0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06If you want to see a legend in action,
0:00:06 > 0:00:08there's no better place to start
0:00:08 > 0:00:10than here.
0:00:11 > 0:00:16DISTORTION
0:00:21 > 0:00:26MUSIC PLAYS: Wild Thing by Jimi Hendrix
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Jimi Hendrix was a star in Britain,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31but in the US he still needed to make a mark.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34# Wild thing... #
0:00:34 > 0:00:37It's no good being the greatest guitarist in the world
0:00:37 > 0:00:39if nobody knows your name,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43what you look like or what you do.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46And that's where PR comes in.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49# You move me, look out... #
0:00:53 > 0:00:57So when Jimi set fire to his guitar, it looked like a spontaneous
0:00:57 > 0:00:59act by a great performer.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01But it wasn't.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05This was a PR stunt,
0:01:05 > 0:01:06pure and simple,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08and it broke Jimi in America.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14I'm Alan Edwards, and I'm a PR,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18and I can tell you this was one of the great PR stunts of all time.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25MUSIC: Kashmir by Led Zeppelin
0:01:25 > 0:01:28PR is the unseen hand behind the most successful musical
0:01:28 > 0:01:30acts in the world.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33You see, you can have a hit record without PR,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36but you can't sustain a career without it.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39And if it does its job well,
0:01:39 > 0:01:41it's invisible.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45PR stands for...
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Er...
0:01:48 > 0:01:49PR is very important, you know...
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Otherwise you're the best kept secret, aren't you, you know?
0:01:52 > 0:01:57I suppose it's getting what you've got to other people to know that
0:01:57 > 0:01:59they didn't know that what you've
0:01:59 > 0:02:01got is what they really needed all along.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04All publicity is good publicity, even when it's bad.
0:02:06 > 0:02:07And yet to some, PR remains
0:02:07 > 0:02:11a dark force that controls and manipulates.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Hard to believe, I know.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17PR is twisting minds, you know,
0:02:17 > 0:02:20making something seem very obvious
0:02:20 > 0:02:23and, you know, irresistible.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26PR is essentially telling lies for a living.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29But the things that last
0:02:29 > 0:02:32are worth having lies told about in the first place.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37The dictionary definition of PR is to promote a favourable public
0:02:37 > 0:02:39image of somebody and that's what I do
0:02:39 > 0:02:41and that's what any decent PR does.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43Lying doesn't come into it.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46So in this film, I'm going to lift the lid on the world of PR.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50I'm going to show you the inner machinations, how it really works.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54I'm going to also show you the extraordinary effect and impact
0:02:54 > 0:02:55that it's had on the music business
0:02:55 > 0:02:57and, of course, the world at large.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17'Being a PR today is a bit like being a conductor.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20'You've still got the old media of TV, radio and newspapers.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24'And all this remains crucial to any artist today.'
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Great, and I think the Guardian want to review the gig next week,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30so it's all really shaping up...
0:03:30 > 0:03:32'But we now also have new technology -
0:03:32 > 0:03:34'Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37'Snapchat, Facebook, etc,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40'so you can connect with an audience of millions instantaneously.'
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Taylor Swift and her team, who we are going to look at later,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49are modern masters of PR,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52using a well-coordinated combination of old and new media.
0:03:54 > 0:03:55But at the end of the day,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57even their PR relies on the narrative
0:03:57 > 0:04:00and, importantly, the talent.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03MUSIC: Blank Space by Taylor Swift
0:04:03 > 0:04:04# No money, suit and tie
0:04:04 > 0:04:07# I can read you like a magazine...#
0:04:07 > 0:04:10It doesn't matter if it's old media or new media or this media or
0:04:10 > 0:04:12that media, you've got to get that story right.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15It's about telling the story and placing it.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Well, this girl is great. You know,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24she's got long blonde hair and gorgeous eyes...
0:04:24 > 0:04:26And today is no different to the '60s,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29when Britain's PR story begins.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Now look up.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Then position down like that.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35For an up and coming artist, the PR's job is
0:04:35 > 0:04:37to get the artist out there
0:04:37 > 0:04:39and talked about.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Hey, listen, also can you suggest her
0:04:42 > 0:04:46to your Radio Luxembourg DJs and things?
0:04:46 > 0:04:49On the nationals, if I was you, I'd play up the sex angle a bit
0:04:49 > 0:04:52and get her doing some of these fashion pages.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57In these early days, PR was all about making your artist
0:04:57 > 0:04:59attractive and marketable.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Look at The Beatles -
0:05:01 > 0:05:04nice, clean-cut boys, smart enough to meet the Prime Minister.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12But the flip side to the safe image was to be raw,
0:05:12 > 0:05:14edgy and a bit dangerous.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21And if you're going to be dangerous,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24you might as well do it on a brand new BBC series.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30This week on Scene, we intend to look closely at a group through
0:05:30 > 0:05:32the eyes of its leader,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36so who better to start with, then, than Pete Townshend of The Who?
0:05:36 > 0:05:39My personal motivation on stage is quite simple.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43It consists of a hate of every kind of pop music
0:05:43 > 0:05:46and a hate of everything our group has done, really.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49The fact is that our group hasn't got any quality.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51It's just musical sensationalism.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55You have to resign yourself to the fact that a large
0:05:55 > 0:05:59part of the audience is sort of thick, you know,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and don't appreciate quality.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07I didn't care about the fans,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09I cared about the...the PR.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11I just wanted to be on the TV, you know?
0:06:11 > 0:06:14And also that was probably quite calculated.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Most artists were coached by their managers or their PR people
0:06:20 > 0:06:22what to say, how to behave, what to wear.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25What was happening to me is I had one of our managers,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Chris Stamp, wheeling me in, kind of going,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30"Create trouble, Pete."
0:06:32 > 0:06:35What about musical quality, though? You said that you don't
0:06:35 > 0:06:37think your group have got any.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38Well, why don't you try to give it some?
0:06:38 > 0:06:41Because we don't particularly want to give it quality.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43We've tried and it's failed so miserably, you know, really.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45LAUGHTER
0:06:45 > 0:06:47No, really, this is the truth, you know.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Pete delighted in being controversial cos he understood
0:06:50 > 0:06:52the value of controversy,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56and he took that on as being his job.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59I've heard a lot about you and the rest of the group taking drugs,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01Pete. Does this mean you're usually
0:07:01 > 0:07:03blocked up when you're actually on stage?
0:07:03 > 0:07:06No, but it means we're blocked up all the time, you know.
0:07:06 > 0:07:07LAUGHTER
0:07:07 > 0:07:09He was telling the truth.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11But Pete saying that would have been
0:07:11 > 0:07:14horror to parents sitting at home watching the show,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16if they were. But any youngsters watching it would
0:07:16 > 0:07:20have gone, "Wow, yeah, this is our band," cos they were all
0:07:20 > 0:07:24probably getting blocked-up every Friday night themselves.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26MUSIC: My Generation by The Who
0:07:26 > 0:07:29# People try to put us down Just because we get around... #
0:07:29 > 0:07:31Pete certainly ruffled a few feathers and many were
0:07:31 > 0:07:34shocked about him openly discussing drugs
0:07:34 > 0:07:36and the band's musical ability.
0:07:36 > 0:07:37# Talkin' bout my generation
0:07:37 > 0:07:40# I hope I die before I get old... #
0:07:40 > 0:07:44But in PR terms, it did something much more important.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47It sold The Who to its target audience.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55He's a narrator, he's a politician, a subversive, he's everything.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59So, instead of looking at him as being
0:07:59 > 0:08:01a PR man's disaster,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03he's a PR man's present.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06He's a gift, cos he's always going to create press.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Controversy sells and the press loved it.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15PRs would use this tactic for years to come.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18After all, where would the Sex Pistols,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20Madonna or Oasis be without
0:08:20 > 0:08:22a reputation for stirring it up?
0:08:22 > 0:08:26# Talkin' bout my generation
0:08:26 > 0:08:28# It's my generation... #
0:08:28 > 0:08:32But even in these early days, when PR was still in its infancy,
0:08:32 > 0:08:36there was a suspicion that it wasn't to be entirely trusted.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40In my early day, there was a hostility towards PR.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44You went to journalist college, and you were told, in no uncertain
0:08:44 > 0:08:47terms, "PRs will try to exploit you.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49"Your job is to be a journalist,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52"to be independent, to expose people,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54"not to make friends with PRs."
0:08:54 > 0:08:56# We're not gonna take it... #
0:08:56 > 0:08:58However, although national newspapers
0:08:58 > 0:09:00played a role in getting artists known,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04at that time it was the music press you really had to crack.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07# We're not gonna take it... #
0:09:07 > 0:09:11The NME, Melody Maker and others held a lot of clout.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16And one journalist-turned-PR knew more than most how the game worked.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19His name was Keith Altham.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23A lot of artists would ring me up
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and say, "We hear you're doing PR. Would you do our PR?"
0:09:26 > 0:09:28And I'd say, "No, no. Dreadful people, PRs.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32"I don't want to do PR. I'm just helping out a friend, you know?"
0:09:32 > 0:09:36And then I began adding up the money I was turning down,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39realised it was a bit of a mistake to keep turning it down.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43So who was the PR we met at the beginning
0:09:43 > 0:09:46who suggested that Jimi Hendrix burn his guitar?
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Oh, it was me.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53Erm, but that was the kind of thing you needed to do
0:09:53 > 0:09:56to just get the wider attention, you know,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59and make big bucks and be a huge star.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Keith Altham was to become my boss, and he knew that
0:10:04 > 0:10:08when it comes to PR, image is crucial.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Image sold Jimi Hendrix and it would go on to sell a thousand
0:10:11 > 0:10:14bands that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18MUSIC: Mama Weer All Crazee Now by Slade
0:10:18 > 0:10:21One of Keith's early clients was Ambrose Slade.
0:10:21 > 0:10:27# I said my mama we're all crazy now... #
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Now we all know them simply as Slade,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33the genial glam rockers that helped brighten up the '70s.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36But they didn't start out that way.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41This is the rather less flamboyant band in 1969.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Well, it was difficult in the late '60s.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47We were pretty much looking
0:10:47 > 0:10:50like every other band that was around at the time.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53We started off with a sort of mod look,
0:10:53 > 0:10:55but it wasn't getting us noticed at all.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00And Chas Chandler, our manager, said,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03"We need to find a new image for you
0:11:03 > 0:11:05"to set you aside from anybody else
0:11:05 > 0:11:08"and we need a PR guy to handle all this."
0:11:08 > 0:11:12And he knew this fella called Keith Altham.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17"Well," I said, "You need something
0:11:17 > 0:11:19"that's in the papers, that's current,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22"and the big news at the moment is skinheads."
0:11:24 > 0:11:27I says, "Pity that you can't make them the first skinhead group."
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Course that was like a light going off in Chas's head - DING!
0:11:30 > 0:11:31The light shone.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33He thought, "That's a brilliant idea."
0:11:33 > 0:11:35The next day, Chas had sent us down to
0:11:35 > 0:11:38the hairdressers, had all our hair cropped,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40and so we went and got all the gear.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44When we got back to the office, I phoned up and says,
0:11:44 > 0:11:46"You can't do it. They're not yobs,
0:11:46 > 0:11:48"they're not oiks, they'll get found out,
0:11:48 > 0:11:50"and they'll hate me for it."
0:11:50 > 0:11:53And Chas said, "Too late. They're already at the hairdressers
0:11:53 > 0:11:56"now, they've already had their hairs cut."
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Even though the band's music wasn't that aggressive -
0:12:00 > 0:12:04I mean, I don't know personally of too many skinhead violinists -
0:12:04 > 0:12:06associating the band with skinheads
0:12:06 > 0:12:09was a risky PR move that almost backfired.
0:12:09 > 0:12:14# Remember me after my love... #
0:12:14 > 0:12:19A lot of people looked at us and thought we were heavy duty.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23Promoters were scared of booking us,
0:12:23 > 0:12:27radio shows were frightened of playing our records and it was
0:12:27 > 0:12:29purely a lot of it down to the image.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33But it was a PR exercise that really worked,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36because overnight there was no other
0:12:36 > 0:12:38band at that time with a skinhead look.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43# Brother John and Sister Susie say that I've been bad... #
0:12:43 > 0:12:46It got them attention and it got them in the papers.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Nobody cared about them before.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50And Noddy always says that it was
0:12:50 > 0:12:53the beginning of Slade before they had a hit.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57# Don't think I'll stick around here I ain't a-lookin' for a fight... #
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Creating an image is one of the tools of the PR's trade.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06But if you want to make a big splash, then you need a PR stunt.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11Now, this might be a giant statue of Michael Jackson
0:13:11 > 0:13:14floating down the Thames
0:13:14 > 0:13:17or the KLF burning a million quid in a field,
0:13:17 > 0:13:22or it could be an over-the-top, James Bond-style press event.
0:13:22 > 0:13:30MUSIC: The Wizard by Uriah Heep
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Heavy rockers Uriah Heep were a nice bunch of lads,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36but despite selling albums by the truckload,
0:13:36 > 0:13:41and being worshiped by their fans, the press hated them.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44- The most famous one is Melissa Mills.- Yeah, yeah.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48She reviewed our first album in Rolling Stone and she said,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51maybe not verbatim, she said, "If this band ever makes it,
0:13:51 > 0:13:53"I'll commit suicide."
0:13:53 > 0:13:56# Well, we know the joy of life... #
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Bit harsh, Melissa!
0:13:59 > 0:14:02But that is exactly the sort of thing you are up against
0:14:02 > 0:14:06when you have to promote an artist without the critics' support.
0:14:06 > 0:14:12And in 1976, Uriah Heep had a new album to sell.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15The album was called High And Mighty,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18and the picture shows a gun flying up through the sky. Anyway,
0:14:18 > 0:14:22we sat down one day, my boss Keith Altham at the time,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24and we decided High And Mighty - duh -
0:14:24 > 0:14:26we should do it on a mountain!
0:14:30 > 0:14:33And one of us had seen a rerun of a Bond film, which had a scene in a
0:14:33 > 0:14:38wonderful revolving restaurant on top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42So that's when the lunacy started.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45And they came up with this magnificent
0:14:45 > 0:14:48idea of spending our money flying a bunch of people to Switzerland.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50Well, as usual, we didn't think it was our money,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52but it ended up to be our money.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54Nobody bothered to tell us it was our money.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00We took a party out to the mountain with Alan Freeman, the DJ,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02the national newspaper journalist,
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and it was unbelievable!
0:15:08 > 0:15:10We got on a plane to fly to Switzerland...
0:15:10 > 0:15:12A chartered plane.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16And every press person was given a headset with the album on.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19All good so far, and a free bar!
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Not so good in the end.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24And they drank their way to Switzerland,
0:15:24 > 0:15:25listening to the album, you know.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27How many of the journalists bothered
0:15:27 > 0:15:31to switch on their in-flight systems, who can tell. There'd been
0:15:31 > 0:15:34many cans of lager consumed at Gatwick airport and on the plane.
0:15:37 > 0:15:42We got to the airport in Switzerland and the drummer, Lee Kerslake,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45was a little tired and emotional when we arrived,
0:15:45 > 0:15:49because he sighted this guy dressed an eight-foot bear,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52because that was the national emblem of Switzerland.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54They'd come to make us welcome.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Being Lee, he starts to wrestle with it.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03But it's a man inside a costume!
0:16:03 > 0:16:06So god knows what this man thought!
0:16:09 > 0:16:12And they're rolling around on the floor in the airport,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16and the chap dressed as a bear doesn't think it's very funny.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18So the guy there was amazing, amazing,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20- very funny!- That's what makes me
0:16:20 > 0:16:23think we landed in Austria and drove to Switzerland.
0:16:23 > 0:16:24Oh, we could have done, mate!
0:16:27 > 0:16:30We went on from there to the longest cable car
0:16:30 > 0:16:33ride in the world up to the mountains, like James Bond.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39The lift attendant, he says, "I would like to warn you that one
0:16:39 > 0:16:42"drink down here is like five up there!"
0:16:42 > 0:16:45And of course, they've had about ten each.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49We got to this revolving restaurant at the top of this mountain,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53and so we all sat around for this sumptuous banquet, and it was
0:16:53 > 0:16:58three, four, five courses, it went on for hours and hours and hours,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01the food, the drinks, and some journalists just couldn't hack it.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Somebody was saying, "Anybody seen Alan Freeman?"
0:17:08 > 0:17:10"No... Is he still in the restaurant?"
0:17:10 > 0:17:12We were outside doing photographs.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Oh, yeah, there he goes!
0:17:14 > 0:17:16He'd fallen asleep in his soup!
0:17:16 > 0:17:19He was going round the revolving restaurant like a ride!
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Anyway, the penultimate moment was going to be the photo call.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30And we'd choreographed it so we'd have Ken Hensley, Mick Box,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33the band, with the Swiss Alps behind them.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35I mean, what could put over
0:17:35 > 0:17:39the image of an album called High and Mighty better?
0:17:39 > 0:17:41What we hadn't taken to account is that relations
0:17:41 > 0:17:45between some of the members of the group were not perfect.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47And just as the photographers lined up,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50a scuffle broke out between the group.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Within minutes, it seemed like a
0:17:54 > 0:17:57full armed fist fight, people flying here, there and the other!
0:17:57 > 0:17:59So the photographers were complaining to me
0:17:59 > 0:18:00and they were saying,
0:18:00 > 0:18:02"Oh, this is no good, mate! I wanted..."
0:18:02 > 0:18:04You know, "They're not standing together!
0:18:04 > 0:18:05"Why are they punching each other?
0:18:05 > 0:18:07"That's not what we signed up for at all!"
0:18:07 > 0:18:12You could sum it up by calling it an adventure that descended very
0:18:12 > 0:18:13rapidly into farce.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Oh, god. Those were the days.
0:18:19 > 0:18:20No, they weren't.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Public relations?
0:18:24 > 0:18:26To me, it means, erm...
0:18:28 > 0:18:30If it's done right it's fantastic.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33If it's done wrong it's High and Mighty.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37In the case of High and Mighty it means pure rubbish!
0:18:40 > 0:18:43So there was nothing to do but get everyone back to London.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46And, of course, I had to drown everyone's sorrows and take their
0:18:46 > 0:18:48mind off the incident,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51but amazingly the album got loads of good reviews.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58By the mid-'70s, even bad publicity was proven to be
0:18:58 > 0:19:04good PR and in 1976, the same year as High And Mighty came out,
0:19:04 > 0:19:08an exciting new musical movement emerged that was tailor-made
0:19:08 > 0:19:12to turn bad publicity into great stories.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15MUSIC: Anarchy In The UK by The Sex Pistols
0:19:15 > 0:19:17# I am an antichrist
0:19:17 > 0:19:20# And I am an anarchist... #
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Are you against the Stones and The Who, sounds like that?
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Yes, of course, because they're established.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29They just do not mean anything to anyone.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39But what the punk years did give would-be PRs was the chance to
0:19:39 > 0:19:42learn on the job and often the hard way.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52There was always somebody getting arrested,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56the police were cancelling a gig, there was a fight going on.
0:19:56 > 0:19:57There was a crisis every day.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02How these scenarios were handled became
0:20:02 > 0:20:05a blueprint for the future of the PR industry.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11One of my clients at this time was a band called The Stranglers.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15MUSIC: Hanging Around by The Stranglers
0:20:19 > 0:20:20# Big girl in the red dress
0:20:20 > 0:20:22# She's just trying to impress us
0:20:22 > 0:20:24# And she's got the barley fever
0:20:24 > 0:20:25# But she doesn't make a sound
0:20:25 > 0:20:27# She's just hanging around... #
0:20:27 > 0:20:30My analysis of The Stranglers pretty quick
0:20:30 > 0:20:32was that they had really, really good songs
0:20:32 > 0:20:34and they were a real quality live act.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38So I sat down and devised this plan.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40# Christ he told his mother
0:20:40 > 0:20:42# Christ he told her not to bother... #
0:20:42 > 0:20:44I mean, as a PR, you don't invent a band.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47But you do help them capitalise on what's going on around.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51And the punk image was pushed hard.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52# Hanging around
0:20:52 > 0:20:55# He's just hanging around... #
0:20:55 > 0:20:58At the time, there was definitely an open door,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00which Alan saw, and the door
0:21:00 > 0:21:03said, "Come in here if you are punk."
0:21:03 > 0:21:07And, er, he saw on the other side of this door great riches
0:21:07 > 0:21:10and great fortune and recording contracts
0:21:10 > 0:21:14and money to be made by managers, PR people,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and hopefully musicians.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21# Didn't have the money round to buy a Morry Thou... #
0:21:21 > 0:21:25So Alan steered us through that door
0:21:25 > 0:21:28by manufacturing stories that
0:21:28 > 0:21:31played up to an image of punk.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34# But the money's no good
0:21:34 > 0:21:37# Just get a grip on yourself
0:21:37 > 0:21:39# And you should know... #
0:21:39 > 0:21:41Alan kind of encouraged us
0:21:41 > 0:21:44to provoke people
0:21:44 > 0:21:45just to be provocative.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Why don't you want to stay in our movie?
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Eh?
0:21:51 > 0:21:53We want only your statement.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Why you don't want to stay in our movie?
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Cos I'm no prostitute.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01I'm not adverse to a bit of confrontation,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03but we did have a motto in the Stranglers at one point.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Truth through provocation.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08And you hate Germans, you say?
0:22:08 > 0:22:09The majority, yeah.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18And then, you know, we started attracting a certain crowd
0:22:18 > 0:22:21and bands were getting pretty tribal then
0:22:21 > 0:22:27so our bunch of followers kind of wanted to
0:22:27 > 0:22:30annoy other bands and their audiences
0:22:30 > 0:22:33and so we got a reputation there as well.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39People would be sent to hospital, we'd have blood all over us
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Alan would say, "Fucking great copy!"
0:22:42 > 0:22:44And he'd make something out of it.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51Every time they did a gig, it was a self-perpetuating process
0:22:51 > 0:22:53because the more they were associated with punk,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55then the more you'd have some element
0:22:55 > 0:22:57of yobby kids turning up and you'd
0:22:57 > 0:22:59have a little scuffle in the audience.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02I would then fan those flames.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05I would probably add a nought to whatever happened.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09So if an incident happened and two policemen turned up,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13it would be three squad cars turned up with dogs, so...
0:23:13 > 0:23:16And we would, we would supply him with little pieces
0:23:16 > 0:23:21of stories which he would then, erm, magnify
0:23:21 > 0:23:24and glorify and sell to the papers.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27And the papers would completely eat it up
0:23:27 > 0:23:30and loved it, loved every second of it.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43I think he oiled what was already there.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46What The Stranglers were capable of doing
0:23:46 > 0:23:49made Alan Edwards' job really easy.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55Alan didn't have to fabricate anything.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Yeah, this is fucking boring. You lot are a load of the most boring
0:23:58 > 0:24:01people I've ever seen in my fucking life.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Have you all got your Crackerjack pencils?
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Well, stick 'em up your arses, then!
0:24:07 > 0:24:12Good PR does not reveal its own hand.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14Good PR is disguised as
0:24:14 > 0:24:17though it were simply news or a feature.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19And in that very important respect it's
0:24:19 > 0:24:22different from conventional advertising.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26PR comes in pretending to be the work of a journalist
0:24:26 > 0:24:28and therefore the consumer isn't alerted
0:24:28 > 0:24:32and is therefore more likely to be manipulated by it.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36We hate playing to elitist audiences so fuck off!
0:24:36 > 0:24:39MUSIC: Something Better Change by The Stranglers
0:24:39 > 0:24:41# Something better change
0:24:41 > 0:24:44# I said something better change... #
0:24:44 > 0:24:49The music papers lapped up every punk story they could,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52but with the help of PR,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55punk also became regular fodder for the national press.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59# Something better change... #
0:24:59 > 0:25:03And by the '80s, it wasn't just punk that had gone mainstream.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06Music entertainment was now part of all of our lives.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09For better or for worse,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12this was the beginning of a revolution in the media,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14with MTV as a noisy new arrival.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18You know, Madonna started her career
0:25:18 > 0:25:21at the advent of video and Madonna's probably...
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Her and Michael Jackson are probably
0:25:23 > 0:25:26the most famous people that benefited from MTV.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29MUSIC: Thriller by Michael Jackson
0:25:29 > 0:25:31# It's close to midnight
0:25:31 > 0:25:34# Something evil's lurking in the dark... #
0:25:34 > 0:25:39So from the PR point of view, this was a golden age.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42MTV put the spotlight on pop music and the release of a new
0:25:42 > 0:25:47video for an artist like Michael Jackson became an event in itself.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52And of course, the print media and PR responded.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Pop stars were great copy.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59My sense was that music was so important to people that they
0:25:59 > 0:26:03would read it, even in a national newspaper.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06You read about somebody famous,
0:26:06 > 0:26:11instantly, even if it comes to polishing their shoes, only every
0:26:11 > 0:26:13third day, and never on a Wednesday,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16for some reason somebody will say,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19"Do you know what? It's bloody interesting. This bloke
0:26:19 > 0:26:22"doesn't polish his shoes on Wednesdays!"
0:26:22 > 0:26:25# Cos this is thriller Thriller night... #
0:26:25 > 0:26:29Kelvin MacKenzie, seeing the future, commissioned a new entertainment
0:26:29 > 0:26:31page in The Sun.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35It was called Bizarre and it was edited by John Blake.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Bizarre was to radically change the PR landscape for both
0:26:41 > 0:26:46the music industry and far beyond.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48I think the game changed
0:26:48 > 0:26:50because the music press just wrote to people who bought records.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55I was writing to people with a much bigger agenda
0:26:55 > 0:26:58and people who didn't buy records were still
0:26:58 > 0:27:01fascinated by the cultural importance of people like
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Steve Strange and Duran Duran.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06MUSIC: Is There Something I Should Know? by Duran Duran
0:27:06 > 0:27:09# Please, please tell me now... #
0:27:09 > 0:27:12What this meant for music PRs was that we now had direct access
0:27:12 > 0:27:16to a huge new audience.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19You know, I had to do this column six days a week
0:27:19 > 0:27:23and I had to find 12, 13 stories a day as well as doing feature
0:27:23 > 0:27:26interviews, as well as doing news stories.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28So it's a lot of filling up so you
0:27:28 > 0:27:31came to rely on PR. And they would feed me
0:27:31 > 0:27:36stories because they understood my problems and we worked together.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39The PRs know that almost anything could go in,
0:27:39 > 0:27:42and any kind of rubbish anybody wanted to say.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47# I know you're watching me every minute of the day, yeah... #
0:27:47 > 0:27:49On reflection, it never occurred
0:27:49 > 0:27:51to me at the time that this was
0:27:51 > 0:27:56going to be a kind of torrent of PR.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58And the success of the Bizarre
0:27:58 > 0:28:00column encouraged others to follow suit,
0:28:00 > 0:28:04most notably the Mirror's 3am Girls.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08I think celebrity reporting has become particularly
0:28:08 > 0:28:10manipulative not just in the music industry.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12The reporters don't know what's going on,
0:28:12 > 0:28:14so they rely to an alarming
0:28:14 > 0:28:18extent on stuff being fed to them, little titbits from the PR people.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21And the other thing is that their need to get access to those
0:28:21 > 0:28:24celebrities is so great that they accept all
0:28:24 > 0:28:28sorts of restrictions on the way they do their writing.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31What a PR did in the music business in the '80s
0:28:31 > 0:28:34is as appropriate to every industry today.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36They learned a lot there.
0:28:36 > 0:28:42The PR ideas which were polished in the music business
0:28:42 > 0:28:45and created great stars and great wealth.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47This is about wealth-creation.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52Of course, PR is not always about boosting a star's profile
0:28:52 > 0:28:54or their wealth. It's sometimes necessary to
0:28:54 > 0:28:57protect their image -
0:28:57 > 0:28:59crisis management, we call it.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02And most stars need it at one time or another.
0:29:02 > 0:29:08MUSIC: Let's Stick Together by Roxy Music
0:29:08 > 0:29:11- REPORTER:- The American model Jerry Hall
0:29:11 > 0:29:12has appeared in court in Barbados
0:29:12 > 0:29:15charged with trying to smuggle drugs.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20The glamorous Jerry Hall was the girlfriend of the equally
0:29:20 > 0:29:23glamorous Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26You can't imagine a bigger story.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28What apparently happened was
0:29:28 > 0:29:30that Jerry Hall went to the airport and says,
0:29:30 > 0:29:32"Has a box arrived for me?"
0:29:32 > 0:29:34So there was a big old cardboard box going round
0:29:34 > 0:29:36and round on the baggage belt, and the customs man said,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39"Oh, could that box... Could that be yours?"
0:29:39 > 0:29:40And she said, "It might be."
0:29:40 > 0:29:42And he said, "Well, have a look."
0:29:42 > 0:29:46I opened it up and inside was all these plastic packages and one
0:29:46 > 0:29:48of them was torn open and there were
0:29:48 > 0:29:50leaves and seeds and things sticking out.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52And so the customs man said,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54"You are arrested for smuggling cannabis," and she said,
0:29:54 > 0:29:56"What? You just told me to open it!"
0:29:56 > 0:29:58This is not my bag.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00This is not my stuff.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02You know, these things are sent to try us
0:30:02 > 0:30:04and I just hope we can sort it out.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09I was charged with getting
0:30:09 > 0:30:14together a pack of Fleet Street's finest and getting out there to lend
0:30:14 > 0:30:17moral support and practical support. Probably about 25,
0:30:17 > 0:30:1930 journalists, we flew out.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22There was no shortage of takers, by the way,
0:30:22 > 0:30:24in snow-bound London in January,
0:30:24 > 0:30:26to go out on a trip to Barbados.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30So we had a plane full of what you would call hacks.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34# Whoa, I'm going to Barbados... #
0:30:34 > 0:30:38I mean, poor Alan being sort of parachuted into Barbados
0:30:38 > 0:30:42and expecting us to behave as if we were in London.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44Well, that wasn't going to happen.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49The courtroom was in a sleepy little town called Worthing,
0:30:49 > 0:30:52which was about five miles out of Bridgetown,
0:30:52 > 0:30:55and it was like something out of a beautiful old colonial film.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57It was a small courtroom, oak panelled,
0:30:57 > 0:30:59with a fan whirring gently.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02The judge was about 100 years old,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05had a wig and he... I'm sure he did go back to colonial times.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10And Alan Edwards was there stage managing it all.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12He got us totally onside.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16And he made sure Jagger was nice to everybody, you know.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18The last thing he wanted was the press turning against Jerry or
0:31:18 > 0:31:20saying it might be true.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23So right from the start we treated it as a preposterous
0:31:23 > 0:31:25miscarriage of justice.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28It never made sense that
0:31:28 > 0:31:30she would bring in this bit of marijuana
0:31:30 > 0:31:34into Barbados when really, if she wanted a joint, she could get it.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37There, there was a semi-colonial attitude
0:31:37 > 0:31:40but that was the way the world was then, you know.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45This is this dark country far away and these wicked people have
0:31:45 > 0:31:48taken our lovely, pouting, gorgeous Jerry Hall.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51MUSIC: We Can Dance If We Want To by Men Without Hats
0:31:51 > 0:31:52# We can dance if we want to
0:31:52 > 0:31:53# We can leave your friends behind
0:31:53 > 0:31:55# Cos if friends don't dance
0:31:55 > 0:31:56# And if they don't dance
0:31:56 > 0:31:58# Well they're no friends of mine... #
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Well, my role was to encourage the headlines, to slightly
0:32:01 > 0:32:05ridicule the proceedings. It was like a Carry On court case,
0:32:05 > 0:32:07but my job was to fan those flames,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09and the more the headlines were lurid,
0:32:09 > 0:32:11the better from my point of view, cos we didn't want
0:32:11 > 0:32:15this to seem like a serious case and, frankly, it wasn't.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19They were all full of things like,
0:32:19 > 0:32:22"Jerry Hall incarcerated in hell hole."
0:32:22 > 0:32:24The judge said, "This court case is not going to carry
0:32:24 > 0:32:26"on with this kind of reporting.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30"It's a disgrace. You've got to wait until the verdict is reached,"
0:32:30 > 0:32:33and, of course, the journalists paid no attention whatsoever.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35The covers carried on relentlessly
0:32:35 > 0:32:38for about a week of what a disgraceful
0:32:38 > 0:32:42thing this was and how Jerry Hall should be immediately released.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44I think from the judge's point of view, you might call it
0:32:44 > 0:32:46trial by media.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50I just say media reporting how ridiculous the situation was.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54I hear what you're staying, trial by media,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57but we were just reporting the news.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02I remember one day the judge said, "Bring me the exhibit!"
0:33:02 > 0:33:04And he sort of banged something,
0:33:04 > 0:33:07and this old soldier came up from the back of the courtroom
0:33:07 > 0:33:12in khaki, stumbling, carrying this massive box of marijuana.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14Now, being a cardboard box, of course,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17bits were, you know, coming off and breaking,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20there was bits of grass falling all over the courtroom
0:33:20 > 0:33:23floor as he staggered up the aisle towards the judge.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26The British journalists, of course,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29were bending over, grabbing handfuls, putting them
0:33:29 > 0:33:31in their pockets. It was uproar in the court courtroom...
0:33:31 > 0:33:33No, no, no.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36That's bloody Alan making stuff up again.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39I can't remember if they brought the marijuana into the court.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42I think they must have done. Look, the whole island smelt of marijuana
0:33:42 > 0:33:45anyway, so they probably did bring it into the courtroom, yeah.
0:33:45 > 0:33:46What was left of it.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52The judge was banging his... "Stop proceedings! This is a disgrace!
0:33:52 > 0:33:55"Outrage in my court!" And he stopped the trial.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58But actually he didn't seem to be bothered that the
0:33:58 > 0:34:03journalists had all got packets. You know, grass, handfuls of dope
0:34:03 > 0:34:06and stuff. What he was worried about was the prejudicial reporting that
0:34:06 > 0:34:08was going on. He'd obviously just been handed the
0:34:08 > 0:34:13papers from London, and I think maybe that did undermine the case.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17And the whole case collapsed,
0:34:17 > 0:34:20as did the cardboard box with the grass in it.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22Jerry, Jerry, how do you feel?
0:34:22 > 0:34:24Very relieved.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32The Jerry Hall, Mick Jagger brand was sort of enhanced afterwards,
0:34:32 > 0:34:36yes, and the great thing was that Mick had dropped everything to come
0:34:36 > 0:34:39and sort of come and save his damsel in distress,
0:34:39 > 0:34:42so that was that was... That played well certainly to my newspaper,
0:34:42 > 0:34:46the Daily Mail, which you know, is generally a woman's paper.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49This knight of rock coming to save his girl.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52That was really cool.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00There is no such thing,
0:35:00 > 0:35:02short of being a paedophile,
0:35:02 > 0:35:04as bad publicity.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07It's an extraordinarily powerful aspect of life.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09I always say to everybody -
0:35:09 > 0:35:12and I get calls off people who are up to their necks -
0:35:12 > 0:35:14I say, "Forget about it.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17"First of all, the dogs bark, but the caravan moves on."
0:35:18 > 0:35:21PR in the UK had gone from being a caravan to a massive great
0:35:21 > 0:35:25juggernaut, thundering down the middle of the central reservation.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27MUSIC: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
0:35:27 > 0:35:30There was an invisible moment a decade or two ago where the
0:35:30 > 0:35:34number of journalists in decline was crossed
0:35:34 > 0:35:38and overtaken by the number of PR people, so news organisations
0:35:38 > 0:35:42are therefore enormously vulnerable to having PR people
0:35:42 > 0:35:45decide what stories they cover and
0:35:45 > 0:35:48with what angles and what pictures and what quotes.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55If the '80s were the golden age, the '90s were when PR went platinum.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Spin became the buzz word.
0:35:58 > 0:36:03# Hello, hello, hello, how low... #
0:36:03 > 0:36:06And in the music industry it was PR,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09combined with the best of British talent, that was to put
0:36:09 > 0:36:12the UK music scene back on the map.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15# With the lights out
0:36:15 > 0:36:17# It's less dangerous
0:36:17 > 0:36:19# Here we are now
0:36:19 > 0:36:22# Entertain us... #
0:36:22 > 0:36:25The early '90s were dominated by American rock music.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29Dominated by the Seattle sound, dominated by grunge.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32What happened was, sadly, Kurt Cobain died,
0:36:32 > 0:36:35and when Kurt Cobain died it created a vacuum.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38And into that vacuum came British artists.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40British artists that were fed up
0:36:40 > 0:36:42with the dominance of American artists.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45And the first of those bands was Suede.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47MUSIC: Animal Nitrate by Suede
0:36:47 > 0:36:50# Like his dad you know that he's had
0:36:50 > 0:36:53# Animal nitrate in mind... #
0:36:53 > 0:36:56I sort of wanted to sing about things that
0:36:56 > 0:37:00weren't allowed in the charts, conventionally.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03I wanted to sing about sex and violence and all these
0:37:03 > 0:37:06things, but not in a kind of Hollywood way,
0:37:06 > 0:37:08in a real kind of kitchen sink way.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11And to sort of mould those into the shape of a pop song.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15# Oh, what turns you on... #
0:37:15 > 0:37:18When Suede came along, they completely blew me away.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20I thought they were, like, the most incredible
0:37:20 > 0:37:22sexy, cocky band I had seen in years.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24I decided that we had to put
0:37:24 > 0:37:28a team around the band before we put the first single out.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32One of the team was PR man Phil Savidge.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36His job was to get a buzz going around the band.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40The most straightforward way in which PR operates
0:37:40 > 0:37:44is they write press releases, and a good press release
0:37:44 > 0:37:47looks like a news story. It'll have a headline and an intro and quotes
0:37:47 > 0:37:50from the key people.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53And that arrives in the news room, a nicely packaged
0:37:53 > 0:37:56little story, with a ribbon around it, so to speak.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01I'd write things like, "Suede - the best band in the world,"
0:38:01 > 0:38:03with an asterix above it
0:38:03 > 0:38:06and then people would look at the bottom of the press release
0:38:06 > 0:38:07and at the asterix which was next to
0:38:07 > 0:38:09it at the bottom and it would say, "True."
0:38:09 > 0:38:12I wanted to write something that nobody could ignore.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16The point of pop music is that you attract attention.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Don't ever believe any pop musician
0:38:18 > 0:38:20that says they don't want to attract attention
0:38:20 > 0:38:22because it's why you're on the stage.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27I used to build them up to be this thing that no band could possibly
0:38:27 > 0:38:31be, and it felt like a game as well, that journalists knew that.
0:38:32 > 0:38:37This was a band that was needed by the British music press, and the
0:38:37 > 0:38:41PR person behind Suede understood that, understood it fantastically.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45The noise created by the band and its PR
0:38:45 > 0:38:50gave Suede a front cover that most bands can only pray for.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53The Best New Band In Britain.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56What was so remarkable was that this
0:38:56 > 0:38:59was before the band had released any music at all.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01As soon as that front cover happened,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03then everything just fell into place,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06as long as the records were good, which they were.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10And when they emerged, the whole thing just blew up.
0:39:10 > 0:39:15MUSIC: Metal Mickey by Suede
0:39:15 > 0:39:18I call this perpetual motion.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22It's the PR's job to keep the band constantly in the news
0:39:22 > 0:39:24and constantly on the front covers.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33# Well, she's show showing it off then... #
0:39:33 > 0:39:36I think by the time they got the NME cover, the industry was
0:39:36 > 0:39:39talking about the band, all of the gigs were selling out,
0:39:39 > 0:39:41they were building up a fan base,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44Suedemania, really, was what was going on.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48# She sells hearts... #
0:39:48 > 0:39:51So now everyone's talking Suede.
0:39:51 > 0:39:52Great.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55But what the PR now needs to do is to keep them
0:39:55 > 0:39:58visibly at the top, by whatever means necessary.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05Before the first album came out, we've got 18 front covers.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10It came to a point where we wouldn't let Brett speak to a newspaper
0:40:10 > 0:40:14or a magazine unless it was a front cover. It got, you know, ridiculous.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19So ridiculous that some complained
0:40:19 > 0:40:21that the band were just a product of PR hype.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24# She sells hearts... #
0:40:24 > 0:40:26Hype would have got Suede one front cover.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28It wouldn't have got them 18.
0:40:28 > 0:40:34It was an unbelievable combination of talent, PR, and timing.
0:40:34 > 0:40:35# She's driving me mad
0:40:35 > 0:40:39# Oh, she... #
0:40:39 > 0:40:43When the album was released, it was the fastest selling debut
0:40:43 > 0:40:45album in British musical history.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50With Suede as the inspiring pioneers,
0:40:50 > 0:40:54grunge had been kicked off the map by a new movement.
0:40:54 > 0:40:55Britpop.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57MUSIC: Common People by Pulp
0:41:00 > 0:41:03# She came from Greece She had a thirst for knowledge... #
0:41:03 > 0:41:06Britpop was a particularly British media creation,
0:41:06 > 0:41:10which included everyone from Suede to Pulp and Blur
0:41:10 > 0:41:12to the Cain and Abel of British rock,
0:41:12 > 0:41:16the Gallagher brothers with their band, Oasis.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19I got caught shoplifting in that Co-op back there...
0:41:19 > 0:41:25With them came the perfect storm of politics, music and PR.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27MUSIC: Roll With It by Oasis
0:41:32 > 0:41:35It's the 19th February, 1996,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38and the annual Brit Awards are in full flow.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41And the rather surprising guest of honour
0:41:41 > 0:41:43was the Prime Minister in waiting,
0:41:43 > 0:41:45Tony Blair.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47# You gotta roll with it
0:41:47 > 0:41:49# You gotta take your time
0:41:49 > 0:41:52# You gotta say what you say don't let anybody get in your way... #
0:41:53 > 0:41:56It's been a great year for British music.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00British music back once again
0:42:00 > 0:42:03in its rightful place at the top of the world.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07The evening belonged, however, to Oasis.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10# I think I've got a feeling I'm lost inside... #
0:42:10 > 0:42:15In 1996, Oasis were at an absolute zenith.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17People forget how big that band were.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20So by the time of the Brit Awards, they were front and centre.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23MUSIC: Live Forever by Oasis
0:42:23 > 0:42:27Indeed they were and they swept the board, winning three awards.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30Their swagger suggested they'd been enjoying their evening.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34# Maybe I don't really wanna know... #
0:42:34 > 0:42:38I mean, the Oasis table were, like,
0:42:38 > 0:42:40to a man, were on ecstasy,
0:42:40 > 0:42:44so Noel was out of his mind, do you know what I mean, you know?
0:42:44 > 0:42:47They were just, like, gone.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50And it was in this state that Noel gave one of the most
0:42:50 > 0:42:53surprising speeches in the history of music.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Oi!
0:42:55 > 0:42:59There are seven people in this room tonight who are giving a little
0:42:59 > 0:43:02bit of hope to young people in this country.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05That is me, our kid, Bonehead,
0:43:05 > 0:43:07Guigsy, Alan White, Alan McGee
0:43:07 > 0:43:09and Tony Blair.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11And if you've all got anything about you, you'll go up there
0:43:11 > 0:43:14and you'll shake Tony Blair's hand, man. He's the man!
0:43:14 > 0:43:17Power to the people!
0:43:17 > 0:43:19I mean, it was, like, kind of a ridiculous statement
0:43:19 > 0:43:22but, I mean, it was like... But I mean, when you're on ecstasy,
0:43:22 > 0:43:23you make ridiculous statements.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25He just happened to make it in front
0:43:25 > 0:43:28of, like, 100 million people watching it.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32Being endorsed by Noel Gallagher in that environment
0:43:32 > 0:43:34was an absolute...
0:43:34 > 0:43:35What's the word I'm looking for?
0:43:35 > 0:43:37PR godsend?
0:43:37 > 0:43:38Perfect. You should do PR.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42The endorsement of the Labour Party by Oasis
0:43:42 > 0:43:46in particular, was big, do you know what I mean, you know?
0:43:46 > 0:43:49It made it cool to be young and vote Labour.
0:43:51 > 0:43:55But New Labour, knowing they were onto a good thing, wanted more.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59So one of Blair's inner circle, Margaret McDonagh,
0:43:59 > 0:44:02contacted Alan McGee and his head of PR, Andy Saunders.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Margaret McDonagh wanted to understand what we did.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08And how we did it.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12She wanted to understand how you can manipulate popular culture.
0:44:12 > 0:44:17How you can take popular culture and layer on politics
0:44:17 > 0:44:19and layer on message.
0:44:19 > 0:44:20MUSIC: Wonderwall by Oasis
0:44:20 > 0:44:24# Today was gonna be the day they were gonna throw it back to you... #
0:44:24 > 0:44:28She was smart enough to realise that if she used us properly,
0:44:28 > 0:44:31and she used our knowledge, and she used our contacts, that she
0:44:31 > 0:44:36could create something quite special for the Labour Party.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40# By now you should have somehow realised what you gotta do... #
0:44:40 > 0:44:43So the first thing she asked us for was Oasis' database.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45We said, "No can do."
0:44:45 > 0:44:49And then she said, "Can you get Noel to do
0:44:49 > 0:44:51"the Youth Labour Party conference?"
0:44:51 > 0:44:53So I was like, "I doubt it, but I'll ask."
0:44:53 > 0:44:55And then I phoned him and
0:44:55 > 0:44:57he was like, "I'm fucked, man.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59"I'm just back from America, I cannae do it.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02"Give them something, McGee. Just give them...
0:45:02 > 0:45:04"Give them a gold disc or something."
0:45:04 > 0:45:05# Back beat The word is on the street
0:45:05 > 0:45:08# That the fire in your heart is out... #
0:45:08 > 0:45:12So I went with this massive big fucking multi-platinum thing to Blair.
0:45:12 > 0:45:18And I went to the Blackpool youth conference and I met Tony Blair.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21# ..feels the way I do about you now. #
0:45:21 > 0:45:24Tony Blair very cleverly used Creation Records
0:45:24 > 0:45:26as a great example of New Labour.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29It's...it's a great company, you know.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33We should be really proud. Alan's just telling me he started 12 years ago with a 1,000 quid bank loan,
0:45:33 > 0:45:37- and now it has a turnover of 34 million. Now, that's New Labour. - CHEERING
0:45:37 > 0:45:40What you have to remember is everybody is spinning everybody.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43Nobody is leading here.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47There's too many good PR brains in the room for anybody to be spun.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51# Cos maybe
0:45:51 > 0:45:54# You're gonna be the one that saves me... #
0:45:54 > 0:45:59And when New Labour won the election, it appeared to be win-win.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03Everybody benefited. Creation got a huge amount of coverage,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05the Labour Party won the election,
0:46:05 > 0:46:07everybody won.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11It put us very much onto the cultural agenda of the country.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14Uh, and my phone didn't stop ringing for two years.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22In July 1997, Noel Gallagher and Alan McGee
0:46:22 > 0:46:27were invited to Downing Street in another PR coup for New Labour.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30We arrived in a Rolls-Royce
0:46:30 > 0:46:34and got chased up Downing Street by about 400 paparazzi,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38went in, hung out for about two hours,
0:46:38 > 0:46:40got shown round the place.
0:46:40 > 0:46:45# You name the drama and I'll play the part... #
0:46:45 > 0:46:49We knew we were being used, we knew what the deal was,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53we knew that we were just part of a machine.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55We got conned, but what can you do? Do you know what I mean?
0:46:55 > 0:46:59I mean, it's like me and the rest of the country. Do you know what I mean?
0:46:59 > 0:47:02# I've seen the storyline
0:47:04 > 0:47:08# Played out so many times before. #
0:47:08 > 0:47:12I think the ultimate problem was that the curtain got pulled back
0:47:12 > 0:47:14and we saw the Wizard of Oz.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17We saw the fact that PR had played a major part
0:47:17 > 0:47:19in the election of New Labour.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21We saw the advent of spin.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24The magician revealed his tricks.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26And whenever...whenever you do that,
0:47:26 > 0:47:29whenever you put it in people's faces, they don't like it.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34# And then it's over. #
0:47:34 > 0:47:38But it couldn't continue and it didn't.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40As the sun set on the 20th century,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43the PR machine behind the music business
0:47:43 > 0:47:45became a very different beast.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49It's different now, because now, of course, artists tweet,
0:47:49 > 0:47:53you know, they Instagram, it's a completely different climate.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55You know, people especially now, more and more,
0:47:55 > 0:47:59cos there's less space, people want to know what the story is.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02It's not just down to if the record's good.
0:48:05 > 0:48:06So somebody growing up today
0:48:06 > 0:48:09that wants to know about Madonna, or whoever,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12just has to look at all their YouTube clips and Instagram,
0:48:12 > 0:48:15and they tweet.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21So what this requires is a re-think for PR,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24with a mash-up of old media and new.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27And I can't think of two bigger or more diverse giants
0:48:27 > 0:48:30to illustrate this than David Bowie and Taylor Swift,
0:48:30 > 0:48:33both masters of PR.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41In 2013, David Bowie had disappeared from public life
0:48:41 > 0:48:43for almost a decade.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45Apparently living in New York,
0:48:45 > 0:48:48most people thought he'd retired.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52However, in early 2013,
0:48:52 > 0:48:57Bowie let on to a few of us that he was about to release a new single,
0:48:57 > 0:48:59with an album to follow.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02But he wasn't going to do any promotions or tour.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05So how could PR turn this one around?
0:49:05 > 0:49:07How could PR create a new kind of buzz
0:49:07 > 0:49:12that mixed traditional PR with something new?
0:49:12 > 0:49:14So first we went to Sky News
0:49:14 > 0:49:18and then to BBC Radio 4 presenter, John Wilson.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20Well, I was excited.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22And I knew a lot of other people would be excited.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26It's not just any old pop singer releasing a new record.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30And I called a mate who's on the Today programme
0:49:30 > 0:49:32and I said, "There's a lot of listeners
0:49:32 > 0:49:34"that'd be pretty excited over their breakfast."
0:49:34 > 0:49:35I think, to be honest,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38at first, I'm not persuaded that it's a story for us.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41My doubts were this is not normal business for the Today programme,
0:49:41 > 0:49:43it's mostly news, politics, current affairs.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45'Economically, we have unusual growth.'
0:49:45 > 0:49:50And so in that context, doing an item about David Bowie is a risk.
0:49:50 > 0:49:51'The time now, 7:51.'
0:49:51 > 0:49:54But it was pitched like a bit of breaking news.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56And I was persuaded by colleagues
0:49:56 > 0:50:00that actually for an audience of the age of the Today programme's audience,
0:50:00 > 0:50:0455 or thereabouts, he's a big, iconic figure,
0:50:04 > 0:50:05and this was surprising enough
0:50:05 > 0:50:08that it deserved its place on the programme.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12'7:20, and guess what, David Bowie's released a new single.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16'Not something he's done for quite a while, so it's a pretty big musical event.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18'The man who alerted us to it, though, is John Wilson.
0:50:18 > 0:50:23'This is a genuine surprise and there are going to be people out there, amazingly,
0:50:23 > 0:50:28'who will be thinking, "Pop musician releases pop single, big deal, what's the news story?"
0:50:28 > 0:50:31'But, you know, David Bowie is no ordinary musician.'
0:50:31 > 0:50:34# Where are we now?
0:50:34 > 0:50:36# Where are we now? #
0:50:36 > 0:50:40This PR campaign was an example of less is more,
0:50:40 > 0:50:43a technique that plays well with established artists.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53This is the PR campaign that never was.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56They wanted it to look like there had been no pre-planning,
0:50:56 > 0:50:58this thing was just going to drop from the sky,
0:50:58 > 0:51:00David Bowie just re-appears.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03But, obviously, the cogs were all whirring behind the scenes.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07And the idea of David Bowie returning on the Today programme on Radio 4,
0:51:07 > 0:51:12I mean, it's a very clever twist on the idea that this is just a pop star releasing a pop single.
0:51:12 > 0:51:18This is a serious cultural moment which breaks through, which deserves news headlines.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28Alongside the traditional media,
0:51:28 > 0:51:30we also added a limited social-media element.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36Part of the plan was that we had pre-warned
0:51:36 > 0:51:39influencers like Caitlin Moran, Dylan Jones
0:51:39 > 0:51:45that there was going to be something interesting popping into their mail box at 5am the next morning.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48And from there it proliferated, they tweeted about it,
0:51:48 > 0:51:52told everybody else, and it went like wild fire on social media.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56David Bowie is the latest singer to announce a comeback.
0:51:56 > 0:51:58I have to come out as a bit of a Bowie fan.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02I actually went on a Bowie pilgrimage this summer to Berlin.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05Caitlin Moran says, "I'm so insanely excited,
0:52:05 > 0:52:08"it's like hearing King Arthur's voice from the cave."
0:52:10 > 0:52:13In the case of the Bowie release,
0:52:13 > 0:52:14one could suggest it was less and more,
0:52:14 > 0:52:18but I suggest that it was Bowie-esque,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21um, in being counterintuitive.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25And it was a statement about a generation
0:52:25 > 0:52:27who were saying, "Me, me, me. Look at me,
0:52:27 > 0:52:30"I'm across social media, I'm important."
0:52:32 > 0:52:34Everyone was talking Bowie.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37PR had focused him not just as an artist,
0:52:37 > 0:52:40but now as a cultural icon.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43The decision not to play by the usual rules
0:52:43 > 0:52:47created a mystique and THAT draws people in.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52Bowie's place at music's top table was assured.
0:52:56 > 0:53:02But for younger artists, whose audience possibly don't always tune into the Today programme,
0:53:02 > 0:53:04it is a case of more is more.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07You have to be visible, touchable even.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14- It's Taylor Swift, everybody! - CHEERING
0:53:14 > 0:53:16Even before Taylor Swift
0:53:16 > 0:53:19became one of the most successful stars on the planet,
0:53:19 > 0:53:24she knew exactly what she wanted and where she wanted to be.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28# I stay out too late
0:53:28 > 0:53:30# Got nothing in my brain. #
0:53:30 > 0:53:32She said, "Rick, I want a gold record."
0:53:32 > 0:53:36And what that means in the United States is 500,000 units sold.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39So my answer to her was, "Then great,
0:53:39 > 0:53:41"let's go out and meet 500,000 people."
0:53:41 > 0:53:46So, the goal from the beginning was to put her in front of people,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49so that she could show them that she was different.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52Well, thanks to social media,
0:53:52 > 0:53:56Taylor could meet half a million of her fans, electronically at least.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00She knew that she would be nowhere without these fans
0:54:00 > 0:54:02and she wanted to relate to them.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07Taylor Swift appears to be every girl.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09I mean, all the girls want to be like Taylor Swift.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12And I think there's probably some substance to that,
0:54:12 > 0:54:14she is probably a bit like that,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18but then she takes it and manipulates it and exaggerates it.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20One of the interesting aspects
0:54:20 > 0:54:23I have known about show business or talent or music,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26is actually the people doing these things
0:54:26 > 0:54:29are incredibly bright about themselves.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32They recognise what their image is.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36In order to spread the Taylor message,
0:54:36 > 0:54:39she and her team utilised social media
0:54:39 > 0:54:42in a way that put some of us PRs to shame.
0:54:42 > 0:54:47Social media is a very powerful tool if used the right way,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50or it's just a bunch of noise.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53She understands that all forms of social media are different.
0:54:53 > 0:54:58And what I mean by that is that she's going to take the most visual piece that she has
0:54:58 > 0:55:00and that will be shared on Instagram.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03She's going to take the quickest message that she has
0:55:03 > 0:55:05and that can be shared on Twitter,
0:55:05 > 0:55:09but it's driving them to a YouTube video or a Vevo video.
0:55:09 > 0:55:14She uses social media and the tools properly for what they're used for.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20And following the massive success of Swift's album 1989,
0:55:20 > 0:55:25Taylor used social media to create the perfect publicity stunt for the modern age.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31As the holiday season 2014 approached,
0:55:31 > 0:55:32Swift, having done her research,
0:55:32 > 0:55:38was filmed wrapping carefully chosen presents for a select group of super fans.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40This was all then put online.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44I found them on the Internet.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47I would go online, I would look at their Instagram pages,
0:55:47 > 0:55:49or their Tumblr, or their Twitter, or whatever,
0:55:49 > 0:55:51and just kind of watch them for months and months.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56By studying her fans, known as Swifties,
0:55:56 > 0:56:02Taylor was able to give the gifts that she knew they really, really wanted.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05Does Taylor have time to scour the Internet
0:56:05 > 0:56:07to find out where people like to shop?
0:56:07 > 0:56:10Or what their favourite things are? She doesn't.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13So her team will go out and find these folks,
0:56:13 > 0:56:15and then they'll give her the information,
0:56:15 > 0:56:17and then she'll take care of it from there.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19It's all about the experience.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24And I think that's what Taylor does for her fans better than most.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30So what happened was as these fans were opening up these packages,
0:56:30 > 0:56:35they were documenting the idea of what was going on.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38- And then they started sharing it. - I'm so happy about this!
0:56:38 > 0:56:41It went double viral, because the biggest star in the world
0:56:41 > 0:56:43was sending Christmas presents to these fans.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47And then it went viral again through the fans' social-media platforms,
0:56:47 > 0:56:54because they were telling the world, "Look what my favourite artist thought enough about me to do."
0:56:54 > 0:56:57She knows exactly the key points to engage.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01She also understands the cultural zeitgeist.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05Who to bring in, who to lean on, who to support, where to be,
0:57:05 > 0:57:08what events to be at, who to look after.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12She has got a very focused idea of her own saleability.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15- Shake it off?- Yes.- Shake it off? - Yeah, exactly.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17Was it a PR move?
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Absolutely it was a PR move,
0:57:20 > 0:57:23but who wouldn't want to be on the end of that PR stunt?
0:57:23 > 0:57:29So a lot of times, you can use the PR to your advantage.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33And I think what's cool about the way she utilises PR,
0:57:33 > 0:57:37is there's always a winner, and it's not just her,
0:57:37 > 0:57:40but ultimately, in the end, it is her.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42# Shake it off. #
0:57:42 > 0:57:44So here we are.
0:57:44 > 0:57:45You see, great publicists
0:57:45 > 0:57:48have always used the media of the age to share a story.
0:57:49 > 0:57:53From word of mouth...to social media,
0:57:53 > 0:57:55via, of course, print, TV and radio.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59Today, we can go direct to the people.
0:57:59 > 0:58:04And if the people think it's a great idea, it explodes!
0:58:06 > 0:58:11Everything has changed, but, actually, nothing has changed.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14Whether or not it's an image makeover or a stunt,
0:58:14 > 0:58:17or even your YouTube of delivering Christmas presents to your fans,
0:58:17 > 0:58:22it's still about the PR's ability to tell a great story
0:58:22 > 0:58:25and to tell it to as many people as possible.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28So...gather round, folks.
0:58:28 > 0:58:30Hold, hold, hold.
0:58:30 > 0:58:34And your new career...begins here.
0:58:34 > 0:58:36SHUTTER CLICKS
0:58:36 > 0:58:39MUSIC: Always The Sun by The Stranglers