I am a staunch rejector of the nonsense marketing associated with 'country branding'. When the principles of brand management are applied to nations, the fit is poor, the implications impractical. Even if Britain were a brand, the debacle at Terminal 5 has not damaged it one 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.'