Here at Highmore PR we have always understood the importance of Bloggers in todays high paced, globally connected information highway. With the rise of Social Media helping play a huge part in instant news and views, the fashion world has embraced and is using this information now more than ever. Designers and brands are able to obtain instant feedback of their work helping them know if they are doing the right thing for their market.
We were very happy to see when passing through checkin at London Fashion Week that there was a section setup for Bloggers. They also had an area where they could upload their pictures and get online throughout the day, a standard setup for most press.
Check out this report from the BBC who have also picked up on this very important shift in view:
As you would have heard from the report, over 50% of the press at London Fashion Week this year were Bloggers – amazing!
With bloggers having access to HD video recorders, cameras and recording equipment, now available at very reasonable prices, the quality of reports from a lot of the bloggers have been amazing and to a very professional standard giving the every day news and press a run for their money.
We support and hope that the future for bloggers continues to grow and that other industries also continue to recognise and utilise bloggers for the good of everyone. It is, after all, the consumers view that counts for brands.
When you’re running around town meeting clients it’s always nice to know a good place to go when it’s not being held in the office. Today I had a meeting at the National Geographic Store London, NG Café.
The staff are all friendly and the service very good. They have a decent menu as well as a great selection of teas and coffee. The space is very good and noise levels are just right for having a productive and relaxed meeting.
Get more information about the store by following the link below:
In the build up to the release of Warner Bros new film “Contagion“, directed by Academy Award ® winner Steven Soderbergh, they teamed up with Mark Biernacki and Steph Mackie of Lowe Roche advertising agency along with a team of microbiologists and immunologists from around the world to create a truly amazing one-of-a-kind bacteria message board.
Using the films theme which sees the spread of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days, Biernacki and Mackie contacted U.K. based CURB Media who helped them make their vision a reality. Tests went ahead to find the best kind of bacteria to grow into the shape of letters which would be used to spell out the films name. When the correct bacteria was found they then created what essentially were huge petri dishes and began to hand stencil the words onto the ‘dish’.
Once complete the team installed the ‘live’ billboards behind a storefront window in an abandoned building on 409 Queen Street West, Toronto. Showing nothing but gel, all that could be done is wait for the bacteria to grow to reveal the hidden message.
Check out to see what happend with what we think is an amazing piece of marketing as well as art in the video below:
You can find out more details about this story here.
After the huge success of Old Spice’s “Old Spice Guy” advertising campaign, L’Oréal have launched their own take on the concept with “The Expert” for their Men Expert range. Check out one of the videos they have produced:
L’Oréal have created both a YouTube channel and Facebook page for him. Will this campaign work for L’Oréal as well as it did for Old Spice, we think it just might, although “The Expert” will always be compared to The Old Spice Guy, one of the most original and creative marketing ideas we have seen for a long time.
Pizza Express announced yesterday that they are rebranding. The update is based on Pizza Express’s founder Peter Boizot’s visit to Italy in 1948, where he saw pizzaiolos dressed in stripes.
Pizza Express created something they call “Living Lab” in their Richmond store. They use it to experiment with all aspects of their service from design, music and food. They then invite their customers to give them feedback so that they can either improve service or know when they are doing something right. What a fantastic way to make sure you are giving your customers the best that you can and a brilliant way of developing your brand.
One thing is for sure, the X Factor is he best thing Kelly Rowland could have landed as it is giving her public profile in the UK a real boost. Although Kelly has released some amazing tracks since her departure from Destiny’s Child she has never really had huge recognition.
Since joining the X Factor she has received a lot of very good press and the social networks are buzzing with the thought that Kelly is now becoming the UK’s new favourite judge.
We here at Highmore PR have always loved watching Mary Portas since she has appeared on out screens. Mary is a retail expert who specialises in brand communication. She founded Yellowdoor, a shopper marketing agency offering a number of services including:
advertising
branding
retail strategy
communication
Her latest TV series, Secret Shopper focuses on customer service, or lack of, that we the British public receive nowadays. This is a subject that is very close to my heart, and I must say it is also something that I have wanted to tackle for a long time. Sadly I was beaten to the punch by Mary, but I couldn’t think of anyone better to take on the challenge other than us.
Mary has so far been able to convince top retail CEO’s to take a good look at their company which often they have had no real involvement with their staff and offer them a vision. After some resistance mainly due to ego, this vision is implemented and straight away business and profits are up. Most importantly customer satisfaction increases by at least 80%.
We really recommend all business owners watch Mary’s series and learn from a lot of the lessons, principles and tips which you can take on board to increase your customers experience. We here at Highmore PR agree with Mary’s ethic and advise our clients in much the same way as part of out business development plan.
You can watch, channel 4, Wednesdays at 9pm and catch up with previous episodes here:
Elevated Self needed business cards, no problem, we sorted it. Can’t wait for them to arrive, they look great.
Even in todays electronic socialisation, hard copy business cards still play a large part when networking. Don’t forget to take yours out at your next event, or if you want help picking out the right business card for you, why not as Highmore PR!
When watching X Factor this weekend, we couldn’t help but notice that there was something going on with the voices of some of the contestants. It’s was that unmistakable sound of the Autotune. We found this quite bizarre seeing as it is a singing competition, but it was made so apparent it leads to the question, is this for more marketing?
We all know that the X Factor production team hand pick contestants to go through to the auditions and that the more strange they are, the better viewings for the auditions stages. Performances much like that of Shirlena Johnson’s are a class example of these and not forgetting Jedward. They grab headlines and keep those people who don’t even watch the show in the loop and talking about it. With the blatant use of Autotune this has also had the headline grabbing affect:
It is reported that the X Factor are not saying that they are using Autotune:
A spokesman for The X Factor, while not admitting the “autotune” charge, conceded that post-production work was necessary because the show used 48 microphones. It was, he said, for the viewers’ benefit and such sound techniques employed were “all quite usual”. Furthermore, it did not affect the judge’s decision.
“The judges make their decisions at the audition stage based on what they hear on the day, live in the arena,” he said. “The footage and sound is then edited and dubbed into a finished programme, to deliver the most entertaining experience possible for viewers.”
One industry insider said that autotuning techniques were commonly used, especially in American TV talent shows. Normally an audience Read the rest of this entry »
Shirlena Johnson is the latest hand picked contestant on the UK’s X Factor to bring it even more publicity. We here at Highmore PR personally loved Shirlena Johnson’s performance. It has drawn so much attention that even Perez Hilton, celebrity blogger in America has posted about her:
So what does this mean for Shirlena? She may get offers from this, we hope she does. Let’s face it, she is not going to be in the final, but this does do a lot of good for the X Factor brand. From a single appearance on Perez’s website it’s drawn attention to the competition and popularity will be on the rise once again. This is going viral!
