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.
Scottish independence debate: 'Salmond's PR advisers should hold their heads in shame'
Two hours that could change Scotland in a big TV debate. It’s big stuff. But as I settled down to watch Tuesday’s referendum TV showdown, I was slightly apprehensive. Would it be the much hyped game changer? Could it really be that good? Did someone mention Don King? This time it’s Alex Salmond versus Alistair Darling – independence versus the Union. Would the wedding limo chauffeur thrash the golf club accountant? A game of PR – cat on cat action. The referendum facts are fixed; the herd understands the nuances of a now familiar script – EU border controls, currency…
“Only the dead have seen the end of war…”
They said it would be over by Christmas. But its horror was prolonged for four years, devouring a generation in suffering and slaughter. Anyway, I decided that today, on such a glorious summer day, I would make time for quiet reflection. Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important. This short blog is my priority, fuelled by a desire to mull and consider as the world re-absorbs the magnitude of the outbreak of World War One. My focus is on two lost souls I am entwined with who perished…
Common sense is NOT always so common.
So was it a case of hope over reality after all? Secret Cinema will go ahead finally with founder Fabian Riggall admitting that it was his determination to go ahead that was responsible for the catastrophic last minute cancellation. It’s a story that says a lot about leadership, decision making and business growth. Then also common sense and communications in a crisis. Let’s face it, things do go wrong. But Secret Cinema got it wrong, underestimating the passions of their audience and what they needed to hear. The question here is how do you deal with the responsibility that growth…
Fame and the media game: What is fame now? And can you enjoy it without press intrusion
As you may have seen on The Drum here are my thoughts on Cheryl. Cheers have greeted the news that our 21st century Vera Lynn has wed! So? Well, what’s unusual about Cheryl Cole’s holy union announcement is the manner of its outing. The impressive tactics deployed to stay below the radar before breaking official news proves a high-net-worth celebrity brand can have their cake and eat it. Is it a post-Leveson new celebrity indicator or a steadfast willingness to prove a point? This style of announcement benchmarks the Cole brand against other organisations inside and outside of her sector….
What Lessons Can Brands Learn From The Brazilian World Cup fail?
Truman Capote once said “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour.” Spare a thought for the poor Brazilian footballers. A mediocre team capsized on an ocean of hype. Into the darkness they go, licking their wounds after one of the greatest sporting humiliations. Like Icarus who dared to fly too near the sun, on wings of feathers and wax. How can they recover from this? The mighty Brazil, beaten so devastatingly and completely in front of the world. It was painful to watch from a distance but for a nation so invested in the World Cup and their…
Isis and the propaganda war: How the social-savvy extremists are dominating the headlines
As you may have seen on The Drum I shared my thoughts on Isis. They exist on the edge of our world in a very different one. They know how to inhabit our imaginations and are the antithesis of our 21st century west and instant celebrity, excess, mass information, Justin Bieber and a rapidly moving culture. Out of the desert and the mountains rode the whirlwind of Isis, the fury of leaders and a scandalous belief and brass nerve. They’ve made a culture of hard-faced absolutism and brought to us an evil, dark movement. But I also reluctantly concede, business in…
Let's not try to piss off the will of the people
As you may have seen on The Drum I shared my thoughts on Betfair’s stunt, or misfortune, or whatever it was, it was misguided. It may have attracted a few columns and conversations on Twitter but it was of the wrong kind. The old cliched ‘any publicity is better than none’ meme. Well not any more. We now know the breakdown was a stunt. We have seen the subsequent launch of its new ad which makes Betfair’s “we are sorry for any inconvenience caused” at the time of the breakdown even more hollow. It was a mere adpology. The same…
The One (and only) Direction. Change.
“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.” Wise words from John Gooden and not ones followed closely by many. Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears – over the last 10 years we’ve heard the sad cry of the poor celebrity seeking help after divorce, hard-partying, rehab trips, sex tape scandals, drink and drug meltdowns and more. We can’t prepare for natural disasters of the the earth-shattering, world-ending kind. But smaller celebrity disasters, cataclysmic on a local scale, strike all the time. And yet each time they do, they never fail to take us by surprise….
So you hate us? Who cares?
The age of the toxic brand has dawned. This has ushered in an array of “Marmite” brands and love them or hate them it doesn’t matter – they’re winning either way! The toxic companies are flourishing and no matter how many people despise them they keep on growing, fuelled by the horror stories we hear in the news. Take RYANAIR: People really do hate Ryanair: this February, for example, a mutiny was reported on one of their flights. Despite being grounded for several hours, passengers were refused food and drinks by staff. In the end, the customer service was so…
The truth about the Jeremy Clarkson row
Not to state the obvious but behaviour is vital. Yet it would appear that very few organisations or individuals understand how their behaviour is seen and felt – and that is all a ‘brand’ is. A feeling. Still the walls have finally fallen. Gone are the days when brands could spin their own story and behave as they pleased. This is a world defined by the crowd and they mind. If you want to succeed in this climate you have to do embrace two things. 1. You must understand what you look like to others. How you ‘package’ is vital. 2….
Twitter: A Mythological Giant?
Twitter is now daily global phenomenon, fuelling everything from celebrity profiles to national revolutions. The media is obsessed with it, and everyone seems to be on it. But what is the real story behind the phenomenon? Since its launch in 2006, the number of Twitter users has soared. There are now 255m users of the site worldwide. Click Here for interactive enlargement As well as soaring it has also floated, opening on the US stock market last November at a staggering £11bn (which has since doubled). Twitter’s rise has even brought a previously mythological creature to life. Once thought…
Hashtags & Hate Campaigns: Did Social Media Contribute to David Moyes' Sacking?
Ever since it was announced that David Moyes would be stepping into the Manchester United hot seat last summer, the vultures have been circling around Old Trafford – and finally, it’s feeding time. Following a miserable ten months at the helm, the ex-Everton boss has this week been hung out to dry by his employers, who bowed to building pressure in the aftermath of a 2-0 loss to Moyes’ old club over Easter weekend. In truth, the new man was always going to find it difficult to follow in the footsteps of Sir Alex Ferguson – but even the most…
The art of shocking and alluring…it’s nothing new.
The comms industry’s insatiable hunger for hoax marketing shows no signs of slowing. In recent weeks, we’ve seen a slew of online campaigns that seek to piggyback shareable trends while downplaying or totally hiding the brands they were made to promote. At the more mainstream end of the spectrum, Snickers tried to soak up some fourth wave feminist traffic with their “feminist builders” spot. At the subtler end, there are rumours that US actor James Franco’s attempted liaison with a 17 year old may be part of an ingenious PR stunt . The smug hipsters who dream all this up probably…
People are reading fewer print newspapers now than they were fourteen years ago
People are reading fewer print newspapers now than they were fourteen years ago. We know, hold the presses right? But we didn’t come here to tell you what you already knew. We’ve put together a graph plotting the circulations of five daily broadsheet papers over the past fourteen years. The overall shapes might be familiar, but below and on the graph we’ve highlighted some surprising things you might not have been aware of. Click here for larger version Here’s the most important thing: as we tell our clients, always check the bathwater for babies. Of the papers we looked…
The Art of the Publicity (or a nasty case of ‘Hirstism’)
This week saw the birth of a great stuntster. Clayton Pettet, the student who exploded across the internet last October when he announced plans to lose his virginity for an artwork has finally made good on his promise. Well, sort of. According to the Telegraph the actual event involved no hanky panky, little nudity and nothing more erotic than a bit of fiddling about with a banana. The media had been spoofed. Pettet said he had been playing on assumptions critics had made about the work. In so doing, he led 10,000 people to apply for tickets to the show….
A Call for Calm
Whisper it. The real truth is, that the majority of the industry doesn’t give a damn about the text book-peddling, muttering commentariat. Anyway, you’ll never remove splinters from my rear end. I’m not a fence sitter. Moreover, I don’t consider my contemporary offering as pure PR. Instead, let me praise someone working at the epicentre of a global news story. On Monday afternoon a superlative PR hoved into view, reminding the world what is great about British public relations. A precise man; direct, adroit, authoritative, elegant and effective. A safe pair of hands delivering leading communications in real time for…
Readability or reality – the uncomfortable lessons of the MH370 news narrative
It’s a good job wreckage has been found off the coast of Australia, because if the search for missing flight MH370 goes on much longer the world won’t actually have any journalists left. Malaysia has acted like a kind of media black hole, sucking more and more of the world’s journalists away from their home countries and into its gaping maw. Our screens fill more and more with shots of wailing families, repeated footage of bemused politicians and, well, not very much else. This is the biggest breaking story of the year so far, and in some ways it’s easy…
The Diminishing Political Personality
Last week, the British Left mourned as it bid farewell to two of its leading lights – old Labour icon Tony Benn and legendary union leader Bob Crow. Both men will be sorely missed, too, by headline writers and casual observers of political theatre. Each was a stunning PR operator who made the weather and livened up the political news agenda. Benn had an instinctive understanding of humanity – how to stir the heart and speak to the soul of all who encountered him. In the days following his passing, stories have emerged of his warmth and compassion and the…
The Samsung Sugar Rush Selfie.
If you were a conspiracy theorist the “selfie” would be starting to look like a pretty blatant illuminati signal. Last year we had three world leaders taking one, and now Ellen DeGeneres has pulled stars of the silver screen into the world’s most retweeted tweet. What purpose do these smartphone shots serve? One thing’s for sure – PR orthodoxy is now seriously in favour of them. Want to look cheeky and relatable? Snap a selfie. It’s not totally flawed, either. Ellen’s effort on Sunday night earned her 1.7m retweets in less than an hour – a new world record. Ever…
David Blaine: A lesson in purpose and passion
It took the urban dictionary to sum up the true definition of passion. It says: “Passion is when you put more energy into something than is required to do it. It is more than just enthusiasm or excitement, passion is ambition that is materialised into action to put as much heart, mind, body and soul into something as is possible.” Quite. Passion was the theme of last week. I spent most of mine with David Blaine. There are many adjectives that sum up David and passion is certainly one of them. This is a man who is wholly dedicated to…