54
Interview
PowerList 2008
INSIDE OUT
She has an A-list client roster from Sir Paul McCartney
to P Diddy, but PR supremo Penny McDonald refuses
to rest on her laurels. Justin Onyeka met her
T
his morning, like most mornings, followed a similar our mother also looked after the neighbours’ kids because their
pattern for Penny McDonald. ‘I was having a breakfast parents worked. They trusted her. Looking back, I didn’t have that
meeting,’ she reveals, ‘with the CEO of [cosmetics com- one-to-one time unless I pushed for it and then it was late in the
pany] Elizabeth Arden to look at a PR plan to drive their brand evening.’
and promote their creams and perfumes for the following year. Penny left college not knowing what she wanted to do. Then
I came back to the office, looked at emails and clients involved her mother had a chat with her best friend, Frances Cairncross,
in different things from our legal case with Naomi Campbell to (former Management Editor of The Economist). ‘Mum delivered
someone wanting to know what to wear at Ascot for an event her [Cairncross’s] babies and she said she knew someone at The
we’re hosting there. While doing that, I’m brokering deals for Telegraph who was looking for people.’
other clients – two of whom have been asked to do Tv pro- Her Cv written, an appointment was made at The Telegraph
grammes...’ You get the picture? with the then editor, the late Lord ‘Bill’ Deedes. ‘I didn’t have a
But then, when you’re Managing Director of The Outside clue about the paper or its politics – didn’t know, didn’t care.’
Organisation, Europe’s pre-eminent music and entertainment Deedes, ‘The Grand Old Man of Fleet Street’, was struck by the
PR agency, you expect nothing but a full diary. McDonald is one 21-year-old’s spirit. ‘Maybe it was because I’m a mouthy cow. I
of the industry’s most influential and well-connected figures. just said, “I think your paper is very boring. I also noticed that
A formidable yet endearing character, the youthful looking there aren’t any black people or any girls here. What on earth am
45-year-old boasts a slim, six-foot-plus figure as she strolls I going to be doing here?” Deedes asked that she return with a
into her company’s modest boardroom. She was drafted in by critique of his newspaper. Two days later he made McDonald the
Outside CEO and PR stalwart Alan Edwards, 18 months ago first black person to be appointed as a journalist for the Telegraph
to be his number two in a newly-created role and to whip his newspaper group.
10-year-old company into shape. During 13 years, ‘I worked in all divisions. It was really hard
‘What I did was bring structure to the company and identify and brutal’ – she rose to become Tv & Radio Editor of both the
the strengths and weaknesses of the team that were in place.’ daily and Sunday editions. She also forged lasting friendships
She did so by splitting Outside’s 34 London-based staff and valuable contacts – with the likes of renowned fashion editor
into four divisions: music, international, talent and consumer/ Hilary Alexander, London Mayor Boris Johnson, and London
events. With clients ranging from Sir Paul McCartney, Prince Evening Standard editor veronica Wadley – that last until this
and P Diddy to Leona Lewis, Nancy Dell’Olio and award shows day. ‘People don’t understand how we [at Outside] know all these
for Q magazine and MOBO, McDonald wanted to consolidate people,’ she says.
Outside’s vision of building its clients as brands. Her stewardship of the Tv section turned heads and she
‘I enjoy seeing an idea come to life,’ she says, clearly enthused. was poached by Redwood Publishing Group to launch Rupert
‘So often people jump into PR, but they don’t know what they’re Murdoch’s Sky TV magazine. ‘They told me that the only
PR-ing. When you sit down with a client and they have a vision, publication they looked at for accuracy and an in-depth knowledge
it’s your job to bring it to life. We provide creative solutions, an of the medium was The Telegraph.’ Travelling and meeting
execution map and a strategy. If they follow that road map it will be the greats of the movie world was by now standard. ‘The Sky
perfect.’ And if they don’t? ‘That’s when it’s difficult to control. So experience was the best,’ she excitedly recalls. ‘It also taught me
you have to have that embodiment of trust.’ about marketing skills.’ After seven years, and by now Editor-in-
When her clients, such as Naomi Campbell and Amy Chief and Redwood’s PR director, she was headhunted once again.
Winehouse, are splashed across tabloid front pages for various This time by Publicis, the giant Paris-based advertising agency,
misdemeanours, McDonald and Outside switch to crisis becoming the publishing arm’s Editorial Director.
management mode. Did she think Naomi’s image was now Three years on, she was at Outside.
redeemable, I wondered? ‘I hate being bored and can’t sit still,’ she says. ‘I have to be
‘Nothing’s insurmountable. What you have to do is manage it doing something – that’s my passion.’ At weekends, it’s all about
and ensure that the brand retains its integrity. Naomi will still have family – husband David and 14-year-old son Rory. ‘Nothing enters
lovely catwalks for however long she wants to continue her career. the world of my family then. Nothing. That’s sacred.’
Once you fundamentally keep the brand intact, you’re fine. All the In three years she wants Outside to wield even more
incidentals, yes, they’re blips, but not insurmountable.’ international clout. ‘You have to have focus and a plan,’ she
Penny McDonald is the youngest of five girls. Her father, insists. Anything else? ‘Don’t allow obstacles to stand in your
an engineer and mother, a midwife, arrived in England on the way. You know what those obstacles are? Your own self-doubt.
Empire Windrush ship. The McDonald front door was always Have real belief in your vision and make a difference.’ Just like
open in Dulwich. ‘The only thing we felt cheated about was that Penny McDonald.
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