In the latest in our 5 Questions series, our Media Director recalls unexpected stunts with Elton John, dramatic cheese-based accidents and some early advice from a line manager that continues to inspire him…
1. If you could go back and relive one day in your career, which would it be?
The day I thrust a Sharpie into Sir Elton John’s hand.
I was doing the PR for St Pancras International. The brief was simple, make it a destination people want to visit outside of catching a train. The pianos had long been established so we leaned into this and set up a series of mini gigs with emerging bands from cities you can reach by trains from the station – I still have my signed Wolf Alice poster!
The day after launch, I get an odd phone call from someone speaking very cryptically. So, I went to meet them at the station secretly hoping I wouldn’t get murdered. Turns out they managed the PR for Elton John and we hatched a plan for him to drop by the station and play a few songs on one of the pianos on his way to the Graham Norton Show the following week.
On the day everything was set. We had the brand new piano that I managed to convince Yamaha to donate, the security cordon was in place and Elton entered the building. A huge crowd formed, he played a medley of songs and got up to leave. As he did, I threw myself in front of him, handed him a sharpie and asked him to sign the piano – it wasn’t part of the plan and his security guard looked like he wanted to murder me, but Elton turned around and did it.
As soon as Elton had left with his security I was mobbed by screaming fans and had to jump on the piano stool and call the station security. The coverage was epic, the footage went across social media and the client was over the moon… it’s lucky St Pancras has the Champagne bar to celebrate.
2. …Now tell us about the day that still gives you nightmares.
I was at my first agency and did the PR for Stilton Cheesemakers Association – the glamour! We had suitably stinky cheese in the office to gift media and needed it sent out ASAP. Someone had the genius idea of hand delivering an entire wheel of Stilton to Harry Wallop and designated me as the cheese delivery boy.
The cheese weighed a ton and it started pouring with rain as I started to make my way over to The Telegraph to drop off the obscene amount of unsolicited dairy products. I had only worked in PR for a handful of weeks and was a bit nervous, so rushed into the lobby and slipped like a cartoon character on a banana peel and landed on my back. The giant wheel of cheese I had been clutching onto flew into the air and exploded across the entire lobby.
Going back to the office covered in cheese and explaining why Harry Wallop wasn’t currently enjoying a nice bit of Stilton was a tough conversation to have, but everyone saw the funny side and I was back at The Telegraph two days later with more cheese – some for Harry and some for the poor cleaner that had to sort the lobby after I left.
3. Who gave you the piece of advice you still live by – and what was it?
My first line manager, Lou Harris, was fantastic. She’s the one who inspired me to stick to PR, have fun and to not always take yourself too seriously. We worked events, went out for boozy lunches and would end up in bars dancing together at 11pm on a Tuesday. She taught me that you can’t polish a turd, BUT you can roll it in glitter. Essentially, no matter how bad something seems, there’s always a way to make it better – it’s likely the reason I’m so determined to find a way of landing that one pitch no one seems to want!
4. What piece of work done by someone else are you truly jealous of?
I’m going back to when Game launched the Christmas Tinner in 2013. It was a can that contained all of the food that one might eat on Christmas day – from breakfast to mince pies, turkey to Christmas pudding, and everything in between. Launched for gamers that were too busy playing on their new console to cook, the campaign had everything that makes the perfect PR campaign – it was topical (the research revealed Brits wanted to play with their consoles above all else), the branded can for the shoot looked great, the gross infographic explaining each dirty layer was spot on. But, above all else it absolutely hit the ‘would I talk to a mate in the pub about this’ nail on the head.
5. What’s your elevator pitch to people thinking about getting into the comms industry for the first time?
Ask yourself why you want to work in PR and what you want to get out of it. PR is a broad discipline – so think about whether you prefer events, want to work in a corporate setting, are drawn to start ups or want the opportunity to travel. Identifying this can help guide you on your search for the perfect role. But, it’s also okay to not know – and you can find an agency that gives you the chance to try a bit of everything.