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.
Advertising horse power: what a moonwalking Shetland pony tells us about the future of comms
And so it was the week where the nation was transfixed by a moonwalking Shetland pony. Racking up nearly four million youtube views, and prompting the Daily Mail to ask ‘Is this the funniest ad of the year?’, Three’s Fleetwood Mac loving, Tina Turner wig wearing equine has taken the blogosphere by storm. My inclination was to be cynical – I’ve seen it all before. In the days before circuses became more ethically minded, I encountered tap-dancing chickens, rollerskating bears, and a twinkle toed horse that would have left Three’s Shetland eating dust. Animals have always had a huge power…
Rules for the Conduct of Public Life
The Truth must dazzle gradually. Or every man be blind. – an interesting aphorism from the pen of Emily Dickinson. Sipping a lukewarm soya latte served by a man wearing a comedy moustache in a breathlessly contemporary Shoreditch caff, a client declared “I guess PR is all about crisis these days”; fascinating point of view. At the time, like the caff (no, I’m not going to name it – it doesn’t deserve the benefit of a negative riff), I put it out of my mind as yet another exaggerated view of the misunderstood craft of modern public relations. Later, while…
Pop Tarts and Coronets : How brands find rebirth in the Now! Economy
Do we worship celebrities? Maybe. A while ago, a smart wag who was looking for a quick column inch to help promote a book identified a psychological condition: Celebrity Worship Syndrome. An unfortunate malady has developed from this type of homage. Certainly brands seek the endorsement of the gods of sport and entertainment, and over the years major brands have enjoyed the fruits of their investment. But the Now Economy age is challenging our appetite for the celebrity deity. Yesterday, Nike distanced itself from its iconic Blade Runner charge, Oscar Pistorius. His alleged crime, framed by an OJ Simpson-style court room…
When Blade Runner goes blunt
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 as the ex-editor of the Sun was. Having first served as Editor, Higgins is the game keeper has turned poacher. He has worked with a number of high-profile figures with great success, most notably in his efforts to humanise Andy Murray. Some commentators might suggest…
Papal palpitations and Catholic communications
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, and the secretive internal processes framed by smoke signals will only intensify the media focus on all the negatives. It is curious that religious figures are not doing more to embrace the popular media, crafting a popular character to lead the church into the 21st…
The extraordinary life of Jeremy Paxton – a tribute.
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 year old man in his prime. Some take life for granted. Some live each day. Some shudder at the thought of the Grim Reaper hovering nearby, whetstone out, sharpening his scythe. When someone close passes, the sharp focus of the now is fashioned in vivid…
Jeremy Paxton – The passing of a great maverick
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 do some of my best work. He is an irreplaceable loss, a man who invested in the environment, nature and architecture. Our thoughts are with his family. “The whole world loves a maverick and the whole world wants the maverick to achieve something nobler than…
Beckham and the Bounce-Back Brand
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 we cannot deny the mammoth commercial clout of his brand. I marvel at the noise and clamour surrounding his move back to Europe. The Beckham brand in its multiple forms has taken on global proportions, shepherding the herd with it at every stage. By leveraging…
Harry: Prince of Propaganda
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 Vegas to Camp Bastion, Harry’s headlines – both good and bad – build a modern heroic monomyth around him. He may be a professional soldier – but am I alone in preferring to read about his rock ‘n’ roll hedonism rather than this latest “I…
Lacklustre Lance Better Peddle Fast If He Wants to Remain in the Fame Game
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 game and has turned to the Supreme Oracle that is Oprah Winfrey to try and redeem his name in a celebrity-bares-all interview. Obviously, Armstrong has an ambition to try and get back into the public frame. He craves the love of the herd and must…
HMV's Off to the Pound, But Indie Ain't Out of the Dog House
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 before it morphed into Zavvi and sank with the Woolworths ship in 2009. We managed the launch of the last big record store, the Manchester Arndale Megastore, which set its course as the last hurrah of large scale music retail. I was very close to…
From Opulence to Obsolescence : Tarantino and the Decline of the Media Junket
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 not years and years – of tedious interviews and identikit questions that would have preceded it. The media junket is a Prohibition era relic from the glories of the Hollywood Studio system that is arguably no longer fit for purpose: it was born into tyranny,…
Selfridge's Guide to Suprasexual Seduction
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 his adopted brain-child – consumer culture – in the form of ITV’s Mr Selfridge and BBC’s The Paradise (an adaptation of Emile Zola’s 1883 novel Au Bonheur des Dames). I first came across Selfridge when researching The Fame Formula, exploring the rise of modern PR…
The Adventure Capitalist is Back
Next Tuesday 15th Jan, 8pm, there will be another chance to see my show Adventure Capitalism: The 20% Maverick Factor at the Bristol Old Vic. It’s a rather madcap, whirl wind journey through the wonderful mavericks I’ve worked with in my career and what I’ve learnt from them, featuring a theatre on the back of a bike, runaway taxmen turned circus performers, Hitler’s nephew, a human exhibit in London Zoo, and a man intent on eating an entire bus. I created the show in response to the needs of a world – and economy – in dramatic flux, drawing on…
Embracing chaos
As we settle into the New Year, commentators continue to declare the present state of flux to be the ‘new normal’. In the wake of increasing globalisation and atomisation, humanity is simultaneously more connected and more fractured than ever before – how can brands manage in this new era? The tension of our age lies between an inherent desire for stability and a necessity to adapt to the new chaotic world order. At Borkowski.do, we believe in being ‘20% Maverick’ – using well-honed human instinct to create spaces in which creativity can flourish. Over the last year, I have seen…
Never Mind the Mayans, Here's the Apocalypse
Whether or not the Apocalypse is approaching this Friday is speculation that I will leave to the Mayans. As life flashes past us, however, the approaching end of year provides a good opportunity to contemplate the changes that have happened in our world over the course of this past year and some of the PR dilemmas generated by a tsunami of negative memes. As we have been quaffing the dregs of the Diamond Jubilee and delighting in the now-distant memory of the success of Team GB, a strange transformation has been taking place in the celebrity sphere. Celebrity culture has…
Harnessing the Girl Power: Social Media's Impact on the Theatre Crowd
Last night, I went to see Viva Forever with Krista Madden, the lady behind the highly influential Handpicked Media network. It corrals the best digital talent, from a hemisphere of independent networks of fashion, beauty, and lifestyle blogs. These are the people that grew up with the Spice Girls. In their youth, they lived and breathed Union Jack dresses, platform trainers and girl power V signs. I asked her to pop along to see if she thought the show connected to the generation that was touched by Girl Power. Krista tweeted after the show: @Beautyanthedirt: Anyone who didn’t want to…
The Royals Must Not Let Their Zygote Be Seized by the PR Zeitgeist
The only thing more nauseating than morning sickness has to be the wearisome and banal Royal baby chatter that has been assaulting my senses this week. It hasn’t just been politicians and celebrities clamouring over crowds of well-wishers to be the first to congratulate the Royal couple; the pranksters are back in town and have broadcast news of the microscopic monarch quite literally around the world. Even Prince Charles ran with the antipodean caper, quipping that he might in fact be a radio station when stopped by inquisitive journalists on Thursday. Rest assured that this is a very early present…
The Joy of Fabulous Nobodies: Naked Whitehall Guy, I Salute You
This afternoon, Twitter has been captivated by a brand new golden balls. We don’t know who he is yet, or why he did it, but he ensured Whitehall was shut down for several hours after he scaled the statue of the first Duke of Cambridge, Prince George, stripped off and performed a number of acrobatic balances atop George’s hat. I have long been a champion of what I like to call the Fabulous Nobodies: the ordinary people who experience a meteoric ascent to fame- or infamy- in the most unpredictable of circumstances. The rise of the Fabulous Nobodies coincides with…
PRs on Top: Why New Senior Figures are Great News for the Industry
Autumn is a time for change. Recent weeks have seen a number of significant individuals take up prominent leadership roles: not only in Washington and the China Communist Party, but also in the major powerhouses of the communications world. What is heartening is the fact that positions at the top are increasingly being occupied by those with a PR background. Recently, Everything Everywhere announced that Stuart Jackson was leaving his post as Director of Communications to take up a new role as Director of the Chief Executive Office. The move evinced the increased weighting that is being placed on public…