Borkowski Weekly Media Trends: Cummings | Influencers | Jimmy Fallon Vs Woody Allen | Trump Vs Twitter
Borkowski Weekly Media Trends
The easing of lockdown has also seen some of our favourite topics in these trends emerge from the woodwork. For the first time in a while we're looking at the influencer industry, cancel culture and fake news.
Before all that, PR Week shared some of Mark Borkowski's thoughts on the Dominic Cummings scandal:
“Once again this is a comms crisis and a values failure,” Borkowski said. “If the Government is banking on a Trumpian way forward, believing the country has short-term memory loss and long-term amnesia, [it is] taking one hell of a gamble. We are not going back to any normality. The nation will be reflecting on those who did the right thing.
“Fundamentally it destroys trust. We are stepping into Trumpian comms [and this is a] massive fail.”
INFLUENCER CULTURE IS STILL TOXIC
There have been some green shoots this week of signs that society may return to normal in the foreseeable future, including the time honoured practice of Influencers being lambasted for crass, venal, career-destroying antics.
We harp on in this bulletin about the need for brands to be authentic and live their values, and influencer culture - if you were to sum it up as making a person into a brand- is a constant reminder of how wince-inducingly awful it is to preach a set of values and then run roughshod over them.
An FT article on the industry this week cited the example of Arielle Charnas, who revealed to her followers that she had tested positive for coronavirus (how she got a test is still unclear) and then proceeded to regale them with content of her breaking both social distancing and lockdown rules.
A separate article in Buzzfeed detailed how a YouTuber spent years effectively monetising the life of her autistic foster son, before giving him up abruptly to another family.
It's simple, if you espouse values, you have to adhere to them, or your reputation won't survive. It's a test the nascent influencer sector fails time and again.
CANCEL CULTURE IS NOT CANCELLED
Another trend to emerge from lockdown this week was the return of cancel culture. Talkshow host Jimmy Fallon will likely shake off the 'revelation' that he did an SNL sketch in blackface 20 years ago as he did the smart thing and responded with total contrition.
It's another lesson in how historical acts can be dredged up and retrofitted with 2020 values. The sketch clearly wouldn't be okay now, but didn't seem to have been considered hugely offensive in 2000 when he did it.
While Fallon grovelled Woody Allen renewed his commitment to the opposite approach, consenting to an interview in the Guardian in which he again unapologetically rubbished claims of sexual abuse.
Hadley Freeman's profile was detailed and, on balance, relatively sympathetic to Allen, but has totally polarised the internet. What's interesting about this case is that, while Allen's direct style of rebutting the specific abuse claims seems to have been somewhat effective, his reputation as a creepy guy with a penchant for much, much younger women - never addressed with anything approaching self-awareness, let alone serious reflection- continues to damage his public image, perhaps beyond repair.
TRUMP vs TWITTER
The immediate spectacle of the President of the United States declaring war on Twitter, using Twitter, is absurd.
But it might have profound implications for political discourse during the Presidential election and beyond.
So far, our democracy is fragmenting along with the media landscape. Although there have always been 100 opinions in an electorate of 10, it was impossible to disagree on facts when they were only being issued by a few outlets.
Now we have a situation where we are reading hundreds of outlets on a handful of social media platforms. But what happens when a platform is suddenly perceived as partisan?
Twitter’s ban on the looting/shooting tweet today sets them against Trump and highlights Facebook’s free-speech fanaticism. Are we heading to a place where Trump supporters migrate from Twitter to their own platform? Will we be an electorate of 10 people on 8 platforms, reading 15 outlets? If democracy relies on our shared understanding of events, how will it survive this dystopian cracking of our societal narrative?
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Borkowski Weekly Media Trends: Timpson | F1 | Boris | Animal Crossing
Borkowski Weekly Media Trends
A TALE OF TWO BRANDS
Another week in paradise. It all started with praise for Timpson earning widespread praise for protection of their workers throughout the crisis and genuinely decent contribution to society.
'Punk' beer demagogues Brewdog could learn from this example; their transformation from Mad Max to Jacob Rees-Mogg is complete with a fussy defamation suit against a PR firm - an ostentatious attempt to distance themselves from a disastrous stunt in which Trump supporters were reportedly to be offered free beers - was thrown out unceremoniously by the High Court..Two loud, obnoxious stunts to not make a right.
MORE MEDIA MISERY
It's also been another grim week for the media, with Bauer Media and Joe.co.uk adding to the media's endangered species. The one bright spot is that the BBC, in their eternal quest to court 'the young' are rumoured to be reviving BBC Three with the brand currently riding high off the back of Normal People.
FORMULA ONE IN POLE POSITION
Borkowski has always been synonymous with the art and entertainment world. So while theatres, stadiums, tracks and galleries closed overnight it has been interesting to see who has had the creativity and bravery to fill our collected yearning for entertainment. In sport, nobody has done it better than F1.
A series of online races has put up the stars of F1 against one another in cars with identical characteristics. Throw in a couple of celebrities and some YouTube e-racing stars and the result has been electric. But it’s not just the spectacle, a viewer is able to hop from stream to stream, choosing to see what any racer sees at any time and to hear what they are saying.
This means that watching a race requires activity from the viewer. Jumping to where the race is hotting up is more rewarding than relying on a Sky Sports producer, and there’s no need for a commentator when you are hearing the thoughts of the racers.
A NATIONAL EMBORISMENT
At beginning of this crisis we wrote about the ‘rally around the flag’ affect and noted that although all leaders had enjoyed a bump, Trump’s had fizzled and Johnson was doing well. Although Trump is still in big trouble, Johnson is still not down to where he was pre-Covid. Our boss wrote last week that ‘
The Tories have campaigned in haiku and governed in gibberish’, but not even he couldn’t have predicted the parliamentary disaster Johnson seemed to insist on launching into his own foot yesterday. We can all see he struggles with detail and governance, but how is it possible for a Parliamentarian with an 80-seat majority and the winds of crisis in his sails to have to u-turn on his own policy.
How is it possible for a man famed for campaigning, whose finest piece of communication in Number 10 was to applaud the foreign medical professionals who saved his life, to ask foreign-born NHS workers to pay for the privilege to risk their lives for us? It might be lost in the maelstrom but make no mistake – this is another huge unforced error.
ANIMAL RISING
During lockdown, the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons has emerged as an extraordinary cultural phenomenon, selling over 13 million copies and receiving attention as the cultural artefact that will likely define the coronavirus era. It didn’t take long for brands like Highsnobiety and Getty to sniff an opportunity.
Cue the next stage of the marketing cycle: animal rights activists PETA baffled users on Thursday with a bizarre protest. The group posted a TikTok of players storming the game’s museum, announcing the director Blathers was ‘cancelled’ and promptly throwing the museum’s fish back in the water. PETA had previously attracted attention for their ‘Vegan Guide to Animal Crossing’, which helpfully ignored the fact that all the animals featuring in the game are, of course, not real.
Far be it from us to deny any organisation a good stunt, but the foolish episode proves a rather salient point. No matter how clever you think you are, with your use of new platforms like TikTok and video games, it all stands for nothing if your message does not make sense. Now more than ever, we are seeing that message discipline truly is the most important pillar of a campaign. Without it, you might as well get back to the drawing board.
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Borkowski Weekly Media Trends: Buzzfeed | AI Influencer | Millionaire | Rockstar Games | RPatz
Borkowski Weekly Media Trends
Happy Friday! The good news is that popular culture appears slowly to be reawakening, the bad news is that the media as we know it is looking increasingly endangered. This week we're looking at both sides of the coin.
MORE SPILLED INK
This week has been a bloodbath for digital media, with many citing COVID-19 as the reason for a series of ruthless cuts which have felt at times like a Game of Thrones season finale.
Digital news innovator Buzzfeed and travel industry godfather Lonely Planet both announced the closure of operations in the UK and Australia, while layoffs and furloughs have recently been made at Condé Nast, Quartz, The Economist and Vox, with VICE rumoured to be following suit.
The virus is stating to spread to establishment media too, with the rumoured closure of BBC Four, the Beeb’s highbrow channel focused on documentaries, arts and science programming.
It is a little early to tell what the final consequences will be for the wider media landscape both in the UK and abroad. But the first casualties appear to be those that have helped shift how other publishers think.
Buzzfeed was the first outlet to take news on social media seriously and to offer dedicated time and money to specialist reporting like LGBT issues, among others, while Quartz and The Economist frequently cover international stories that others fail to pick up. And in abandoning BBC Four, the BBC seem less interested in public service broadcasting that isn’t possible at more commercially minded operations.
COVID-19 has already changed a great deal about our lives. Increasingly it seems we may exit the pandemic in a radically different, and likely poorer, world.
AI IS COMING FOR POP CULTURE
As the human race edges closer to a dystopian future ran by AI overlords, musicians and celebrities appear to be in immediate danger.
Recently, audio clips surfaced capturing JAY-Z rapping “To Be, Or Not To Be” and “We Didn't Start the Fire”, uncanny crossovers were made possible by 'deepfake music'. It's a creepy development but also worrying for musicians. Lawyers will be frantically re-examining copyright laws as this technology progresses, and if you can mimic sound trends and influential musicians, why not employ an auto-crooner for a fraction of the price and minus the ego or diva tendencies. .
And even career-celebs are under threat. Last weekend Variety reported that CGI-generated influencer may soon become a reality. Miquela – an artist/influencer created by an entertainment company – has signed as CAA’s first virtual client; terrifying.
As the digital world expands ever further into our daily reality, these gimmicks will spring up more frequently. It’s hard to decipher how exactly AI will be used, and while replacing musicians and influencers is still a huge stretch of the imagination, there may come a point when AI is used to streamline the creative process.
'QUIZ' WORTH MILLIONS TO ITV
ITV execs must have been rubbing their hands with glee as they watched Tuesday night’s episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire: as retired doctor Andrew Townsley came just short of the £1m jackpot, viewing figures shot up 300,000 from the previous night, with the proportion of 25-34 year olds doubling. The episode entered the top-five most watched since the show rebooted in 2018 with Jeremy Clarkson as host.
Bosses of the channel must have been pleased to cash in on the success of Quiz, James Graham’s dramatization of the ‘Coughing Major’ scandal, which was named one of the biggest TV dramas of the year.
Capitalising on that success is an astute bit of comms from ITV. Of course, they had a massive stroke of luck as well; airing during lockdown almost certainly improved Quiz’s performance, gifting Millionaire a unique cultural phenomenon to lock on to and therefore a PR opportunity that money can’t buy. Nonetheless, a strong comms operation will see when an opportunity arrives and know how to seize it with both hands. Whether serendipitous or not, ITV deserve plaudits for their acute sense of timing.
A 21st CENTURY ROCKSTAR
Rockstar, specifically The Grand Theft Auto franchise, is like one of the great bands of the 60s, coming from the UK to the USA and completely redefining its genre.
Rockstar peaked with GTA: San Andreas, a hilarious parody of California, as their games broke through into the mainstream and the company became a truly global franchise. Then, as with the Beatles and Rolling Stones decades earlier came the pressure of huge money.
GTA V followed, and couldn’t quite live up to its punk heritage. Where once it was a parody of the US, now it was a parody of itself, highlighted by its long-awaited and over-hyped multiplayer system. Released incomplete, it demanded endless in-game purchases of the player. Tilting victories toward the richest, rather than the best players.
With this more bittersweet recent history in mind, it a pleasure to see Rockstar recapture their early rock'n'roll spirit by giving GTA V away for free.
Games have long been overlooked as culture artefacts despite being a combination of pretty much every other art form, made interactive. But now, during lockdown, a product that took $265m to make is available for peanuts.
Perhaps this will prove the catalyst for an industry that has already overtaken Hollywood financially to gain the exposure that’ll finally confirm it’s huge cultural significance. Just as David Bowie pre-ordained.
RPATZ SNAPS IMPROVE GQ STATS
Traditional media outlets are doing everything they can to keep their heads above the tempestuous waters of the lockdown and after Vogue made a buttress of a national treasure by anointing Dame Judy Dench their oldest cover star, GQ were able to generate comparable buzz with an altogether less universally popular cover star, inveterate softboy Robert Pattinson.
While 'RPatz''s public image and films both split critics, he's undeniably an intelligent and talented guy, and tasking him with his own cover shoot proved a masterstroke which produced genuinely interesting and revelatory results. It also felt very current, which will help the reputation of a magazine whose idealisation of old school masculinity can occasionally feel quite 20th century. Just don't ask Rob to cook you pasta. .
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Borkowski Weekly Media Trends Are Back: Judy Dench X Vogue, X Æ A-12, Joe Biden's Uphill Struggle
Borkowski Weekly Media Trends
We're back! With lockdown set do be eased optimism abounds that we're going to have something other than COVID-19 to talk about so we've made a first stab at getting those creative juices flowing again.
Judy Dench is always in Vogue
Judi Dench has entered the record books as British Vogue’s oldest ever cover star. Photographed in a pink floral silk trench coat, Dench is described as “a kind of cultural tea cosy to be popped soothingly over the nation’s beleaguered identity in times of crisis.” But is that strictly true? Dench has never been afraid to speak her mind, even if it appears to conflict with the zeitgeist.
Perhaps it is simply easier, during a crisis that threatens to destabilise the relationship between pensioners and younger generations, to portray older celebrities like Dench as cultural comfort blankets, rather than the individuals they are. Either way, Dame Judy's universal popularity makes her a reliable source of positive no-strings-attached publicity.
X Æ A-12
Our old friend Elon Musk has made headlines again with the happy news that his partner, musician Grimes, has given birth to their first son, X Æ A-12.
We’re not callous enough to suggest that naming a child is ever a PR strategy (UK Royal births possibly aside), but this one is definitely a statement, and one which has swivelled countless eyeballs towards the already-curious couple.
We’re sure the baby will want for nothing; seemingly impossible celeb baby names are commonplace and Dweezil Zappa and Duncan Jones (nee Zowie Bowie) have both gone on to lead rich lives peeking out of their famous parents’ shadows. But the ostentatious name and aftermath once again illustrates Elon Musk’s inability to help himself when it comes to his own reputation.
Everyone was happily reserving judgement on a guy whose sheer mass of PR faux-pas alone could power one of his flights to Mars, fully intent on letting him enjoy fatherhood, and what does he do? He ‘reply guy’s Grimes’ Tweet happily explaining the name, publicly shaming her by pointing out a typo.
Self-parody only ever works if it’s intentional and exaggerated. Unfortunately, ‘Elon Musk just mansplained his partner’s Twitter explanation of why their child is named after their favourite jet’ is the most Elon Musk thing that could possibly have happened, and it hasn’t made him many new friends or admirers.
Forged in the Fyre: A New Influencer age?
Joe Biden is running a Presidential campaign the like of which has never been run before. The ability of the incumbent to grab media attention has never been higher.
Trump has always effortlessly dominated the news cycle, but with the current crisis and a captive audience, he had risen to near omnipresence. Joe Biden however is sat, alone, in his basement. It’s a political communications challenge like none other.
Like everyone else, Joe Biden has started a podcast. A mixture of political allies and surrogates and celebrities have come on to talk to him and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Biden is extremely gaffe-prone, and while Trump perhaps proves that media types put too much emphasis on how the public appreciate polished performances, he has said some difficult things to explain away. Now Trump can’t run on the economy, he’s going to run on Biden’s mental health. So any slip at all will be studied obsessively.
Biden said little and took the Democratic nomination, and he can use current circumstances to do so again. So far, so good – but there’s six months to go and the pressure will only rise. There will be blips, but if you want to know if panic has really set in then watch out for Barack Obama, if he gets used abruptly or clumsily it is the surest sign that the campaign is growing desperate.
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