A force for good: poll shows positive impact of journalism
A unique survey commissioned by Press Gazette gives the lie to the often quoted assumption that the British public does not value journalism. More than half those surveyed in a YouGov national opinion poll (52 per cent) said they agreed with the statement: “Journalism makes a positive contribution to life in Britain”. Some 32 per […]
The Reputation Terrorist
Yet another interesting snippet from the excellent Spin watch, but I wrote a feature on this issue in the Guardian two years ago. FLACKS ATTACK “DETERMINED DETRACTORS” http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/27/business/media/27adco.htm BuzzMetrics, a New York-based specialist in word-of-mouth marketing, is among the companies working to tame the internet by going after “determined detractors,” which the New York Times […]
How other PR companies make money
A Dubious Doc By Eartha Melzer, In These Times. Eartha is a writer and videographer in Washington. A ‘groundbreaking’ pre-election documentary on the ‘real story’ in Iraq smells like propaganda and has the pr muscle of Manning, Selvage & Lee behind it. Just before the election, a film about Iraq hit art house theaters around […]
Independent Media section Monday
Out of the jungle, into the trash Independent – London,England,UK … “What [reality TV] is doing is pushing people to make more considered decisions about who they are looking for to endorse products,” says PR Mark Borkowski. …
Brands and Brando
Brands don’t live on shelves or in showrooms. They don’t even live on TV screens, although you could easily make that mistake. Brands live in our hearts and in our heads, and that’s where they die too, when their time is up. ‘I’m A Celebrity – Get Me Out Of Here!’ is back, peddling its […]
The Chav pound
From today’s Independent It’s time to tap the chav pound, innit .. PR consultant Mark Borkowski is sceptical. “There’ve always been tribes to be parodied – right back to the Teddy Boys,” he says. … http://news.independent.co.uk/media/story.jsp?story=583060
Now here is an interesting theory
Hollywood brought Kerry down By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach Conventional wisdom has it that the “morality voters” who rose to such prominence in this election voted for President Bush because of their opposition to gay marriage. But that is a complete misreading of why the morality voters dumped John Kerry. In reality, the No. 1 moral […]
TWIN EMBEDS IN IRAQ
This came to my attention this morning from www.editorandpublisher.com. It’s interesting how the ’embed’ game is being played out… ‘They may not get many takers, but Iraqi insurgents in the besieged city of Fallujah on Saturday invited journalists to “embed” with them to report their side of the war. E&P reported Friday that the Pentagon-run […]
Another H and K story
I picked this tale up from the excellent www.odwyerpr.com site. I am sure this is a scam. H&K VS. DE NIRO Hill & Knowlton is handling PR for the National Italian American Foundation, which is spearheading a coalition to persuade Italy to drop its plan to award honorary citizenship to Robert De Niro. The coalition […]
MARKET SHARE ERODES FOR BRAND AMERICA
A sobering thought from the curent issue of Fast Company to beat the re election blues. MARKET SHARE ERODES FOR BRAND AMERICA www.fastcompany.com/subscr/88/open_essay.html Two recent studies of international opinion have found a drop in williness to buy products from American companies. “People felt exploited by global expansion, inundated by our entertainment products, and put off […]
Blobs of beige goo
Way of the World by Craig Brown GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturers of Horlicks, have employed a public relations consultant, Mark Borkowski, to correct the ‘negative connotations’ associated with the bedtime beverage. In recent years pejorative expressions such as “What a Horlicks!” and “You’ve made a right Horlicks of it!” have begun to give the milky drink […]
Tales from PR Watch
This story from PR-watch found its way into my inbox this morning. I am always interested to see how the heady world of PR earns a crust HILL & KNOWLTON GETS OUT THE (LOST) VOTE The Hill & Knowlton PR firm “is working to allay any voters’ concerns in Florida’s fourth largest county amid reports […]
The politics of chat
Dispatches Monday October 25, 2004 The Guardian What’s a poor publicist to do? When it comes to getting your clients on TV nowadays there are more chat shows than you can shake a remote at – currently over a dozen on terrestrial TV alone – but the five daily daytime slots are the hungriest. BBC […]
People power is winning the war against powerful corporate PR
The world may have gone off globalisation in a big way but more money is being poured into public relations than ever before on both sides of the Atlantic. So what is going on? Is this PR doing anyone any good? Or is it just face powder disguising the onset of decline? There is no […]
Words on David
What the professionals say about Beckham By Standard Sport 13 October 2004 THE PUBLICIST Mark Borkowski, public relations expert Beckham is now in a situation that whatever he does is perceived as a PR stunt. People simply do not trust him and he’s there with the royal family, in that whatever he does he cannot […]
Macdonald's debate
Question mark is hanging over McDonald’s Telegraph.co.uk – London,England,UK … “You’ve got to applaud them,” says Mark Borkowski, the public relations consultant. “It’s phenomenally bold. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/14/nmed114.xml
The worst job in the world?
�I�m sure some people think I have not got the brains to be that clever. But I do have the brains.� That�ll be the England football captain speaking, having just admitted that once he realised he�d broken a rib or two in Saturday�s game, he then deliberately fouled another player in order to secure a […]
My week so far
A surreal and bizarre week so far, kicking off with a kaleidoscopic Monday of laughter and tears. First to the Q Awards at the Grosvenor House, where half the Great and Good were gathered at a fantastic do. You�ve already heard about Sir Elton�s �f*****g� anti-Madge rave, but also present were U2, Elvis Costello, Mick […]
n.A.T.o. – a pop singer dressed as a suicide-bomber – causes outrage
A self-styled “suicide bomber” musician who sings in Arabic and performs in a full-length burqa is planning a “terror concert” in Britain. .. Mark Borkowski, a public relations adviser and the author of Improperganda – The Art of the Publicity Stunt, called Mr Shapovalov “a ruthless promoter”. … http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/03/wnato03.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/10/03/ixworld.html
Spinning sugar
Spinwatch brings our attention to the following campaign “The Oldways Preservation Trust, which earlier this year held a conference in Italy to promote pasta, is organizing another journalists’ confab, this time to discuss the virtues of sugar,” PR Week reports. “The trust … has secured the Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness, a Coca-Cola affiliated […]