Clive Myrie decries disinformation in rousing tones. War correspondents gather in flak jackets. Katya Adler waits outside fraught Brussels negotiations. Donald Trump is shot. A team of journalists gather around a computer to scrutinise every inch of an image they think might be fake…
It’s safe to say it doesn’t get more intense than BBC Creative’s recent spot: ‘The Fight For Truth Is On’.
The message highlights the complexity that lies beneath every war, feisty election cycle, or short-lived pop culture controversy that hits the headlines. But, more than that, the ad shows off the broadcaster’s brand story – offering clarity amid the noise of disinformation.
Brands are becoming increasingly prone to waxing lyrical about authenticity, whether they’re challenger labels like Lucky Saint or giant multinationals such as Unilever-owned Dove. But despite all the flack it gets (and rightly or wrongly it receives regular criticism from both ends of the political spectrum), the BBC has undeniable clout.
The delicate balance
Calling into the Upfronts event at Broadcasting House from a heavy day of reporting in Jerusalem, Myrie himself said he faces criticism from all sides.
“If you’re an impartial broadcaster and your job is to weigh up the facts and put all that evidence in front of a listener or viewer then one side is going to get angry with you because you’re putting forward the other side’s point of view.”
Sitting in the middle can mean losing friends and finding yourself lonely: “But that doesn’t matter because our focus has to be facts and evidence,” Myrie added.
Speaking about the Middle East specifically, he described it as: “such a complicated region where all actors have their own individual truths – and the problem is that those truths are just not meshing.”
Despite his dedication to conflict reporting, Myrie is also a well-known entertainment figure. He is the host of Mastermind, and has previously appeared on news-based panel show Have I Got News for you.
Myrie cringed slightly at the idea he might be a brand, but enjoys harnessing different aspects of his personality. “What you’ve got to understand is that one part of that personality shouldn’t overshadow the other, so it’s keeping it all in balance. And that means choosing projects or ideas that complement each other.”
Like Myrie the BBC has to ensure it gets the balancing act right.
How can the BBC combine purpose and innovation?
Like most broadcasters at present it is strapped for cash. Ever keen to expand its commercial arm it leans on its journalistic heritage to pull in brands.
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BBC Studios senior vice president Jasmine Dawson used the event to drive home a message about the value of being associated with trustworthy news.
“Brands can play their part in supporting quality content from media outlets they trust,” she said.
“We don’t approach brand partnerships as one-off activations. We try to build a world for brands inside the BBC ecosystem with multiple touchpoints and executions that create layered and nuanced stories.”
Also speaking at the Upfront event was Professor Alex Hill, leading business authority and author of Centennials, which explores the traits behind some of the world’s most successful brands from NASA to New Zealand’s All Blacks.
He highlighted that like the BBC, long-lasting businesses have a set of core values which guide them forwards, although he is also adamant that there’s a deeper driving force at work. “One of their mantras is leave the shirt in a better place,” Hill added, referring to the All Blacks.
Levi’s was held up as another example: “They gave some of their first profits to a local charity and a key principle for them is better clothes that are warmer for longer. They do lots of work around that. And you do find that all the great institutions have a sense of purpose.”
Hill was also clear that teams need to embrace youth alongside experience: “You need this disruptive edge that drives innovation and rejuvenation.”
‘Ready for the next stage’
Founder of plant-based food business Deliciously Ella was joined by Nick Grimshaw (whose own trajectory has grown from being a 20-something party boy to a man who has hit 40 and is more interested in homely matters).
In contrast to Grimshaw – who admitted to being obsessed with music from an early age – Ella Mills, said she had “no interest in food whatsoever growing up”.
It was an unexpected illness that led to her creating her astronomically successful brand, which has sold over one million products since its launch. Being hospitalised and ill with fatigue, digestion, heart and circulation problems in her early twenties led Mills to develop an interest in nutrition and healthy eating.
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Back in 2011 and 2012 when she started to share her interest in the topic it was niche. In 2024 that couldn’t be further from the truth, but Mills got there at the right time. Twelve years later, the brand is in a very different place – it has just been sold and she is focusing on building it out.
“We’re competing against brands owned by Mars, Unilever, Mondelez and General Mills and that’s really hard to do when you’re an independent brand,” she said.
Mills asserted that although the brand is “so ready for the next stage”, she “still feels as passionately and strongly as she did on day one”.
And that’s the message the BBC wants viewers to take away. The broadcaster knows it has to evolve with time. But just like any great brand or personality, to truly build trust and ensure its continued survival it will have to keep the faith.
