So why has Stuart Higgins packed his bags and taken the long 12 hour flight to South Africa to wrangle one of the toughest PR gigs of the moment? Benjamin Disraeli said “One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes”. Higgins is no slouch…
Despite all the noise surrounding Pope Benedict’s resignation, we will doubtless see the same arcane processes in the choosing of the next Pope, highlighting all the inadequacies of the Catholic brand at a time when it is weaker than ever. Betting websites are already placing odds on who the next Pope is going to be,…
This is my account of the extraordinary life of Jeremy Paxton. It’s an assembly of vivid memories I shared with a unique human whom I loved and cherished. Woody Allen once said ‘Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering – and it’s all over much too soon.’ Sadly true when death takes a 53…
I was devastated to discover that a great friend and former client, Jeremy Paxton, passed away on Tuesday. Jeremy understood the stuff of PR and we were proud to represent his interests. He had an emotional intelligence and understood what was needed to generate a great narrative. Jeremy was a man who allowed me to…
David Beckham epitomises the modern celebrity age: in any other era, we wouldn’t have blinked an eyelid at a 38 year old footballer, other than for the sheer amount of time he had managed to stay in the game. Past his prime, we may no longer celebrate his on-pitch prowess in the same way, but…
Prince Harry is the ultimate recruitment poster boy for the Call of Duty generation. As a soldier Prince, he is in his element: today’s media is plastered with pictures of him in subtle battle dress, poses framed by an apache helicopter gunship, underlining his sense of purpose and presenting him in hero-like dimensions. From Las…
Stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, and most recently, his Sydney Olympic medal, the only wheels turning under Lance Armstrong right now are those of the press machine. After months of denying the allegations placed against him for doping and being placed under a life ban, Armstrong’s missing the taste of the fame…
As HMV calls in the administrators, spare a thought for the indie retailers who are now more exposed than ever to the wave of internet megafauna that have come to dominate the retail landscape. I’ve been involved with the music retail industry for a number of years, and represented Virgin Megastores for almost a decade…
Quentin Tarantino’s outburst last week should have come as no surprise to anyone involved in the juggernaut of movie promotion. If anything, it is surprising that it hadn’t come sooner. It is all too easy when watching a five minute long video clip from such an interview to forget the hours and hours – if…
AS the January sales wear on urging us to grab our discounts before they end, we should spare a thought for Harry Gordon Selfridge, born 149 years ago today. It is only fitting that the week of Selfridge’s birthday has been marked by the launch of two television series celebrating the rise and rise of…