Can PR work for Andrew Murray?
By Effective Communication
CALL me an old cynic (old cynic) but keep an eye out for the PR activities of Andy Murray over the next few months.
I put the almost invisible coverage of his first week at Wimbledon down to the London media’s obsession with little men kicking a ball that doesn’t work across South Africa.
But not much changed in the second week either. And as one colleague who was at the semi-final against Rafael Nadal told me: “It was really quite embarrassing. There were as many people supporting Nadal as there were Murray – the Middle England women who used to wave their Union flags at Tim Henman just don’t like him!”
Whether that’s down to his ‘Anybody but England’ comments during Euro 2008 (he says he was joking) is unclear.
But the dour Scot who can’t smile undoubtedly has an image problem, and a country (that’s GB in this instance) which is desperate for sporting success is struggling to take this superstar into their hearts.
For years, Murray shunned the use of a PR agency. But that changed a couple of years ago, and he now retains Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment Group to manage his reputation.
Simon is famous for turning the Spice Girls into global superstars – arguably he had the raw material to work with.
In Murray, he undoubtedly has his work cut out. But it has been interesting to see just a couple of recent outings for Murray which suggest a new attempt to begin the big thaw with the Great British public.
On Tuesday he was dressed to impress on James Corden’s appalling World Cup Live show. Though why he needed to be armed with a tennis racquet is anyone’s guess. And this morning, he’s playing keepy-uppy with a tennis ball on BBC Breakfast TV, showing that the young guy does have a bit of fun in him yet.
I may be being a bit harsh on the guy, but the quick succession of these appearances suggests there is a campaign in the making…prizes may be awarded for the number of off-court sightings of Murray in the coming weeks. You read it here first!
Tags: Andrew Murray, PR
