Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR, dives into the BBC/Gary Lineker debacle.
Spoiler alert…I’m a big football fan.
You may not be so you will be pleased to learn that this column is not about the ‘beautiful game’, in fact, it all got rather ugly.
Now, I’m also a big fan of Gary Lineker. It has nothing to do with his team affiliations (Leicester, Spurs, Everton, Barcelona, Grampus 8, Walkers – I prefer a McCoy), I just quite like the guy. He is great on camera and somehow still has that boyish charm which enables him to get away with risqué little comments and digs or frankly terrible puns – you’d never see me try that! He’s become a ‘national treasure’ and it pays to handle such treasure with care – whatever a contract may or may not say.
Gary has become a household name on the TV every week flogging football and occasionally bothering us about crisps – even then, it is done with a sense of humour and fun. Now I’m not for one minute suggesting that the BBC lost their sense of humour here, it was a serious point to tackle and nip in the bud but to target Gary ‘early doors’ as the commentators might say was a massive error.
The problem is, to borrow a phrase from footy parlance, they went in TWO-FOOTED. They now accept that their interpretation of their own contracts might have been foggy and that there are, like their star attraction’s hair (and indeed mine), some ‘grey areas’. One might even argue that they couldn’t have foreseen the scale of the media circus they unleashed but when Piers Morgan is agreeing with Lineker (doubtless because it suits his own agenda) you know you have misread the room.
Nevermind the boycott that ensued from the fellow presenters, then the commentators, then the other radio shows, then the other TV shows. It all escalated pretty quickly and has now supposedly been dealt with but not without HUGE damage to the BBC brand and an even BIGGER boost to Lineker’s. Enjoy renegotiating that contract when it comes around folks!
Of course, Gary may want to look elsewhere in future transfer windows but if he does, it would be wise for any brand that wants to sign him to consider their Ts and Cs VERY carefully when it comes to social media usage. That goes for any business, whether you are hiring staff, contractors, freelancers, or ‘celebs’ – what they say and do in public can potentially impact on you.
You need to weigh this very carefully when you ‘get into bed’ with a celeb or align with them in any official capacity. They are, believe it or not, human. That means they are fallible. They may have views that do not sit well with your own as a business and brand or entirely contradict your messaging. So always do your research. Remember, when you align with a celebrity or ‘influencer’ you do so because of their reach.
This goes both ways – it can be positive or negative. Or neutral. Famously, our Gary was never booked once in his career – nope, not ONCE. This was one heck of a yellow card for Auntie BBC.
A former business journalist, Greg Simpson is the author of The Small Business Guide to PR and has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 5 PR consultants, having set up Press for Attention PR in 2008.
He has worked for FTSE 100 firms, charities and start-ups and conducted press conferences with Sir Richard Branson and James Caan. His background ensures a deep understanding of every facet of a successful PR campaign – from a journalist’s, client’s, and consultant’s perspective.
See this column in the April edition of East Midlands Business Link Magazine here.
