The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

256: Meghan Markle: Decoding Recent Moves & PR Decisions

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In this episode of the Indestructible PR Podcast, host Molly McPherson delves into the recent moves and PR decisions of Meghan Markle. Molly shares her insights and analysis on the infamous Duchess, discussing her journey, challenges, and the lessons we can learn from her.

Highlights:

1. International Interview: Molly begins the episode by recounting her recent appearance on Australia's longest-running morning breakfast news program, the National Today Show. She talks about the nerves and tech issues that come with live interviews and shares her positive experience interacting with the hosts.

2. PR Missteps: The interview focused on Meghan Markle's PR decisions and perceived missteps. Molly addresses the notion that Meghan has made one bad PR decision after another and highlights the importance of maintaining a relatable and approachable narrative for public figures. She mentions incidents like the security incident and the end of Meghan and Harry's Spotify deal, which have contributed to the perception of inconsistency and vulnerability.

3. Power Move: Molly discusses Meghan Markle's recent move to talent agency WME and the significance of being connected to high-profile talent manager Ari Emanuel. She explains how this move can raise Meghan's profile and potentially pave the way for strategic opportunities. Molly also touches on Meghan's podcast endeavors and the challenges she faced in securing high-profile guests, making a case for why a different approach might suit her better.

Beyond the Headlines: One of the key takeaways from this episode is the impact of media scrutiny and social media judgment on public figures like Meghan Markle. Molly emphasizes the need for a coordinated PR strategy to counter these challenges and navigate the ever-evolving landscape of public perception.


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© 2024 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

Speaker 1:

Have you been wondering what Meghan Markle has been up to lately? No, well, tough. You're going to have to hear about it because I prepared for it. I just appeared on the Today Show down under the National Today Show, australia's longest running morning breakfast news program and they wanted me to talk about Meghan Markle. So now you're going to hear about Meghan Markle.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Indestructible PR podcast. I'm Oli McPherson, sharing breaking news and pop culture zeitgeist moments that aren't just for social media. Each week, I pick a fuzzy story, analyze the juicy bits and follow with a PR lesson. We're using tried and true media PR tricks of the trade and this podcast is going to help you dodge those crisis curveballs to build a reputation that's not just strong, it's indestructible. In this episode, meghan Markle decoding her recent moves and PR decisions. Let's discuss the Duchess. Hey there. As I mentioned in the intro, or as I bark to you in the intro, I finished within the last hour in interview. It is 9.43 at night. I did the interview Well scheduled to do the interview at 7.15, went into my Zoom room and there's nothing worse than doing a live interview.

Speaker 1:

Honestly, my blood just rises and you'd want to keep cool. Your face gets shiny, but there's so much tech behind it and it's very, very stressful to get the tech going and know what you're going to say, prep what you're going to say and look good while you're doing it. And for many people that's probably easy peasy, but for me it's a bit of a haul. There's a lot going on. So I was coming in hot right before this interview was happening. So I had to come down and I had to prep, because now I have transition from using a computer to do media interviews to a teleprompter. So I'm going big time. So I have the prompter, I have the camera, I have the light, I have the monitor, I have all of it because I wanted to up level it. But it still comes with a lot of stress.

Speaker 1:

But I have to say this interview was a lot of fun. The producer who booked me just wrote me and she said and you know these producers, they're going to say it regardless if you were horrible or not but she said, hey, I smashed it. You know I love smash. I'm now going to make it a point to say you smashed it, but it was a lot of fun. I mean honestly, because the hosts, the anchors, carl and Sarah, what was nice is before I came on, you know you can see the stories that they're working on. I mean, that's kind of common when you log in early.

Speaker 1:

So they were doing a celebrity beat and they talked about Dick Van Dyke, but I thought they were announcing that Dick Van Dyke died. So I had a little panic moment there. I said that please don't make me come on and talk about celebrity gossip after Dick Van Dyke died. But no, no, they were just celebrating Dick Van Dyke, so it was cool. And then in the pre-bit chit chat, it was fun. They were really, really nice. So I really enjoyed that.

Speaker 1:

So you get to hear what we talked about. I know that I have listeners down under. I have a lot of listeners down there and I know many of you because you reach out to me and you talk to me and you also you always tell me when you see me live on the air, which is fantastic, which some people did. You know today already. But let's talk about what I talked about, because a lot of people in the US didn't hear it, so I thought we could go over it Now.

Speaker 1:

Some of the questions that they asked is you know, ok, now we have Australia, they're going to have their take on Meghan Markle and the US is going to have their take as well. You know, we tend to be like a messy gas of country when it comes to our celebrities. We love to knock our celebrities down, we love to cancel them. As a matter of fact, I just filmed a tiktok about jennifer aniston. She came out in the story Wall Street Journal piece about cancel culture and I said in this tiktok will see if I even produce it is pretty long or edit it. But she said they cancel culture. It was, you know, somewhat ridiculous, but she was comparing it to harvey winstein. Like she had me, like she had us was perfect, until she mentioned harvey winstein and that's kind of where she lost me. Anyway, back to australia. So as An active participant in the commonwealth, they're going to have a stronger opinions about the royal family and about harry and meghan.

Speaker 1:

So definitely, when this request came over, I know they were looking more for Not negative, because it's not a negative tabloid show, but they wanted, you know, television. They want to hear About the struggles and they weren't wrong. I mean because meghan markel has been through a lot of challenges. Add a lot of ping-ponging back and forth, deciding out what her career is going to be. The first question that they asked me was how they framed it. That make a mark when from one bad p? R decision to another. So that's how you know the frame of this interview.

Speaker 1:

So they asked, in my opinion, what they are doing wrong. What are you making are doing wrong? So I said, from a publicity standpoint and this is the one I can now, because I had my post it note have the other side of my teleprompter because usually just need prompting in the first sense and then I find that I'm a hundred percent fine. So I have publicity p? R missteps consistent narrative. New york spotify inconsistent. Could you put that together? You want to leave that together. Now you know what I said, but essentially what I said was from a publicity standpoint, it appears that there have been some missteps in their recent p? R decisions.

Speaker 1:

It's crucial for every public figure to maintain A narrative that's relatable, approachable. You know also, when you are someone who's dealing with a lot of media scrutiny and a lot of social media scrutiny, you are going to be judged differently. Harry and megan very much so. So they have faced a lot of challenges and I had mentioned the new york incident, you know, with security in the street I did a talk about that A while back and also the end of the spotify deal, and that's contributed to this perception of inconsistency and vulnerability. So megan and harry need a more coordinated strategy.

Speaker 1:

Enter the next question when they asked about are you manual, the agent with w me. So she's moved now to w me, which I said was a significant move. It's a power move Because are you manual? Now he's the one who oh my gosh, oh my gosh, do I edit this out of the podcast or do I keep it on there? Are you gold on taraj? Jeremy piven oh my gosh, I'm bringing it back to cancel culture, wasn't jeremy piven canceled? He's still out. He's still down and out anyway, but are you manual? So he is known for managing high profile talent. So the fact that megan is connected to harry, a manual, that kind of raises her profile.

Speaker 1:

And the deal that megan is making is not in the area where she had challenges, and I think this is where I said this. She's not a natural podcast host. She couldn't nail the guest that she wanted. She couldn't get the gets. It was said that she tried to get taylor swift. She wrote a personal note to her taylor swift said no, thank you. And it's really difficult when you are the duchess and you want to be a change maker, power player akin to michelle obama. It's very difficult to do that when people won't speak to you on your podcast. And I guess the numbers are saying on that podcast that they were good, but I don't know why that would be. I don't find her to be interesting talking about big topics. I don't want that from her. That's not who she is. It's like me talking about big topics. You don't want that from me either. She has a space and Aria Manual is going to put her in her right space Now.

Speaker 1:

Anyone who's been on my TikTok Lives knows that I've been saying for months and months that Megan needs to go back to the tick. I know it's beneath her. She doesn't want to be an influencer, but that's where she was special. That's where she was good. Nowadays, social media influencers and content creators they have a lot of umph behind them. There's a lot of celebrities who want to be like them. They're coming onto TikTok and they're looking at influencers and saying I want to be like you. Therefore, I think Aria Manual convinced Megan to make that step and said no, no, no, no, this is going to be your power move. I think it was a smart move. Gone with Spotify and Archwell. Instead of being Archwell Audio, they are going to be probably Archwell Productions. They're going to be a power player in Hollywood with productions. Look for business ventures and brand partnerships and endorsements. I think her avenue is going to land her somewhere between prolific producer and I said that on the air. How's that for alliteration and no popping my peas Reese Witherspoon and lifestyle guru Gwyneth Peltrell. It's funny how my brain works.

Speaker 1:

6. Do you remember Broadcast News? God, I love, that's one of my favorite movies. I love journalism as a genre and when Tom, when he is doing the newscast, they brought him in because he and Holly Hunter oh gosh, what was her name? Uh-oh, now my age is showing who was Holly Hunter in Broadcast News. It was Tom.

Speaker 1:

And, oh God, do I edit this part out. Does anyone want to sit and listen to me trying to think of something? It was Tom and it was Erin. Okay, so alliteration. It was Erin Altman and it was William Hurt played Tom and Holly Hunter played. I remember William Hurt went Jane, so she played Jane. I don't know Jane's last name, but I know Erin Altman and Tom. It was like Tom, it's like a marble mouth named Tom. Nick beat Nick, did it? Okay, well, come to me.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, gosh, I got way off. I got way off my path there. What was I even talking about? Oh, sucking about me. And I'm not even talking about Megan Markle. Remember when Holly Hunter was talking in Tom Grunnick's ear? There you go, there's his last name when he was doing the newscast because they didn't really have a script and she was talking in his ear and they said oh, it's like sex. I think I've said this before the podcast, but as I was talking about going to the paltry, so I said Reese Witherspoon, and then I said in my internal dialogue Molly, who's the other person that you wanted to say as I was speaking? So it was my own, jane, tom Grunnick moment. And then I went what's her name? Gwyneth Peltrow, flawlessly, all right.

Speaker 1:

Next question they asked me Sarah had asked me about partying ways with Spotify and that Megan parted ways, not the other way around. So can you explain why? And I thought, did Megan Markle Like I think maybe they got that from my tiktok because I said I think that Spotify walked away. No, I Said that I think mark Megan Markle may have walked away, I can't remember. Anyway, I think it was mutually agreed upon.

Speaker 1:

I don't think the numbers were there. Even though they say the numbers were there, I don't think the numbers were there. I think she was challenged getting the guests. I think there's a lot of blowback for how much money they were paying Archwell audio and Harry and Megan, because independent musicians are not getting the same type of money. They're not even getting close. Plus Spotify let go of hundreds of staff and Also just the decline in the brand value of the couple. They are having struggles and they were having problems just putting out content.

Speaker 1:

The first thing they did was a Christmas special, which I remember exactly where I was driving my car when I was listening to it. I remember exactly where I was and I thought to myself this is boring, incredibly boring, and I just couldn't listen to Megan Markle and I know that some people liked her, but I just it wasn't working, so they needed to move off of that. And what I think is Megan is not a Person who has a personality to carry things. She's not going to carry commentary, she's not going to carry conversation. That's not what she is. It's not to knock her, but it's not what she is. This is what she is.

Speaker 1:

They talked about the next deal that she was doing with the tick and how they got onto. The tick is I had Mentioned that she was at the farmers market when she was seen with an anti stress patch the new comb patch on her arm, and I said it was a choice to wear a A very warm coat, a Max Mara coat, in California in a warm day with the sleeves rolled up where we could see this anti-stress patch to promote a brand or Communicating her discomfort with the paparazzi who know maybe a subtle message there. But I think it's the signal that Megan Markle is ready to be an influencer I and not in the simple social media space, but with the TIG. I think the TIG is going to compete against Goop and Gwyneth Peltier gets so much grief for the Goop. I think Meghan Markle is going to capture as much of Gwyneth that she can like the style and the wellness of Gwyneth, without the craziness of Gwyneth. She's gonna have more relatable mainstream, she'll have things for kids, she'll have food, she'll have wellness. She'll have all the products that her and Harry invest in See how that works, and it's brilliant. It's brilliant and I think the TIG is a great idea. So I think Ari Emanuel got in her ear. Finally someone got in her ear and told her to do the right thing. So back in 2017, she shuttered it back in 2017. But on August 10th 2023, she filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office to revive the blog.

Speaker 1:

Look at all this timing. So that timing ties into Instagram, where there's an account called atMeghan. Is it Meghan? Many people are speculating that it is. Of course it is. It has to be. Of all the Megans in the world, I would think she would be the one that would get at Meghan. There's gotta be plenty of other Megans in line before her, but she got it, and some other Meghan out there got a hefty paycheck from Ari Emanuel. So she also and I said this and I remembered this for the interview in an article with an interview with the Cut, she was quoted as saying do you wanna know a secret? I'm getting back on Instagram. So I think this is her Instagram account. So this account was created before she launched archetypes and she wanted to go live with it, but she changed her mind. She just wasn't ready to go on social media, which was wise considering everything that she was dealing with with the family, with the royal family. But the account I mean, what a great handle at Meghan. I would love to be at Molly. Why wasn't I at Molly, wasn't I thinking that? But it has tens of thousands of followers, including me, and also it's followed by a lot of people that you would think would follow Meghan, like her friends, her hair colorist, just a lot of people who kind of hang with Meghan. So most people are saying that this is Meghan. So I think these are all the tells that Meghan is going to make her way into the brand endorsement and influencing space. She is also going to be a producer. She's just gonna be a mover in Shaker and Holly, which is what, exactly what I think she wants.

Speaker 1:

Oh, they did ask me another question, I think am I making this up about their marriage, speculating on their marriage? And oh God, I didn't want to be the one to be on national television in Australia, in a Commonwealth, and say, yeah, that they're breaking up, yeah, come in American and talk to us about the royal family. I don't think so. I mean, could there be a little boredom in that marriage? I would think so. I would be so bored because, oh my gosh, the two of them are locked away in Montecito. But I don't think that's happening. But I think it's there for engagement, to get buzzed, to get people to talk about it. I mean, why not? That's all a part of the leaks.

Speaker 1:

Now, in every episode, I leave you with one easy to remember takeaway to help you build an indestructible reputation. Because today, in this ever-challenging landscape PR crisis management you always have to make your moves. So here's your indestructible PR tip, inspired by Meghan Markle. So Markle's initial struggles in the spotlight are indicative of someone who is not living her authentic self. So it is important to find your niche, find your groove. Meghan Markle is a compelling example. She tried too hard in spaces that did not align with her true self, interviewing people, being a person of importance to make change. No, that's not her. You cannot go from suits which, by the way, is one of the top streaming shows on Netflix this summer but you can't go from Rachel Zayn on suits and then be on the stage with Milala and Michelle Obama. It doesn't work that way. It just doesn't work that way.

Speaker 1:

But we're going to give you your TIG. We're going to give you our views, we're going to follow you. We're going to wear clothes that you have affiliate links to. We're going to get on board with all those things that you do. So that is a lesson that you can take right out of Meghan's playbook Focus on what comes easily, what resonates with your core values and your strengths, because that's where you'll find your niche and that's where the world may fall in love with you and what you have to offer. That's all for this week on the podcast. Thanks for tuning in. If you found this episode insightful or entertaining, please leave a review and share it with your friends. Colleagues, so until next time, stay indestructible. Bye for now.

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