City & Gild: Boris Johnson, the brand ambassador

I was watching a black & white film the other day (who needs a 4k television when a film has a plot?) about a naval captain who united his rebellious crew by forcing them to build him a wooden dinghy, and then sailing it back and forth in front of them while they sweated away back on board. This made him an object for their collective hatred, taking their minds off their own personal gripes, and getting them to perform as a cohesive team again.

 

After the film my mind got to thinking how, in the world of branding, many companies have successfully used this approach. Take Sir Richard Branson for example. Whenever his business runs-out of news, his grinning face pops up clutching a bevy of attractive women, crashing a hot air balloon, or talking-up his space flights. Now I’m sure Branson is a savvy businessman, but I’m equally sure he has a slick team of professionals behind him running his empire. As with the navy captain, his role is to divert attention, distracting people from what’s really happening.

 

I have the same view of Boris Johnson. I’m in no doubt he’s an extremely clever and capable man, and that his oft-portrayed image of a buffoon (complete with ill-fitting suit and unruly hair) is just a ruse to distract and disarm. For example, at a time when the London Olympics was coming under extreme pressure, who stepped up to divert attention? Boris, stuck on a high wire. I don’t for one minute think this was anything other than a carefully orchestrated event designed to deflect, leaving the Locog team free to quietly fix the problems and throw the world’s most successful Olympic Games (alright, I’m slightly biased).

 

The only challenge for me is that this approach works fine for London, but I’m less convinced when you start talking about leading the country. In this instance I’m looking for someone who doesn’t distract attention away from the issues, but focuses it – more Steve Jobs, less Richard Branson (put it this way, which one would you prefer to go head-to-head with: Putin or Juncker?), and I’ve yet to see Boris the brand ambassador live up to this role.