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In dredging up Ben Stokes’ family history The Sun have made a serious misjudgement

In dredging up Ben Stokes’ family history The Sun have made a serious misjudgement

Ben Stokes vs The Sun Read more
 Boris Johnson and what brands can learn from him

Boris Johnson and what brands can learn from him

Key learnings:

  • Fame is generated by creating chaos
  • Power is consolidated by preserving discipline
  • The M25 metropolitan bubble is real
  • All publicity is good publicity
  • The public forget the specifics but remember the emotion
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Babe of Thrones

Babe of Thrones

So the royal baby was finally introduced to us within the walls of Windsor Castle at about the same time as Sara Latham informed us that the PR disaster surrounding the announcement was due to the failure of an email to send. That one is as old as “the cheque’s in the post” and nobody will believe it. It is inconceivable that someone didn’t check, after all, this was an announcement awaited globally with bated breath. But still, perhaps both things are a small recognition that the media handling by the Sussex’s of the birth has been a disaster. The inclusion of American news network CBS at the unveiling of the Royal baby today is a marker of the control that the Sussex's have tried to impose on the media and that’s before we get to the fact that the news anchor is a close friend of Meghan. Operating as a silo risks a PR crisis behind palace walls which, if not sorted quickly, will de-stablisise the pragmatic and good working relationship that exists currently with the British media. As things stand, news of the Royal baby will continue to drive clicks and the negativity will be tempoarily suppressed, but you can’t keep a lid on a boiling pot forever. It’s worth noting that any other celebrity would have found themselves on the wrong side of the headlines by now. Read more
Stunt or showcase? Harry Styles blurs the lines

Stunt or showcase? Harry Styles blurs the lines

Back in the day it was always the women who owned the fashion moment at the glittering award/fund raising events. From Diana Dors to Liz Hurley publicists knew how to grab the zeitgeist. Who can forget Gaga’s meat frock,  or Cher and Bjork in headline grabbing Oscar red carpet confections? Read more
REBEL WISDOM

REBEL WISDOM

A blog by Mark Borkowski.

Purpose is one of those buzzwords like disruption, innovation and ephemeral content that I try to avoid. I like to keep things simple though I will admit the thing that has kept Borkowski relevant for the past thirty years is a singularity of purpose, and whilst of course we keep an eye on the future, our work is grounded in the present because the future is coming, but it may well change direction several times before it gets here. Meanwhile there are clients who need media coverage and counsel that sticks and engages now. Read more

BREXIT DIRECT ACTION: RANKED

We’ve seen a lot of direct action on Brexit so we’ve decided to rank the PR impact of the key events from most to least. Read more
A Gentleman’s Oscar charm

A Gentleman’s Oscar charm

The Oscar's are over and established stars and wannabe's should take note of Richard E Grant. Not for him the engineered press call or the staged response, but more  beautifully genuine and spontaneous reactions to his nomination and Oscar experience on Twitter expressing an unbridled joy and excitement, and oh how we love him for it. Read more
Brexit dominates the UK headlines It pays to use Borkowski

Brexit dominates the UK headlines

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How Noel Broke Through the Noise

Mass media has now successfully isolated all the key ingredients to create a frenzy and generate the clicks and views which not only generate millions in revenue for the advertising overloads but offer a journalist the chance for a career-changing scoop. Read more

A Corporate World Of Standard Parts

A Friday thought or two. Borkowski has retained the heart of its culture throughout all the change and technological advances around us.  We are a company based on creativity and bravery, but also and perhaps most importantly, on loyalty and commitment and, this is the bit I am most proud of - that quietly what we have always delivered, we are still delivering - news campaigns that actually have an impact. That’s all I am saying. We don’t say disruption too often, we have never said badass and we haven’t become futurists either. We deal in the reality of here and now. Read more
Iceland. Caring or cynical? Time will tell.

Iceland. Caring or cynical? Time will tell.

We are now officially in the tinselled haze of mid-November when our TV screens are dominated by shmaltzy adverts aimed to pull at our heart strings and pickpocket our wallets.

When you think of Iceland, you can’t help but conjure up images of Kerry Katona and Peter Andre clutching shopping bags full of frozen pavlovas. Read more
What is PR?

What is PR?

“Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd” said P.T Barnum and I think about that a lot when wondering about the direction of certain campaigns I am working on. Barnum said a lot of quotable stuff and he knew a lot about the magic and mischief of capturing the public’s attention. Isn’t that at heart, simply what PR is about? We capture the essence of the stories or the issues that we know will move people – that result in a tangible outcome and not just noise and output, and we build relationships with like minded people who help us to tell the story or raise the issue. Say what you will or rather, add all the metrics and influencer groups you like to that basic premise, PR still needs creative courage, empathy and great relationships to work. Read more
Everybody’s Talking Just Do It

Everybody’s Talking

Change always begins with the individual. That’s a fact or a cliché depending on your mood. Here’s another one. Purpose in business is the new digital, the new black or the next new coffee. Whatever, it’s more important than ever. This week the conversation about purpose has ratcheted up showing us that businesses who are socially aware and advocacy centric, are demanding attention good or bad. Brands and leaders with purpose who can articulate their values simply can demand action now. Just look at Nike. Read more
About last summer

About last summer

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There’s PR, and there’s PR. Spot the difference.

There’s PR, and there’s PR. Spot the difference.

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THE VALUE OF THINGS

THE VALUE OF THINGS

What do you think you’re worth? What do you think the value of your PR is to your clients? Does it weigh up to more than a marketing budget say, or a social media spend? Is your PR more valuable than a TV campaign or the posts of an influenecer? Read more

From Zuckerberg to Sorrell: when the CEO is hung out to dry

It’s lonely at the top. The modern CEO is expected to have a voice, to articulate values and, most importantly, be available. Yet there is little to prepare even the most media savvy executive for dealing with crisis once the internal support network begins to turn on you, with many boards happy to see leaders hung out to dry. Read more
This article is about: PR support when in crisis

Are we really brave enough to unplug from the Social Matrix?

With all due respect to the excellent investigative journalism that exposed the large-scale data harvesting by Cambridge Analytica  – it will not bring down Facebook. Read more
This article is about: Why some brands can survive negative headlines
Controversy PR: how brands cash in on the offence economy

Controversy PR: how brands cash in on the offence economy

It shouldn’t surprise us that brands have attempted to make money from outrage.

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The Cheryl and Liam Show

Are they, aren’t they? Will they, won¹t they separate? Forget the TV soaps. This week has been all about the Cheryl and Liam. Earlier in the week the Sun¹s showbiz guru Dan Wootton broke the story that the showbiz couple were about to split. According to his scoop, the dynamic duo were struggling to keep Read more

The art of controversial PR

Even in his lifetime the work of John Williams Waterhouse rarely made much of a stir in the art world. He is often classed as a pre-Raphaelite although he was painting his scenes of Arthurian chic long after the brotherhood were fashionable. Nobody would have noticed the sudden removal from display of his work Hylas  Read more

Pay Attention to the Present and Decode its Value.

Pinned under the duvet; smothered with decongestant, comforted by the warm embrace of Night Nurse; I’ve suffered a rather tedious week. Although I’ve been struck down by a particularly nasty, industrial strength man flu virus, I’ve had sometime, to catch up on a couple of interesting talking points. Read more
Toxic Twitter Promotes the Future Moron

Toxic Twitter Promotes the Future Moron

Speed kills. This week the velocity of the news agenda has been shaped by various narratives driven by the telegraph wire of Twitter. From Logan Paul to Toby Young, the week’s anguish proves that it’s a deafening noise that drowns out something more profound and enlightened, ideas and insight.  Read more
This article is about: Cobain, Kurt, Moron, Promotes, Twitter
Real News Strikes Back: 18 Stories in PR and the Media to Look Out for in 2018

Real News Strikes Back: 18 Stories in PR and the Media to Look Out for in 2018

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This article is about: 2018, Borkowski, BorkowskiPR, brand, disruption, journalism, Mark, media, PR, publicity, technology, truth
Let’s not give up on truth.

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 we founded, that it’s possible to provide a semi-systematised overview of something which has been instinctual for years. Read more
This article is about: BorkowskiPR, brand, disruption, journalism, Mark Borkowski, media, PR, publicity, technology, truth

Brad Pitt. Everything is calculated. And everything is a gamble

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. Read more
London’s New Diorama Theatre to open new rehearsal facility

London’s New Diorama Theatre to open new rehearsal facility

The New Diorama Theatre in London is to open more than 4,000sq metres of affordable rehearsal spaces next month.

The New Diorama’s latest initiative, ND2, opens next door to the theatre on May 1. The property has been gifted to the theatre by British Land for a year. It is 20 times the size of the NDT’s current performance space and includes six rehearsal rooms, storage facilities and a large atrium.

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'I'm the only trip-hop artist in Palestine!': the musicians shaking up the occupied territories

Guests arriving at international music conferences are usually welcomed with a bit of a meet-and-greet by the pool, an ice-cool daiquiri and canapes, perhaps. They are not normally whisked off to sites of forced evictions and killings. But when the host city is the Palestinian capital, Ramallah, normal rules – as with most of life in the occupied territories – do not apply. Read more
Beano Studios inks corporate comms deal with Borkowski Ltd Dennis and Nasher

Beano Studios inks corporate comms deal with Borkowski Ltd

UK Childrens brand, the Beano, has appointed Borkowski Ltd to handle coporate comms to accompany the creative proposition the brand put forward in September 2016.

The new multi-platform Beano Studios now includes films, TV programmes, a digital network, live theatrical experiences, consumer products in addition to the long-lasting comic.

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This article is about: Borkowski, Brand, Business, Entertainment, Mark, Marketing, Media, Move, On, Public, Relations, The, World
GE2017: A campaign of re-heated leftovers Polling Station

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 one!” Predictions for a record low turnout seem fair.

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This article is about: Campaign conservatives, Corbyn, Election, Labour, Lib Dems, Lynton Crosby, Mark my words, Politics, Theresa May