of the big shows such as Blind Date were extensions of stars’ personalities such as Cilla Black.”
Borkowski said broadcasters were keen to find new programmes as their big hits such as Strictly Come Dancing – itself a reworking of the BBC’s ballroom dancing competition, Come Dancing – or The X Factor have been around for years.
“It’s a very small gene pool of talent these days, which makes it hard for producers,” he said. “It’s a different world, where reality shows are giving us Rylan Clark-Neal or kids with massive characters are going on YouTube thinking they can make money presenting for four minutes. It’s not the same as being able to carry a large shiny floor show.”
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/mar/21/generation-game-returns-to-the-bbc-easter-sunday
Ant and Dec: why are the BGT & I’m a Celeb stars so important to ITV? – Radio Times
Radio Times
Mark Borkowski, the public relations expert, believes that a lack of talent waiting in the wings is a big problem for ITV.
“The talent pool of top notch presenters is so small and Ant and Dec are so good at their jobs but there is no one else who can take their place,” he says. “Who else could step into their shoes? It’s hard to imagine anyone. They are a cash cow for the advertisers and that is why they are worked hard and so they are knackered. They have worked so hard and it’s really tough. The vortex of fame is a thing people don’t understand and may struggle to sympathise with. But it’s real.
“It’s gruelling being in the public eye, being followed, having your every move scrutinised, social media dogging you 24 hours a day. I feel for the bloke.”
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-03-23/why-do-ant-and-dec-matter-so-much-to-itv/
As John Lewis suffers, is the era of the grand British department store over?
The Express – 16th March 2018
Today’s bargain-savvy shoppers are increasingly hungry for the sort of discounts that can only be offered from soulless units in business parks rather than elegant Victorian buildings with sky-high rents and rates in prime locations.
“Because we are time-compressed the experience of going shopping is no longer so pleasurable,” says brand guru Mark Borkowski.
“Today you might pop into the shop to look at the £4,000 telly but you will use an app on your phone to find out where you can buy it cheapest online.”
Selfridges has stayed ahead by making a £300million investment in transforming its emporia, as well as its online offering.
“The brand has reinvented itself by creating a sense of wonder in the stores,” argues Borkowski
Barack and Michelle Obama ‘in talks with Netflix over TV series’
The Guardian – 12th March 2018
Former president and first lady in advanced negotiations with streaming service, report says
Whatever the cost of the deal one thing is clear: it would be a television coup of gigantic proportions. “It’s a massive deal for both parties and the only thing we can also be sure of is that it will also involve a massive amount of money,” said the PR and branding expert Mark Borkowski. “This is another magical signing in the race to get as many eyeballs as possible.”
“MBS, and the million-dollar Saudi charm offensive you can’t ignore” Middle East Eye
Middle East Eye – 9th March 2018
Advertising experts say the charm offensive will have cost Saudi Arabia a tidy seven-figure sum for the billboards and the brains behind them. They would have paid the same rates as those of major corporate brands for the three-day blitz, with some estimating more than $1m has been spent.
When asked for his best guess, British PR agent Mark Borkowski said: “A lot of money… an-eye watering amount of money. The people I think are involved – they don’t come cheap.”
Whatever ones position on Saudi, the bigger issue may be the expectations that such a massive campaign sets up, said Borkowski.
“When you engaged in this type of PR, you can’t just switch it off. You are now running a marathon every day of visibility and you are in the public domain,” he said.
“It is now on the radar and commentators like me and other people will be very interested to find out what is the next stage on this.
“Of course if the rather interesting modernisations going on stalls, stops, isn’t successful, then that is going to be very difficult for a PR company to contain.”
Mark Borkowski, a media analyst and PR strategist, tells Newsweek that the Obamas’ deal could eclipse both of those
News Week – 9th March 2018
Mark Borkowski, a media analyst and PR strategist, tells Newsweek that the Obamas’ deal could eclipse both of those. He says Netflix may offer the former first couple $500 million.
“Competition between streamers is so intense. We see money being flown at [creators],” says Borkowski. “It depends what it is, what that program is, what it becomes…is it [related] to a foundation or charity work? It could make it a less [expensive] deal. But it’ll still be a big deal.”
As Isabella Rossellini returns to Lancôme at 65, ‘grey advertising’ continues to boom
As Isabella Rossellini returns to Lancôme at 65, ‘grey advertising’ continues to boom “Advertisers are following the money as well as the political tide,” says PR expert Mark Borkowski. “Women of a certain age have been ignored before but that is no longer the case. Increasingly people are looking to the baby-boomer icons and feeling their influence.”
People have gone chicken crazy’: what the KFC crisis means for the brand.
According to the media commentator Mark Borkowski. “Scarcity creates demand. It’s reminded people about KFC, even those who haven’t had one for years,” he said. “When they get everything back running again, you can expect a stampede.”
I’m A Celebrity winner Georgia Toffolo ‘forced to hand over 30 per cent of her £1million earnings to ITV’ after jungle victory
The Sun, 17th December 2017
Top PR guru Mark Borkowski told us how Toff would be “snapped up” by companies to be the face of their brands.
“She’s got a very bright future in front of her,” says Mark, who is the head of Borkowski PR. “She won’t be an immediate millionaire but she’s on the road to make a million.”
Mark says that when Toff leaves the jungle, she’ll be inundated by offers of everything from book deals to being the face of fashion and lingerie brands.
Shamed PR man Max Clifford dies after collapse in prison
The Times, 11th December 2017
Max Clifford, the mastermind the of kiss-and-tell sex scandal, has died in what a fellow publicist described as “the end of a very dubious legend”.
The public relations man, who was 74, died today at a hospital in Cambridgeshire near Littlehey Prison, where he had been serving an eight-year sentence for sex offences. He died after a heart attack.
From rags to riches and back again and the arch schemer – a PR man’s view of Max Clifford
The Drum, 11th December 2017
In the not too distant future when a dogged eared text book on fame is read by a cultural historian referencing the impact of Max Clifford. From that they will ponder on one long chapter. For any student studying the history of public relations now, one common theme can be tracked; those who manipulate the zeitgeist of any media of age understand the need to feed the “herd’s” insatiable appetite for celebrity. Max Clifford, who died yesterday, was that modern exemplar.