gang of four

[mms]

LONDON - Customer magazine company The Publishing Agency has appointed a new

managing director of its London office -- the lead singer of 1980s post-punk

band Gang of Four, Jon King.

King will join the firm as managing director and worldwide partner as The

Publishing Agency embarks on a multimedia strategy and relaunches in the

marketplace.

Until July, King was chief executive of World Television Group, where he

tripled turnover in three years and developed areas of its business

including webcasting, corporate communications and international news

production.

Previously, King was head of European business for ScreenRed, a division of

retail consultancy John Ryan International.

King is not yet ensconced in his new role because he is currently touring

with Gang of Four in the US. He joins The Publishing Agency on October 31.

"Jon brings unique visibility, talent, creative energy and experience to

us," Kirk Cheyfitz, chief executive of The Publishing Agency, said. "His

arrival also marks the first and most critical step in our transformation

from a publishing agency into a true multi-channel creator of brand stories

in all media."

He added that the company is being rebranded in November, although no

details of the relaunch are yet available.

"Today, with media changing rapidly, clients need a partner that can engage

and excite audiences with brilliantly told stories in print, on the web, on

mobile platforms, on DVDs and in any other medium now known or shortly to be

invented," Cheyfitz said.

 

[Woebot]

so weird

 

[Grievous Angel]

Makes perfect sense... that's a helluva CV there. From itinerant musician to itinerant management consultant -- not such a big step, especially if you're from an indie / lefty background -- gives you a sharper insight into where the money goes (and how to hang on to it).

Clearly in the light of this and the odd new album Go4 want to get paid - and good luck to them.

 

[ice bat]

Well done. I'm still, er...annoyed...about the reemergence as branded content of much of the material that originally appeared on entertainment!, but at least I know to quit holding my breath for a new album now.

 

[k-punk]

I find all this crushingly depressing...

 

[ice bat]

i for one welcome our new insect overlords </simpsons>

Well I do too, but I also find it so symptomatic and disturbing that I'm sort of morbidly fascinated as well.

And how creepy is THIS? From the website of The Publishing Agency's brand-new incarnation, Story Worldwide:

In the beginning was the Word.
Then came the Story.

The only stories people listen to these days are the ones they choose. The audience is in control. And it takes editorial intelligence to engage them. This is not an opt-out culture, it's opt-in.

Storytelling that creates opt-in is our business. We are world leaders at informing, entertaining, and engaging people with stories that drive successful communication. Our expertise is connecting brands and organizations with their audiences. Around the world. In any language. Through any medium.

Today, our storytelling is helping build and sustain the business of many regional and global brands. Our storytelling will help your business, too. We tell stories that are contextually relevant — stories that influence people's behavior in ways that are measurable.

Let Story Worldwide tell your story. We promise it will help shape your world profitably.

(http://www.storyworldwide.com/our_story.html)​

Resonates weirdly and rather horribly with k-punk's recent blog writings about fiction and capitalism, doesn't it? ...Speaking of fictions, Greil Marcus wrote more than once that Gang of Four onstage reminded him of scared extras in a black-and-white Cold War-era end-of-the-world science-fiction film who knew what was coming but couldn't stop it. One imagines now -- all right, I imagine now -- the film's end, exactly as foreseen, pod aliens in control. Christ.