Bell Pottinger North director John Butters has been signed up to help smooth relations between Dr Thaksin Shinawatra and the media. In a short interview with How-Do he found himself suddenly acting as the mouthpiece for an ex-Prime Minister, global businessman and entire premiership football club.
Butters, a Formula One rather than football fanatic, surprised many in the media yesterday when it emerged that he, backed by his 40-strong Macclesfield team, had been taken on to manage the reputation of controversial Manchester City owner Shinawatra.
Shinawatra (or Frank Sinatra to some MCFC fans) has hit the headlines across the world in the past few weeks due to his alleged desire to unceremoniously dump manager Sven Goran Eriksson (or Mr Burns to some Simpsons fans) after only one (comparatively very successful) season in charge at Eastlands.
This has led to near revolution in certain pockets of the city, while countless column inches have been devoted to the seemingly capricious actions of an owner that at best seems impatient, and at worst is doing nothing to enhance his oft-questioned human rights record.
Butters has a big task on his hands and, although he seems enthusiastic enough, surely knows it.
“There is a job to be done in terms of managing the chairman’s reputation in the North West,” he said, by way of explaining his remit.
“Dr Thaksin has very ambitious plans for the football club and it’s our job to ensure that his plans and messages are communicated to the fans and the media.”
Perhaps not the best selling shirt
Butters stopped short of opining that this hadn’t been done effectively in recent weeks, but did state that “there’s been huge interest from the media lately” and then took time to inculcate that no decisions had been made on Sven’s future “or anyone else’s for that matter.”
"There’s very little to communicate on that front,” he added, easing into the new role, before noting; “other than looking ahead to the ambitious goals Dr Thaksin’s set for the club going forward.”
BP’s contract is said to be short term and in that regard could be viewed as something of a fire-fighting job, as Shinawatra looks to shore up wavering support at the club.
It revolves around the ex-statesman himself, rather than the club per se, but it’s clear that it’s the football that will be taking up most of the time.
When quizzed on whether the agency would be representing Dr Thaksin in terms of his reputation regarding his position in Thailand, his financial situation or the allegations of human rights abuse that organisations like Amnesty have thrown at him, Butters seemed equivocal.
“Those issues would probably fall under our remit, but at the moment that hasn’t been discussed,” he said.
“We haven’t been briefed on that as it’s not at the top of the news agenda, the football is – so that’s where the focus is.”
Whatever BP North end up dealing with, and for however long, it’s a fascinating brief for Butters and his team to have landed, and one that represents a genuine and interesting challenge for the traditionally B2B agency.
The team are already familiar with the client, having worked to advise Shinawatra when he bought the club for £81.6m in June last year, but the new task promotes them to a different league, where not everyone is intent on fair play.
Observers will no doubt watch the game unfold with interest.
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