The Rest is PR

This week, there really is only one place to start. Jacki and Lyle are discussing the election (or, indeed, re-election) of Donald Trump, who earlier this month became the 47th President of the United States. Trump had, of course, also been elected the 45th President of the United States before losing the next election to Joe Biden, a man who he in essence defeated along the way to his latest election victory. But it was Kamala Harris, who assumed the Democratic candidacy after a desperate performance from Biden in a televised debate, that Trump ultimately defeated in the election on the 5th November this year. And it is Trump who will be inaugurated in January next year, becoming President for the second time, in a comeback many have described as similar to the likes of Tiger Woods, who won The Masters out of nowhere in 2019. Jacki and Lyle discuss the differences between the communications strategies of Trump and Harris. Harris is said to have conducted an almost perfect campaign, and was praised for doing so, but both Jacki and Lyle agree that it was missing something when it came to competing with the timing and single-issue messaging of Trump's at times chaotic strategy. Issues that appeared to be dominating the nation's discussion in the run-up to the election were the economy, abortion rights and immigration, but Harris and her team at times ran a multi-issue strategy that ultimately failed to resonate with voters. Trump, meanwhile, maintained a steadfast commitment to these single issues and, as Jacki points out, was also able to turn apparent criticism from all sides into campaign-worthy moments that captured the attention of the electorate. Lyle outlines from the outset that he is very much NOT a Trump supporter, with Jacki agreeing, but both also agree that his garbage truck stunt as a response to Biden's assertion that 'the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters' was strategically very astute, before Jacki also outlines the imagery that circulated after the assassination attempt on Trump's life earlier this year. Lyle takes us through some political trends that this most recent US election appears to have followed, such as Tony Blair's 'New Labour' win in 1997, Boris Johnson's 'Get Brexit Done' in 2019, and Ed Davey's success as Lib Dem leader throughout the most recent UK election. The Tony Hinchcliffe Puerto Rico incident is also mentioned, and Jacki raves about the podcast 'The Coming Storm' which had some fantastic coverage in the build up to the election itself. There is, as ever, time for a sporting analogy from Lyle, with this one being a pertinent one - Harris may have conducted a fine campaign, but that won't be being talked about in 6 months time. What will be, however, is that Donald J. Trump will be the next President of the United States, with Lyle asserting that history remembers those who win far longer than those who lose.You can listen to The Coming Storm here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001324rArtwork & music by Lyle FultonGet in touch via lylefulton@hotmail.comMore information at www.therestispr.comFollow us on Twitter - @TheRestIsPR

This week, Jacki and Lyle are joined by the brilliant Bill Beutler! Bill is a PR consultant who has figured out how brands can update their own Wikipedia pages successfully (and stay out of trouble while doing it!) Bill is also the president of Beutler Ink, which has worked with Fortune 50 companies, Ivy League Universities, Members of Congress, and has built a whole digital agency with Wikipedia consulting as its core service. In an episode that leaves Lyle in particular absolutely mesmerised at the complexities of posting and editing on Wikipedia, Bill tells us a little about his career so far and how he came to found Beutler Ink and become an industry leader in Wikipedia consultancy. Jacki discusses her own history with Wikipedia and how she has on several occasions bowed to other people's better knowledge when asked to edit certain clients' Wikipedia pages! Jacki also asks what actors such as Lyle would need to do to establish their own Wikipedia page, with Bill taking the duo through the many rules, regulations and pitfalls that some professionals fall foul of when looking to post on Wikipedia. Bill also discusses some of the recent controversies involving Wikipedia, including how a city councillor and mayoral candidate in Portland, Oregon who, despite doing everything systematically above board when it comes to following due process in editing Wikipedia, has been found to have used taxpayer funds to do so resulting in a significant political scandal! Bill also mentions the ongoing legal battle between Wikipedia and India’s largest newswire service Asian News International (ANI), who said a paragraph in its description on Wikipedia falsely accuses it of being 'a propaganda tool for the incumbent [federal] government' and of 'distributing material from fake news websites'. ANI has now demanded the page be taken down and has filed a 20 million rupee suit against Wikipedia, with the story set to run and run! Lyle and Jacki don't quite have time to ask Bill about the impact of AI on Wikipedia, but he will definitely be appearing on an episode near you again very soon!Head to www.beutlerink.com for more info on the brilliant work Bill and the team are getting up to!Artwork & music by Lyle FultonGet in touch via lylefulton@hotmail.comMore information at www.therestispr.comFollow us on Twitter - @TheRestIsPR

This week, Jacki and Lyle discuss some of the more prominent documentaries that have appeared on the likes of Netflix and other platforms in recent months. Most notably, the pair focus on two highly significant documentaries that may ultimately affect the lives of the suspects involved - 'American Murder: Laci Peterson' and 'The Menendez Brothers', both of which are currently available on Netflix. Jacki discusses how, having also seen the dramatised series 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story', her own perspective on the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez and the murder of their mother and father has continued to alter and shift. Lyle and Jacki both agree that we are now more compelled by documentaries of this kind than ever before. Lyle outlines the view that in the 90s and 2000s documentaries were seen as something to be afraid of when faced with a crisis or scandal due to their 'reality TV-style' nature, but we are now far more inclined to believe someone who delivers their story authentically directly to camera, and even if we remain sceptical we are still unerringly compelled by it! Lyle uses the example of Arsenal and their involvement with Amazon Prime's 'All Or Nothing' series, a behind the scenes look at the inner workings and relationships within the football club that yielded excellent results that have shaped the public's view of the club as a whole and, notably, its manager Mikel Arteta. Tottenham Hotspur also took part in this series with less impressive results for themselves and their then manager, José Mourinho, but Jacki goes further in mentioning the excellent of example of Netflix's 'Drive To Survive' which has again had a fantastic impact on the reputations of several Formula 1 drivers. Jacki analyses whether we must now consider the people-led art form that is 'the documentary' as arguably the most sought-after piece of PR media you can access, and discusses whether the likes of Phillip Schofield might have been better served involving himself with a documentary of his own rather than embarking on his ill-fated Cast Away experiment. There is time for Jacki to ask Lyle exactly how he has prepared previously for acting roles that depict real-life stories after the success experienced by Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle Menendez in particular.Artwork & music by Lyle FultonGet in touch via lylefulton@hotmail.comMore information at www.therestispr.comFollow us on Twitter - @TheRestIsPR

This week, Jacki and Lyle react to Giovanni Pernice's first television interview since the release of the results of the BBC's internal investigation into allegations made by Amanda Abbington about her experience working with him on Strictly Come Dancing. Interviewed by Christine Lampard on Lorraine, Pernice gets his version of events across, explaining how he had only intended to push Abbington as hard as he did as he felt she stood a good chance of winning the competition, whilst acknowledging his tough training style and expressing his relief that, in his opinion, the most serious 11 of the 17 allegations were cleared by the BBC. Jacki and Lyle agree that Pernice performed solidly in the interview, although Lyle outlines his view that he wasn't 'sparkling' throughout whilst Jacki discusses how he was 'blindsided' by questions late in the interview that mentioned a statement from Abbington's solicitor and previous comments made by Laura Whitmore, who had previously also danced with Pernice on the show. Jacki asks Lyle what he would advise Pernice to do next, with both Jacki and Lyle agreeing that he and his team should take their time before deciding next steps after what was at times a chastening interview, with Lyle using the example of GB News as perhaps being an outlet his team should look to steer clear of! Christine Lampard's (formerly Bleakley) interview style also comes under scrutiny, with Jacki and Lyle agreeing that her body language was at times very closed off, and Jacki offering the opinion that there may have been a slight bias on display due to Lampard's friendships with Abbington, Whitmore and Ranvir Singh, who had also appeared on Strictly and partnered with Pernice in a previous series. The Irish ITV host's surname allows Lyle to, as ever, bring football into the conversation!Artwork & music by Lyle FultonGet in touch via lylefulton@hotmail.comMore information at www.therestispr.comFollow us on Twitter - @TheRestIsPR

This week, Jacki and Lyle discuss the recent developments in the situations involving both Amanda Abbington and Phillip Schofield, with a particular focus on the decisions they and their comms teams have made, and whether they have helped or hindered their respective reputations. Amanda Abbington recently received and apology from the BBC regarding the complaints she made about her Strictly Come Dancing professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice. However, whilst some of her claims were upheld, many of the allegations were thrown out by an independent investigation conducted by the BBC, leaving both sides feeling both vindicated and frustrated in equal measure. Abbington has since conducted more interviews explaining her situation and the experience she had on the hugely popular BBC programme, with Pernice using an entirely different tactic by remaining silent for much of the investigative process. Jacki discusses her belief that it is in fact Pernice who has conducted the better comms strategy by remaining largely out of the picture while the investigation was ongoing. She goes on to say Abbington has not come across well at all in any of her interview appearances, most notably in her interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy in the immediate aftermath of these allegations coming to light. Lyle agrees with Jacki for the most part, with the pair analysing whether this was in fact the fault of the PR team around Abbington who should have advised her better when it came to these appearances. Conversation then turns to Schofield, with Jacki having had the chance to consume the second and third episodes of his Cast Away programme and Channel 5. The 'mic drop' at the end of the final episode did not impress Jacki and Lyle at all, with Lyle even going as far as to claim very few people will have paid too much attention to a gesture Schofield likely hoped would spark debate! Jacki again laments the decision-making of those around Schofield who, she believes, should have known better than to choose this particular programme for his return to our TV screens. There's time for many a 'first-person' statement from the pair in what is a particularly fiery episode!Artwork & music by Lyle FultonGet in touch via lylefulton@hotmail.comMore information at www.therestispr.comFollow us on Twitter - @TheRestIsPR

This week, Jacki and Lyle are joined by the brilliant Günay Aliyeva. Günay is the co-founder of Gamelight, the largest Rewarded Marketing Platform for Mobile Games, with over 10 years of experience in mobile gaming and ad-tech. She has also previously worked in multiple mobile app, game and ad-tech companies across Germany, andI it’s safe to say she knows stuff when it comes to the app economy, mobile marketing and AI! Günay is passionate about tech innovations, and Gamelight has disrupted the mobile marketing industry with a revolutionary AI algorithm. In a very enlightening and interesting episode, Günay discusses her career journey so far, how she came to found the exceptional Gamelight, and the unique functionality of its dashboard and app. Jacki asks Günay about how crucial it has been to maintain her vision and values when it comes to the PR of the company, and Günay herself explains the importance of the product when it comes to growing the company's reputation. Lyle outlines his belief that the product and the company's reputation go hand-in-hand, while Jacki discusses what Günay has planned for her own personal profile. Günay explains how Gamelight has ascended to the same pantheon as the likes of Google and Meta, whilst also outlining how her team's efficiency when it comes to A/B testing and conducting other data analysis is what sets Gamelight out from the abundance of other likeminded platforms looking to emulate its success. All this before we are even able to get into the fact that Günay can speak 5 languages, is learning a 6th, and what inspired her move to Hamburg in Germany for work!Artwork & music by Lyle FultonGet in touch via lylefulton@hotmail.comMore information at www.therestispr.comFollow us on Twitter - @TheRestIsPR

This week, Jacki and Lyle discuss Phillip Schofield's return to our TV screens in Cast Away - a Channel 5 programme that sends celebrities out into the relative wilderness in the form of an island off the coast of Madagascar - and discuss the possible reasons why he and his team chose to use this show as a vehicle for his return to the public eye. Jacki mentions that when she initially heard Schofield would be making a return she felt excited and intrigued, but that the choice of programme itself ultimately felt a little too self-serving. Lyle goes a step further in assessing whether it is possible to scrutinise yourself effectively on a TV show like this as opposed to the likes of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! (which Schofield mentions on the first episode of Cast Away, discussing how it is hosted by his 'mates' Ant & Dec but how there are some organisations, referring to ITV, that you never go back to despite receiving an offer to appear). Lyle describes feeling unengaged throughout the first episode of Cast Away, particularly in the moments when Schofield attempts to address the affair that led to his sacking from ITV, with Jacki agreeing that the most dynamic parts of the episode were when we saw Schofield put his survivalist skills to the test! Lyle even goes as far as to say he felt more compelled by Schofield's interview with the BBC's Amol Rajan, and that a lot of the good will earned by that interview may well have evaporated as a result of this venture. There is an excellent analysis of the PR workings behind decisions like this one made my Schofield and his daughter, Molly, who has since become his agent, with Jacki and Lyle agreeing that you should always assess what you want out of choices such as this one. Lyle opines that Schofield might have chosen this route simply as a means of getting back on TV on his terms, whilst Jacki agrees that this choice may ultimately have backfired.Artwork & music by Lyle FultonGet in touch via lylefulton@hotmail.comMore information at www.therestispr.comFollow us on Twitter - @TheRestIsPR

This week, Jacki and Lyle discuss a story that has dominated the headlines in the UK and all over the world - the incredibly serious allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment levelled at Egyptian billionaire businessman and former Harrods owner Mohammed Al-Fayed. Al-Fayed had owned a stake in House of Fraser, which owned Harrods, since 1984, before buying the entire company in 1985, and owning Harrods until a change of ownership in 2010. Al-Fayed himself died last August aged 94, and having been accused several times before of sexual harassment of Harrods employees, it was a BBC news report this month citing 20 women accusing him of sexual assault, with 5 of these women accusing him of rape, that ultimately led to these incredibly serious revelations. Out of respect to the, as of this week, now over 200 women who have come forward with allegations against Al-Fayed, Jacki and Lyle do not address these allegations in any great detail due to the sensitivity of the issue. Instead, our hosts address what is next for Harrods, and their current Managing Director Michael Ward as he looks to address the ongoing crisis and the impact it is having on Harrods and its employees. Jacki analyses what Harrods, and Ward, have done right so far in terms of their messaging, with Ward's quotes that Al-Fayed oversaw a 'toxic culture of secrecy and intimidation' pointing to an individual who appears intent on treating the allegations with the seriousness they warrant whilst also looking to humanise an institution that, as Lyle points out, has previously held the mantra of being somewhat elite. Lyle asks how a comms strategy in times of crisis can be affected by the involvement of the police, with Jacki emphasising that in these instances it is important to be cooperative and abide by the various rules the police will have in place regarding transparency and the sharing of information. Jacki and Lyle are careful not to speculate too readily given the circumstances, but Jacki offers one of her trademark predictions that others will be implicated in this scandal, with Lyle agreeing that is is unreasonable to believe that Al-Fayed was able to orchestrate such monstrous acts without anyone else being aware of his behaviour.TW - much as Lyle and Jacki do not address these allegations in detail, this episode does contain references to allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and rape. Listener and viewer discretion is advisedArtwork & music by Lyle FultonGet in touch via lylefulton@hotmail.comMore information at www.therestispr.comFollow us on Twitter - @TheRestIsPR