A pioneer of the British public relations Industry, Paul Winner, who has died aged 84, was a charismatic businessman who put PR for the first time at the heart of marketing. He helped professionalise the industry in the 1970s and 80s and built one of the UK’s top ten agencies.
In another role he was also an accomplished and prolific artist, appointed by the Home Office as Artist at Large for Holocaust Memorial Day. He captured the diverse mix of people he encountered through thousands of visual diaries. His work was exhibited and published internationally and he hosted his last exhibition in the West End just six days before he died.
Winner used his PR skills to campaign for the Liberal party, interfaith understanding and the UK arts. Hollywood legend Jerry Lewis called him the best-connected man in London. In May, 1997 he was asked to promote the show Damm Yankees at the Adelphi Theatre, starring Jerry Lewis. The producers said they understood – “Mr Winner was the best connected man in London” – and wanted him to arrange for Princess Diana to come to the opening night of the show in ten days’ time. Paul replied that he didn’t know Princess Diana and she would be unlikely to come to the show at short notice.
As he left the meeting he called Kensington Palace on impulse. He heard the response. “Caroline MacMilon, Princess Diana’s office, how can I help you?’ He replied, “My name is Paul Winner.” Caroline retorted – “‘Not Paul Winner THE Artist. I have one of your pictures in my bedroom!” The next week he was invited to meet with Princess Diana along with Jerry Lewis.
Born in London, the son of Mannie, a second generation Jewish immigrant from Latvia, and Bessie née Schneider, his father set up The Gift Coupon Company a British competitor to Green Shield stamps. In his first ten years of his life his family moved 12 times due to changing family circumstances and the disruption of the war. Initially he did not excel academically, but a long- jump accident at the age of 13 hospitalised him for six weeks and he used the time to immerse himself in the classics. Five years later he ended up with a state scholarship to St Johns College Oxford.
At Oxford he organised the first exchange between British and Soviet students and discovered his flair for publicity. His attempts to improve UK / Soviet relations ended up being front page news in the national papers. After Oxford he embraced Jo Grimond’s ‘Liberal March’. He campaigned for the then Liberal Party, and at the age of 27 was appointed their Parliamentary candidate in the Wimbledon constituency. It was at a campaign meeting that he met his wife, Mary Oppenheimer, whom he married in 1963. He later fought four general elections for the Liberals, nearly unseating the incumbent Tory MP Dr Alan Glyn in the 1983 General Election in the Windsor constituency. He canvassed support from the Royal Household and staff and pupils at Eaton College. He was also a founder member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Winner found his true calling in public relations. He was an incredible networker and connector. When he entered the business in the mid 60s, PR was a poor cousin of other disciplines in the marketing mix. His agency Paul Winner Marketing Communications (PWMC), established in 1967, heralded a new approach where PR played an integral role in company marketing strategies, and campaigns were underpinned by creative ideas, analytical rigour and measurable results. Winner coined the term ‘Marketing Communications’ to encapsulate this new approach to PR which helped to professionalise the industry in the UK.
PWMC quickly grew to being one of the top ten independent PR agencies in the UK. He was a creative and lateral thinker and came up with some big ideas – such as inventing the children’s bank account for Abbey National, and the 100th anniversary of the marriage of Fish to Chips’ for the White Fish Authority.
Winner sold the business in 1984 to Good Relations (then the number One PR agency in the UK and now part of Interpublic Group). A year later he set up his second agency Paul Winner Consultants. He continued to develop new business ventures until his 80s, including the Real Age Company which aimed to reward those whose biological age was less than their chronological age.
Outside politics and PR, he was a passionate believer in fostering better understanding between the Jewish and other religious communities. He was a prominent member of the Council of Christian and Jews for over 20 years, a member of their Advisory Board and Chair of their 60th anniversary celebrations.These involved 60 musical events with Music Choice Europe, a a reception at St James Palace attended by the Queen, and another at Downing Street attended by Tony Blair. He later helped Sir Sigmund Sternberg launch and develop the Three Faiths Forum.
His paintings and sketches raised tens of thousands of pounds for Jewish charitable causes, and he was Artist in Residence for the World Congress of Religion and Peace. His artistic talents won him an appointment by the Home Office as ‘Artist at Large’ for Holocaust Memorial Day.
Winner played a key role in promoting interfaith understanding in the UK through the Council of Christians and Jews and the Three Faiths forums. In 1994 he had an audience with Pope Jean Paul II as part of the interfaith delegation. He hurriedly presented the Pope with some sketches he had just done . The Pope surveyed his works and said: “Mr Winner these are wonderful works, but we do have other artists here in the Vatican.”
David Winner, former JC journalist and author and Paul’s nephew, points out in his book Al Dente that His Holiness implied his scribbles had little significance, but Paul chose to think he was being compared to Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci !
He died peacefully after a short illness, with his family at his side, and is survived by his wife Mary, daughter Sonya and son Daniel Winner.
DANIEL WINNER
Paul Winner: born July 7,1934.
Died May 21, 2019
