The value of celebrity

By Mik Barton on Mar 4, 08 08:07 PM in PR

What is the connection between the Lord Mayor of Birmingham and a sacked American TV chef?

Both crossed my mind at breakfast this morning and both feature in today's blog.

The Lord Mayor, Cllr Randall Brew, visited my sons' school last week and what a wonderful job he did too. The children were very proud to have such an important visitor and they were all very polite. The little ones especially were clearly in awe of such a very important person, looking every bit the figure in fancy robes they see in episodes of Brum - only twice as tall.

He has such a wonderful way with children that, for them, the Lord Mayor was the perfect mix of VIP with the personal touch.

I was with a ward councillor in a nursery visit the previous week. He had a great way with kids too - but without the robes and funny hat he didn't make anything like the same impact!

On a small, but innocent, scale it shows how civic or national dignitaries can still have an important function as ambassadors for what we do.

Several years ago, in a previous role, I hosted a European meeting of the International Ski Federation. I brought the event to my home town and took great pleasure in showing them the sights of our city. At the end I asked the visiting delegates what has been the highlight? To my genuine surprise it had been meeting the Lord Mayor and being allowed to stand on the balcony of the Council House pretending they were waving to the crowds below in Victoria Square. The civic pomp, which I took for granted, beat everything else we had to offer and left them with a lasting impression of Birmingham as a great and important city.

There has been a lot of chat this week (and yes, I'm guilty too) about Prince Harry serving in Afghanistan. So I am reminded of the work his uncle, Prince Andrew has been doing using his Royal title to promote British business abroad.

I am no great Royalist. But I am a realist. Some countries - and even our own children - are suckers for a bit of ceremony, fancy clothes and fancy titles. So while Britain has these traditions, we might as well make good use of them.

So what about the sacked American TV chef?

It was a piece in the Guardian that set me thinking about the value of celebrity abroad. Tales of Royal connections had apparently endeared him to US viewers, but Robert Irvine will no longer be presenting his show on the cable channel Food Network after he was found to have embellished his CV somewhat.

"The 42-year-old, who was raised in Salisbury, Wiltshire, is not, it turns out, Sir Robert. Buckingham Palace confirmed yesterday that he had not been made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order as he had claimed. Nor was he given a castle by the Queen."