MARK MY WORDS
Mark’s view
Whenever the news agenda hits hysteria point, Mark offers thoughtful analysis, a wry point of view and an insider’s insight
Latest ‘MARK MY WORDS’ Blog Posts
There is a growing belief in marketing that attention is transferable…
There is a growing belief in marketing that attention is transferable. It isn’t.DoorDash may have bought Brooklyn Beckham, but what it received was the entire Beckham family psychodrama bundled in for free. Whether orchestrated or not, the story has overwhelmed the product. Nobody is discussing food delivery. Nobody is discussing the brand proposition. They are […]
I’ve been spending far too many late nights watching the World Cup…
I’ve been spending far too many late nights watching the World Cup. After five days, I am still struggling to comprehend the BBC’s studio coverage.ITV appears to have rented New York. Brooklyn studio, Manhattan glittering backdrop, the whole thing looking like football’s answer to a Scorsese opening shot, minus the Gershwin soundtrack. The BBC appears […]
Nils Leonard says #PR should be scared…
Nils Leonard says #PR should be scared and, predictably, half the communications industry has spent the week reposting the quote in the hope of catching some reflected glory. Which is rather wonderful because the entire episode demonstrates exactly where we are. A good advertising man throws a hand grenade into the discourse, everybody rushes towards […]
Episode three of THE FAME FORMULA lands tomorrow, and it’s a proper one…
Episode three of THE FAME FORMULA lands tomorrow, and it’s a proper one. My guest is Lynne Franks OBE, the woman who built modern PR before every third person on LinkedIn appointed themselves a “personal brand strategist” and storytellerLondon Fashion Week was just one landmark on her map. Lynne helped redefine the entire culture around […]
For years reality television has sold itself as a democratic route to fame…
For years reality television has sold itself as a democratic route to fame. A contemporary three-ring circus haunted by the ghost of P. T. Barnum. Ordinary people transformed into stars by the will of “the public”. A meritocracy with contemporary additives and sponsored dental whitening.But beneath the glossy language sat something far older and rather […]
There was a time when Hollywood buried its bodies with dignity…
There was a time when Hollywood buried its bodies with dignity.The old studio system understood that reality itself was negotiable if managed correctly. Fixers, gossip columnists, private investigators and publicists all played their sacred role in maintaining the illusion. The audience saw only what survived long enough to become memory. It was manipulation, yes but […]
Saying goodbye to Andy Kershaw…
As we say goodbye to Andy Kershaw, it’s time to offer a personal anecdote about a passionate man. I’m not going to pretend he was tidy, easy or remotely manageable. He wasn’t. That was the point.We first crossed paths when he was working with the legendary manager Pete Jenner, who managed Pink Floyd and The […]
What hosting my own podcast has taught me…
What hosting my own podcast has taught me, despite decades spent discreetly puppeteering other people’s publicity, I am now required to pop up like a caffeinated meerkat and say please watch and listen.There is, it turns out, I have to grovel shamelessly for attention. Only varying degrees of enthusiastic self-endorsement, all reminiscent of a man […]
Will the Scott Mills moment be a full stop?
Will the Scott Mills moment be a full stop? Of course not. It’s simply more of the same, the BBC trapped in a loop it refuses to recognise.This isn’t a passing wobble. It’s structural. The BBC has a profound reputational challenge, not just now, but baked into its future.Riding ahead, as ever, are the twin […]
I’ve started a podcast… It’s called The Fame Formula
About a year ago, I forwarded a brilliant TikTok comedy sketch doing the rounds about a mysterious noise in London. At first, it sounds like an infestation. Turns out it’s podcasters. Apparently, you’re never more than ten feet away from someone, somewhere, leaning into a microphone explaining the world.Which makes what I’m about to say […]
I rather enjoyed this little Hollywood moment…
Text contentI rather enjoyed this little Hollywood moment. A neat PR stunt that reminds you the ancient craft of the stuntster hasn’t died it has simply learned to speak fluent algorithm.Publicity, contrary to popular belief, isn’t about shouting louder. It’s about understanding the machinery of attention.https://lnkd.in/eENKPGhWEvery year after the Oscars, the most polished people on […]
There is something narcotic about the language now used to sell war…
There is something narcotic about the language now used to sell war.Listen carefully to the rhetoric coming from Donald Trump and his attack dog, Pete Hegseth, and you notice a troubling potency to it. The words are small. Brutal. Blunt, punchy syllables delivered directly into the bloodstream of modern media.Iran bad. America strong. Strike hard. […]
Sad news. I’ve just learned that the mighty Paul Elliott — theatre producer extraordinaire — has died…
Sad news. I’ve just learned that the mighty Paul Elliott — theatre producer extraordinaire — has died.Paul produced pantomimes across the UK when I first met him in 1979, but he also belonged to a now-diminishing tribe: the impresario. Instinctive. Theatrical. Unafraid of a bit of danger. A man who understood that mischief, when properly […]
Brand Beckham Chaos…
There’s a temptation to gorge on the Beckham tabloid chaos as a spectacular soap-opera episode on steroids, a family dysfunction inflated into content, a morality play and audience participation event all at once. In truth, we’re watching a very tragic modern tragedy play out and mistaking it for entertainment. However, a lesson is hiding in plain […]
If Reform were deliberately staging the worst publicity stunt of the year…
If Reform were deliberately staging the worst publicity stunt of the year, squatting rights for Robert Jenrick would be inspired. Not a mistake. Not a wobble. A full-blooded, two-footed own goal, studs up, VAR waived. Think Jamie Carragher in 1999 two own goals against Manchester United then earnestly explaining to the camera that it was […]
Is PR Dead?
It’s been a strange start to the New Year. Against the broader dystopia of global events, January has produced a familiar chorus: PR is dead, the media is broken, nothing works anymore. This view usually comes from people still counting influence in headlines and hyperlinks, like Victorian naturalists insisting the dodo will bounce back. From […]
I owe Theo Cowan a job I never got…
I owe Theo Cowan a job I never got.At twenty, I tried to persuade him to employ me. Instead, he gently redirected me to Stratford East, deciding my maverick instincts would be better deployed somewhere noisier and less upholstered. He was right. He usually was.Theo Cowan affable, amused, instinctively civil was Britain’s first proper PR […]
Every now and again, in the blur of identikit post-match interviews…
Every now and again, in the blur of identikit post-match interviews, those dutiful little exchanges where a sweaty footballer mumbles clichés and a presenter politely nods them along, someone actually cuts through.This week, it was Alex Aljoe. On Tuesday night, speaking to my new Chelsea hero, the wunderkind Estevao Willian, she proved why she’s a […]
The BBC faces existential tremors; a long-cracking institution straddling huge fault lines…
The BBC faces existential tremors; a long-cracking institution straddling huge fault lines. Its latest Panorama failings sat with the governors for six months. They did nothing. They went quiet. Until it exploded. Now it’s too late for cries of “putsch” or mealy-mouthed apologies. Lets face it the BBC has been battling negative headlines for years.The […]