Straight-shooting PR man with an irreverent side
Neville Martin public relations practitioner b August 19, 1941 d October 9, 2018
Neville Martin, who had what he called ‘‘one of the best PR jobs in the country’’ with the New Zealand Dairy Board (NZDB) for 30 years, was universally acknowledged by journalists as being far from your average spin doctor.
Rare in the hyperbolic field of public relations, he won enormous respect for his integrity, honesty and refusal to mislead, even if reporters were working on a story he might prefer them not to have.
Murray Gough, NZDB chief executive from 1985-92, goes so far as to say: ‘‘Neville Martin was a hero of the New Zealand dairy industry. He was an extraordinary example of how to conduct public relations – thoughtful, open and honest, rather than spin and blah.’’
Martin also had a legendary irreverent and self-deprecating sense of humour that survived, despite increasing attacks of what he called AWD – ‘‘Acute Wellness Deficiency’’ – until he died in hospital at the age of 77.
His funeral service at Old St Paul’s, Wellington, rang with laughter as friends and relatives recalled his witticisms and wry observations.
He would have approved, for, as he wrote in a hilarious memoir, By the Seat of My Pants, ‘‘One of life’s greatest pleasures is laughter, we could laugh a hell of a lot more than we do.’’
Gough said dairying was being written off as a sunset industry when the economic reforms of the 1980s followed dark days of price collapse and dumping after losing the British market when UK entered the EEC.
‘‘Yet through all those hard years the Dairy Board and the industry received almost universally positive media coverage.
‘‘Neville Martin was the reason. He earned the respect of journalists by providing a stream of accurate information, thinking ahead to give context and background to complicated issues, and making directors and executives readily available for questions. He succeeded by informing rather than brow beating.’’
Jon Morgan, longtime farming editor of The Dominion, said: ‘‘Neville was a straight-shooter who didn’t try to finesse the facts. Such integrity was and is rare in
communications positions. His view was that by treating journalists with respect the Dairy Board would earn its own respect.’’
Martin wrote in his memoir: ‘‘If I could be accused of trying to put a spin on anything it was to point out the crucial importance of the industry’s co-operative structure to the farmers – and to the country.
‘‘Apart from that, it was a case of letting the facts speak for themselves.’’
In 2002, Martin’s style earned him the title of Communicator of the Year from the NZ Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators, of which he was a life member and president in 2006-07.
Morgan recalls meeting him for the first time in 1971 when his typewriter bore a sticker reading ‘‘I’m backing New Zealand’’ – a popular slogan among government departments and major exporters at the time.
Underneath, Martin had added: ‘‘I’ve got it with Japan in the second leg.’’
‘‘It was an introduction to me of Neville’s brand of sly ironical humour that he found hard to repress in all aspects of his daily life,’’ Morgan said.
His son Geoff Martin recalled his father as something of an innovator. ‘‘He was convinced the problem of cold New Zealand homes could be resolved by lining houses with slices of tomato, his logic based on how well they retain heat in a toasted sandwich.’’
Martin freely admitted that ‘‘fits of inexcusable irresponsibility have dogged me down the years’’ and his books recount that he worked for three political parties (two at the same election) and used his irreverent sense of humour to write some stage revues, a couple of pantomimes and articles for the anarchistic satirical magazine Cock.
Cock was seen as highly subversive in the 1960s and some of his articles attracted the attention of the SIS. On applying for his SIS file, he found them along with newspaper clippings quoting him on Dairy Board sales to the Soviet Union, Cuba and Iran. ‘‘Brilliant espionage work,’’ he wrote. ‘‘How the hell did the West win the Cold War?’’
Martin began his working life as a cadet reporter on Wellington’s Evening Post in 1959, leaving in 1965 to join the government’s Tourism and Publicity Department. He was press secretary to Agriculture Minister Brian Talboys and Deputy Prime Minister Sir John Marshall from 1967-70 before joining the Dairy Board.
He took up distance running in his thirties and was proud of his best time of 30 minutes for 10,000 metres. ‘‘I sometimes wonder what might have been achieved if I had taken it up about 10 years and 20,000 cigarettes earlier,’’ he wrote.
He is survived by his wife Janet, their children Jo, Kate and Geoff and four grandchildren. – By David Barber
‘‘He was an extraordinary example of how to conduct public relations – thoughtful, open and honest, rather than spin and blah.’’ Murray Gough, former Dairy Board CEO