“After yesterday’s fantastic news that Speed was voted Best UK Consultancy To Work For, in the Holmes Report, today we find out that our clients aren’t half bad either!”
Read the full post, here: Speed works with three of the most valuable global brands | Speed Communications Blog, Feb 2010
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Unless you’re living under a rock, I’d be shocked and stunned if you hadn’t, at some point, read, seen a picture of, or heard fashionistas gassing on about the ‘hottest’ new trend of the season – Chanel’s transfer tattoos.
Having caused a storm of launch anticipation since adorning Chanel models on the S/S 10 catwalk runways, waiting list hysteria has arrived. The Les Trompe L’Oeil de Chanel, £49 for 55 individual Chanel Tattoos, is available exclusively at Selfridges.
At first sight, I too was pretty impressed. Having worked in the beauty communications industry for ten years, it’s refreshing when something new comes to market and ignites a new trend. To be honest, it actually happens quite rarely and it’s often driven by Chanel (think back to the first time you saw someone wearing the iconic Rouge Noir nail polish and heard, more recently about the limited edition shade, ‘Jade’). How often, does a beauty trend really coin a season – even an era?
On reflection, however, I’m starting to wonder about just how ‘inspirational’ this trend is. After all, tattoo transfers are nothing new and are widely available. But quite accidently, whilst researching this post, I stumbled upon the following transfer tattoo that, priced at £1.75, I would class as extraordinarily ‘inspirational’. Not least because the vendor, JoJewels, suggests that it’s ‘ideal for a shaved/bald head’. I’m going to buy one for Wadds so it’s bound to take off. Beat the inevitable waiting list and order today!
Lawn Mower Man transfer tattoo – available from www.jojewels.co.uk
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No brand Tshirt available at zazzle.com (see what I did there?)
I love this comment, which appeared in The Guardian on Monday and highlights the problems that broadcasters might face if The Department for Culture, Media and Sport goes ahead and relaxes the rules that ban advertising within the fabric of a programme.
The change in regulation would be a move designed to help UK broadcasters survive the slump in advertising revenue (although many would argue that the reverberations caused by media convergence classify this as less of a ‘slump’ and more of a ‘shift’).
Rebecca Front’s quite hilarious, but there is a serious undertone. The British Medical Association and National Union of Teachers are concerned that unhealthy products could be marketed by stealth in popular shows. Personally (selfishly?), my own concerns are that the high quality of British broadcasting might be compromised if script writers constantly have to ram cans of pop and athletic footwear into productions. How would the ladies of Cranford have coped?
You only have to refer to this list at BrandChannel to see that product placement is by no means a new phenomenon; we’re subjected to it all the time. But as a big fan of the odd cosy period drama, I worry that a change in regulation could mean that we see a less diverse range of genres being made – and that would make me sad.
I had the pleasure of spending Wednesday night at my first Digital Directors’ Dinner event, hosted by Netimperative and BIMA, which welcomed Stephen Haines from the UK Leadership team at Facebook.
Needless to say, on what was – as it transpired – the eve of Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that Facebook had exceeded 350million members, there was plenty to talk about.
I won’t share the specifics here, as attendees of the event agreed to a ‘within these four walls’ code of conduct, but what I found even more interesting than the fact that 83 of the top 100 US advertisers have switched their marketing budgets to Facebook, was Zuckerberg’s obvious and continued commitment to the core Facebook values – ‘open’ and ‘connected’.
By having a clear idea of what his values were from the outset and by having stuck by them, Zuckerberg has built an organisation that is true to its core. Using these values to shape decisions about both technological alterations (for example, this week’s announcement about privacy settings) and business transactions, has meant that Zuckerberg’s original vision has not been diluted as a result of growth.
And when you consider thatFacebook has accelerated from zero – 350million users within five years, that’s some impressive feat.
I LOVE a good conspiracy theory! And my long suffering colleagues have heard enough of my latest, so in the spirit of preserving their sanity, it’s time I shared it with the rest of you. Katie Price and Peter Andre; they split up right? Really? I’ll try to keep this brief…
Consider the facts. Or let Google trends do it for you. Katie (red line on graph – for the purposes of quick illustration I’m not adding another variable by including the name ‘Jordan’, because it’s also a country etc), love her or hate her, is worth an estimated £50 million and has made her money almost exclusively from media deals, or other business ventures that have been driven by mass media exposure.
So, Katie marries Peter (blue line on graph) in 2005, who you can see from the search volume chart, has always had less search interest that Katie. There is interest for Peter, too. But they were such a celebrity ‘couple’ and largely featured in interviews together. It may well have been annoying for him because he’s releasing his own music, was going on tour and might have been worried that people would think he’s just Katie’s puppet. But hang on, if they ‘split up’ and promote a ‘team Katie Vs team Peter’ movement – particularly if Katie ensures that she’s disliked enough to turn the nation to team Peter – he’ll not only sell more than four albums, but they’ll BOTH get paid for media exclusives (because as much as the nation seemed to want to punish her in the recent ‘I’m a Celebrity…’ antics of late, we’re to involved by now to even consider not actually reading about Katie).
Ever wished that you could clone yourself to double your earning potential? Just look at what’s happened to our blue line here – it’s reaching up to meet the red one, and it’s quite possible that they might meet in the middle before long. More interest in both individuals equals more income for each individual from media deals, equals an absolutely massive combined fortune. And they’ve nothing to lose; Katie has commendably managed to turn around her reputation from being the celeb that everyone loved to hate (circa 2002) once before, so she knows she can do it again (no doubt kicked off with a marathon interview with the pair of them spouting tales of forgiveness in OK!).
In my opinion, it’s either that, or they were never properly ‘together’. But hats off – what a great business model. We may never learn if we’ve been deceived or not, but it’s certainly been entertaining.
A collection of statistics presented to me at a JFDI® workshop, last week, reminded me of the importance of ‘networking’. In a survey conducted amongst Marketing Directors by JFDI® and the AAR, those questioned were 100% more likely to take notice of a business approach from someone or a company that they already knew.
When you consider all the forms of digital networking that are available at our fingertips, it raises the question ‘how do you define ‘know’ these days?’ I think I’ll make my point on this by firstly nicking a quote from the co-founder of LinkedIn, Konstantin Guericke, “While online tools are efficient in finding and getting the attention of the people you want to meet, real business transactions depend on trust.”
In my mind, getting ‘out there’ and meeting people face-to-face is still the most important element to building any productive business relationship. But are we doing it enough? In his brilliant book, Brilliant Networking, D’Souza says, “Often the most resilient are the most successful, because they pass the first requirement for success – showing up.”
So, get back to the mindset of the nineties. Pretend, for a moment, that you’ve got a laboriously slow dial up connection and the fax paper’s run out and for Christ’s sake, go and meet someone for a coffee.
By Clare English, Consumer
The ever-growing Primark brand is known for selling clothes at the budget end of the market. The company’s success is based on sourcing supply cheaply, making clothes with simple designs and fabrics, only making them in the most popular sizes, buying stock in huge bulks and varieties and not advertising. Yet, rebranded by fans as Primani, its cost-effective, stylish and excessive stock of goods has quickly become a household name for the average Briton.
However, despite this, some would still prefer to keep Primark as a guilty pleasure, laughing off any purchases from the store as a ‘one-off’. Nonetheless, it is hard to denounce quality when you experience it, and Primark’s make–up range, launched this year, has been recommended across many blogs and independent reviews. With pocket-money price tags, hypo-allergenic and vitamin enriched formulas and bright, quirky packaging, these products deliver a quick and affordable beauty fix with impressive results. With excellence in its merchandise, should we be embarrassed to hail quality substance for fear of being labelled as un-stylish?
My colleague and I had the opportunity to attend the PRCA and Cannes Lions hosted ‘How to Win a Gold at Cannes PR Lions 2010’ event, last night. Reviewing some of the submissions for campaigns that were honoured in the first PR Lions and gaining insight into what turned the judges on in each case was really insightful – here’s what we took away from the evening:
Presentation is key: Do submit a video clip that tells the story of the campaign – go all out with this as it’s what’s reviewed first.
Showcase creativity: It sounds obvious, but winning campaigns really need to demonstrate a unique and original approach and/or an intelligent insight
Demonstrate results: The results should illustrate how the campaign met the organisation’s objectives and not just talk about how much media coverage was secured.
Show longevity: If the campaign has been designed to be sustainable and to build over time, illustrate how this is likely to happen.
And my favourite tip, from Lord Tim Bell: Submit campaigns that have real ‘texture’ (I love that analogy and I have used it myself several times already today) by showing the different layers to a campaign and how they all fit together. The Grand Prix winner last year, by the Tourism Queensland ‘Best Job in the World’ was a perfect case in point here… but did you know it was developed by a copywriter?
After last night I’m certainly determined to be there in 2010 with one of my own clients.
As street fashion site Stitsh.com extends its watchful eye to roam the streets of Manchester, as well as London, could its savvy approach to making sales change the face of fashion retail – and the mediums through which its promoted?
If you’ve ever gazed at a pair of shoes on the tube, trying to steel the courage to ask the wearer where they’re from, Stitsh is the site for you. With its roaming team of photographers, Stitsh handpicks stylish, everyday people and shoots them – with a camera – before uploading the pic to the site
Its founder, Dominic Fendius, describes his closest competitors as fashion blogs such as the Sartorialist and Facehunter. It’s clear to see that their portrayal of ‘real life’ style has been a major source of inspiration. But what Fendius has done so effectively, is combine this growing trend with the successful methods deployed by online fashion and beauty retailer, asos.com.
Paul Oakley, a fashion retail consultant, predicts that Stitsh is set for startling success, providing that it can continue to grow and become more inclusive:
“Fashion trends actually differ more than you would anticipate across the different regions of the UK – and even from one side of London to another – so Stitsh will have to work hard to offer something for everyone in order to appeal to a lucrative user base. That said, it really taps into our growing rejection of glossy ad images and polished perfection. The growth of weekly celebrity mags, containing pictures of shambolic-looking, off duty supermodels, has shown us that polished perfection doesn’t really exist.”
Brits Wax Lyrical for Home Hair Removal
As the UK’s hope for a sunny May bank holiday looks less likely to be dashed, recession-struck Brits are shunning beauty salons in favour of WIY: Wax-It-Yourself body improvement.
Savvy supermarket shoppers have been swapping salon treatments for WIY beauty buys and sales of wax strips at Tesco have more than doubled in recent weeks. With the average cost of professional waxing reaching up to £53 every 4-6 weeks, consumers can look to save up to £677* a year if they swap the salon for the bathroom.
Mark Tyldesley, Tesco Beauty & Toiletries Category Director said: “With temperatures rising, the demand for a smooth & fuzz-free body grows, and people have cottoned on to the fact that you can get salon-results for a fraction of the price. We’re stocking up to ensure we meet demand as we expect sales to soar now that we’re set for some sunshine.”
** Price of average salon treatment waxes (including legs, arms & underarms, bikini and face) taken from www.removinghair.co.uk. Price of Tesco Sensitive Wax Strips £2.94 / 20 strips, at 16.04.09
