My greatest PRunks

So the delightful Mr Ben Matthews has tagged me in a meme about the greatest PRunks…by this I think it means the most innovative and genre defining thinkers/marketers of a generation. So far the list includes such luminaries as Malcolm McLaren, the ginger-haired manager of the Sex Pistols, and Sir Winston Churchill.

Firstly I just want to say that I’m still a little unsure as to what it is that defines a PRunk and hence I’m going to fiddle with the boundaries a little.

In my estimation a PRunk must create a brand, not necessarily a tangible product but they must engage the man on the Clapham omnibus so that he understands the context and appeal of the brand.

This is not restricted to business, some of the greatest stunts of the last century had nothing to do with selling products. It's all about selling ideas.

They have to be people that I have a certain affection for, unlike the current Olympic officials I make no claims to be unbiased.

Henry Ford – Ford created a car which was neither the cheapest, the most agile or the most innovative but in the Model T he created a household name. The famous business strategy, “they can have it in any colour, as long as it’s black”, lives on today in business folklore and the Ford of today is inextricably linked back to the first chassis beloved by both men and their wives.

Boris Johnson – Like him or hate him, BoJo is a brand. The bumbling fool persona, the non-PC outbursts, the scruffy blonde hair make Boris as recognisable to lifers on the back benches as he is to children in the school playground. Many will denounce his policies, his ability to ram his size nines into his mouth and his selection of Deputy Mayor but none can dispute the effect of his brand on the result of this year’s election.

Joseph Stalin – Okay, this one directly contravenes the ‘certain affection’ rule but it was either him or Richard Branson. Stalin was a bit of an arse but the boy knew how to spin a motivational tale.

In the middle of the second five year plan, Joe wanted to increase production rates in his factories and mines. Using his propaganda machine, Stalin publicised the work of one man, Stakhanov.

Stakhanov was a physical marvel, hardly a man at all he could work harder than anyone else on the factory floor. Time after time he would obliterate production records in his mine shaft and his colleagues were in awe. Pravda ran a weekly column updating Soviet Russia on his achievements and new successes. People who followed his example were named Stakhanovites.

Russia fell in love with this walking legend, it strengthened the fractured relationship between the state and its people and was the driving force behind the completion of one of the most demanding and impressive industrial campaigns in history.