Mark My Words Blog
Welcome to ‘Mark My Words,’ the digital sanctuary where insight meets intrigue, and commentary sparks contemplation.
Delve into the dynamic world of PR maverick Mark Borkowski as he unravels the threads of media, culture, and communication. Mark’s blog is a treasure trove of industry wisdom, offering a backstage pass to the inner workings of publicity and the ever-evolving landscape of modern media.
We risk learning the wrong lessons from Bell Pottinger’s demise
All that remains of Bell Pottinger is a burnt-out shell. Scraps will be salvaged and the less toxic parts could, with careful handling, be rebranded into something vaguely respectable. But the company as we know it has been read its last rights. Few will mourn. Stirring up racial tension in a country where sensitivities are deep and fresh is only few moral decibels shy of Goebbels communications. Reading the PRCA verdict that effectively banished Bell Pottinger from the industry it is striking how clear-cut their take is on the company’s activities in South Africa. As they ought to be. The…
Recalibrating the Moral Compass
The emerging scandal in South Africa involving PR giants Bell Pottinger, and the country’s most infamous family dynasty, is a spectacular emergency; if the global public cared more about Africa it would be a wildfire. Bell Pottinger dispute the allegations, but that hasn’t stopped them being found guilty of breaching the PRCA’s code of conduct. It has already cost one partner their job, whilst CEO James Henderson has resigned. PR’s around the world exist in a bubble that affords them a degree of security. Laymen ignore the goings on of an industry that baffles them, which lets firms behave with impunity. This allows…
Could South African Sleaze Force PR to Clean Up its Act?
The emerging scandal in South Africa involving PR giants Bell Pottinger, and the country’s most infamous family dynasty, is a spectacular emergency; if the global public cared more about Africa it would be a wildfire. Allegations of race-baiting and shady dealings normally sink companies and governments; several have already gone here, and the Gupta family and President Zuma must be thanking their lucky stars that there’s more than enough of it in the States and Europe at the moment to draw international heat. For context, the Gupta family head a burgeoning South African business empire, and have spent decades courting…
We need to talk about Edinburgh
I’ve been going to the Fringe Festival for as long as I can remember. It remains the seminal arts event in Britain today, only behind Glastonbury in its symbolism. But this year, I couldn’t help but detect a lethargy about the place. There’s the usual press of bodies on the Royal Mile, as tourists, festival goers and performers jostle for standing space, and flyers are thrust at you from every direction. There’s still an energy there. For people like me, it’s more the energy of an old bull elephant, though, rather than of a sprightly herd of impala. The heritage…
Love Island and the Overexposed Millennial
It’s a curious thing, modern Britain. For almost a week, we’ve been openly discussing that great taboo, pay. for even longer though, we’ve been talking about sex. Not even the clammy, soul-cleaving let-down kind most Brits endure, but high-octane, tanned, effervescent and salubrious copulating. Mail mouthpiece Peter Hitchens referred to it in his column as ‘Olympian’, with the caveat that it was also positively ‘Neanderthal’. The success of the ITV’s Love Island has taken us all aback. It has become the cultural phenomenon of the summer. It’s one of those shows that people love to be snobbish about, yet intrigues all the…
Now is the winter of our dis-content: A glossary for the times we live in
Do you confuse your branded storytelling with your sponsored content? Are you disruptive or merely a dial-mover? How old is too old to be millennial? If these questions keep you up at night then you clearly aren’t on the right sedative. For the rest us, I’ve been mulling over some of the phrases that have been buzzing around our jargon-infested ecosystem. Feel free to curate your own semantic experiences – we are immersed in this shit, whether we like it or not. Content: n. Stuff. To paraphrase a corporate cliché the contents of content is content. While it’s great if…
From fake to fomo- what you were really missing out on at Cannes Lions
FOMO. Fear of missing out. One eye always on a more interesting interlocutor. In Cannes there is always a party more glamorous and exclusive that has passed you by. The yacht will have sailed before you even knew it. Forget the smiles and the sun. The all-pervasive sense that you get from a certain type of Lions festival goer is one of fear and loathing, a social paranoia whose growth corresponds to the gradual pickling of their livers via a constant stream of free rosé. On Tuesday I shared on Instagram an image of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. Nothing particularly strange…
BBC needs to talk value [Drum]
Something most un-British is happening in the national conversation: we’re talking about pay. The six figure salaries of top TV talent and the payslips of public sector workers are two very different issues. Yet both come down to the matter of value and worth. The BBC has been forced kicking and screaming to make the pay of its stars earning more than £150,000 public. With a reputation tainted by apparent blindness to the abuses of its stars – most notably Jimmy Savile – Auntie already receives far more scrutiny than it ever has in its 95-year history. Yet there is…
Let’s not give up on truth.
Working out exactly what’s distinctive about Borkowski as an agency, what makes it tick, and why it’s been so successful has taken a long time. It’s only now, nearly thirty years since the agency was founded, that it’s possible to provide a semi-systematised overview of something which has been instinctual for years. We tell stories, that’s all. Of course, it’s far more complex than that, because to get to the story we also ask questions, have critical conversations, create strategies and provide counsel. But essentially it’s all about story, which is why our new website www.borkowski.co.uk (yes we have dropped…
When will the likes of Walkers learn that people do not love brands? (Drum)
The hijacking of Walkers’ Champions League promo – which asked fans to tweet selfies to be included alongside Gary Lineker – begs the question: how did no one see that coming? As ever in new media land, the idea would have gone through countless planning sessions and stress tests. Each time bearded Dalstonian (apologies) creatives no doubt slapped themselves on the back. What a great idea to give folk the opportunity to been seen by millions next to crisp-chomping icon Gary Lineker. Everyone loves Gary – apart from all those Twitter trolls. So let’s launch it via Twitter. What could…
Boo Netflix all you like, it’s here to stay
Second to the Palm d’Or the greatest achievement a filmmaker can hope for from a trip to Cannes is a good old booing. A very special kind of cacophony is rewarded to a film that succeeds in irritating le bon goût of French cineastes- it’s less of a boo and more like the mooing of an over-excited cow. Pulp Fiction received the full force of Gallic baying as have most of Lars Von Trier’s films. This year the honour falls on Okja, not so much for the film itself as who is distributing it. The row over the presence of…
Murray Lachlan Young On Mark
BBC Radio 4, 18.04.17 Listen here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08m8yx4 (00:41 – 08:05)
Corbyn's Labour manifesto: when is a leak not a leak? (The Drum)
Jeremy Corbyn has always insisted that Labour policy be decided by consultation and debate. With the leaking of a draft of the party’s manifesto, Labour has launched its most ambitious act of policy crowdsourcing. As a pundit pointed out, leaking the manifesto is probably the surest way of getting the media to seriously read it. Media indifference isn’t just a problem for Corbyn’s Labour. In twenty-first century elections – fuelled by big data, algorithmically-matched messaging and fake news – the manifesto is an increasingly irrelevant form. In times that are less politically tribal and where information is more accessible and…
PR Week Power Book 2017
Borkowski, Mark Founder, Borkowski Ltd Why? Borkowski is legendary for his sharp mind and astute analysis of industry trends. Through his agency Borkowski, which he set up in 1987, he has worked with Michael Jackson, Prince and Led Zeppelin, and helped launch the percussion group Stomp. He has written columns for The Guardian and is a published author. Favourite campaign of the past year? Jose Mourinho’s PR campaign to become the manager of Manchester United. The industry’s biggest challenge for 2017 is… Relating to a post-truth and -trust world. And the biggest opportunity… Being a relevant force in earned communication…
Brad’s second coming
Antiquity had the crucifixion. The French Republic had the Guillotine. For us the arena for bringing down the high and mighty is the tabloid mud pit. Lucky for our modern Dauphins reputational execution is not as lasting as actual decapitation and a second chance is always on the table. In his tell-all interview with GQ Brad Pitt strung himself and spilled out his guts like a good mediaeval martyr. As if it wasn’t enough to speak frankly about a lifelong alcohol problem Pitt dons a dewy-eyed sad dad pose and midlife crisis rags. If public displays of remorse won awards…
The myth of the vote winning slogan
Gallons of intellect, insight and idiocy are poured into election campaigns- all in search of a magic slogan that will catapult a candidate to victory. The amount of money sloshing around in the election market reflects the mythology that has been built around the campaign guru. The power of a phrase to win is often overblown. If you get your messaging right you can hope to tip the dial in your favour by a few notches- largely among those who are on the fence. Public cynicism of soundbite politics means anything that sounds inauthentic or woolly is given short shrift….
GE2017: A campaign of re-heated leftovers
If you’re looking for a good word of the day, try apanthropinization. It means to rise above or resign from one’s narrow concerns and worldly worries. Over the next six weeks of what looks set to be a dreary election campaign we will all be needing some of that. We’ve moaned about the lack of real choice in politics. Now we have one–between two very different personalities and two very different visions for Britain- yet our reaction is like BBC’s voice of the nation Brenda on being told of Theresa May’s decision to call a poll: “oh no not another…
Give corporate communicators a break- failure starts and ends with leadership
Cometh the PR crisis, cometh the troll. In the past week we’ve had an Easter bumper pack of public relations blunders for the twitterati to sink their teeth into. The mother of all has been the United Airlines fiasco which saw a passenger “re-accommodated” in a “de-planed situation” after he refused to be “auto-volunteered” off an overbooked flight. Linguistic trickery is of course one of the joys to be had from unpicking a PR response. The chief target of ridicule is so often the corporate comms team. Their carefully crafted statements buckle under the weight of trying to sound responsible…
Pseudo news is no response to fake news
Each day Whatsapp and Messenger process around 60 billion messages. We’ve never been more communicative- and the burden for instant response has never been greater. It’s quaint then that the main news story of the week has been the delivery of a single letter. Since the declaration of Article 50 was signed by the PM at the start of the week we have had a series of breaking news updates, culminating in the handover to the EU council president Donald Tusk on Wednesday. It is impossible even to say ‘Article 50’ without the prefixed verb ‘trigger’- making the whole exercise…
Social media giants need to bulk up narrative in questioning times
Next week Theresa May will be writing to the European Council to declare her intentions to initiate Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. The resounding message of last year’s referendum –for right or wrong- was the country’s desire to ‘take back control’. The message was an alluring one. We have long been told we live in a world of untameable forces. Globalisation cannot be stopped. The internet is simply too vast to be policed. The robotisation of the labour market is inevitable. Where once we may have obliged to this narrative, there is now a willingness of the public to call…