Mark Ritson on branding: Time for the Max Mosley defence

bit. To undermine a brand association, one must first have a strong link
to that association in the minds of consumers.

By contrast, British people already know that our country is entirely
unreliable and hopelessly disorganised. While the Chinese control
everything in their country ahead of the Beijing Olympics, from internet
access to weather formations (yes, really), London 2012 will be run with
the kind of chaotic elan we saw on London streets during last weekend's
Torch procession. The London Olympics began with a duff logo and
national recriminations, and will reach a crescendo of disappointment in
four years' time, when things will go wrong in a very British way.

The Torch procession, and the Tibetan protests finally managed to
eclipse Willie Walsh and his dodgy conveyor belts. The Chinese
government was anticipating problems - several Western PR firms have
already been to pitch to it in recent weeks, amid concerns that the
Tibetan situation is worsening and could potentially ruin plans for a
perfect games. One Beijing PR executive described the strategy to the FT
as 'a cry for help' from a government keen to 'understand what people
think of them and how they can effectively get their story into the
media'. Pulling out of Tibet would be a start, but somehow I doubt it
constituted a bullet point in any of the pitches.

Both Britain and China could learn from a PR pro who was also in trouble
last week. Max Mosley was revealed to have participated in an orgy with
five prostitutes in Chelsea. A double-page spread in the News of the
World, colour photographs and video footage were publicly aired; any
other executive would be ruined, but not Max.

With the kind of proactive approach that both BA and China should aspire
to, he went on the attack. In a letter to his employers at the F1
governing body the FIA, he admitted involvement in a five-way orgy with
prostitutes, but angrily refuted the claim that he was speaking in
German, with 'some sort of Nazi connotation'. He was speaking German to
assist two of the prostitutes, who were, in fact, German. So there you
go. All sorted.

Admitting to all that, before pointing out that at least you are not a
Nazi, is a uniquely batty PR approach. It is certainly worth trying in
China - 'Yes, we have been occupying Tibet and subjugating its people
for forty years, but imagine how much worse Hitler would have handled
it.'

If things degenerate any further at BA, this might also prove a useful
fall-back for Willie Walsh. He might consider publicly accepting that
Terminal 5 was central to BA's business strategy, and that it completely
and utterly blew the launch, before (with a slight pause for effect)
fixing reporters with a steely glare and announcing: 'But I have never,
at any point in my life, been a member of the Nazi party.' Desperate
times, you see, call for desperate PR strategies.

- Mark Ritson is an associate professor of marketing and consultant to
some of the world's leading brands

30 SECONDS ON ... PR THE MAX MOSLEY WAY

- Max Mosley is the President of Formula One governing body the FIA. He
is the son of Oswald Mosley, who led the British Union of Fascists.

- Oswald married Max's mother, Diana Mitford, at the Berlin home of
Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief. Hitler attended the
ceremony.

- On his colourful reputation, Max has said: 'I don't mind flak. I come
from a family where we have had flak all our lives. I love reading the
blogs when they are being furious about me. It's very entertaining.'

- On former racing champion and dyslexic Jackie Stewart: 'He's a figure
of fun among drivers. He goes round dressed up as a 1930s music-hall
man. He's a certified halfwit.'

- On his own unpopularity: 'I read a book called The Wisdom Of Crowds,
and it got me thinking: if all these thousands of people keep saying I'm
a tosser, maybe they're right.'