I’VE MOVED

I have moved my blog to http://www.beccacaddy.co.uk go visit me!

Do you feel fine?

I came across this amazing website today when looking at incoming links to my blog.

We Feel Fine is a unique concept which “harvests human feelings” from across the internet.

The process is fairly simple:

“Every few minutes, the system searches the world’s newly posted blog entries for occurrences of the phrases “I feel” and “I am feeling”. When it finds such a phrase, it records the full sentence, up to the period, and identifies the “feeling” expressed in that sentence (e.g. sad, happy, depressed, etc.). Because blogs are structured in largely standard ways, the age, gender, and geographical location of the author can often be extracted and saved along with the sentence, as can the local weather conditions at the time the sentence was written. All of this information is saved.”

The result is a database of millions and millions of human feelings which increase by huge amounts each day. But, the thing I love most about We Feel Fine is the way these emotions appear on the screen – which is both beautiful and artistic. They whizz around as “particles” and their colour, shape and size indicate the feeling inside.

Is it a bit weird? Yes. Will everyone “get it”? No. But, amongst the thousands of repetitive things on the internet today this is a beautiful piece of living, breathing art which shows that online interaction is emotive and life changing, not cold and clinical.

Just do it – the power of Nike

Right now, I’m going through a particularly active phase and therefore decided to invest in some new trainers…

The first ones I picked up were adorned with the Nike swoosh/tick.

But why? I claim to not be taken in by glossy packaging and brand image beliefs but, unbeknown to me, I instinctively always chose Nike over any other sports brand.

The key question is: Why are Nike so great?

I’ve written a list of just a few of the most recent innovative campaigns and techniques which are what I feel make Nike at the top of their game:

• Ronaldhino ‘Touch of Gold’ Viral video: An extremely popular viral video which has been viewed over 30 million times on YouTube. It’s the one with the incredible cross bar bounce back trick – I even know that and my only interest in football lies with a certain Portugese midfielder.
• Run London: Great because it managed to, “blend experiential and digital marketing for the first time” .These hugely popular running events take place every year in and around London. The great thing about them is that they’re all themed, past themes include: ‘Chicken and the egg’ in yellow t-shirts and ‘Go nocturnal’ in a load of luminous gear.
• Nike+: Described by Revolution as ‘technological wizardry’. Nike and Apple teamed up to offer the ultimate personal workout. A chip in your shoe can link directly to your iPod which can give you instant feedback about your performance. This information can now be uploaded to the Nike+ website where you can track your performance and share it with others.
• Nike Photo ID: It’s described as a mobile initiative which allows people to come up with designs for trainers from what they see around them. All they have to do is take a photo of a design they like, text it to the people over at Nike and their design will be incorporated onto a pair of basketball trainers.

Obviously, in Nike’s long standing and successful history there have been countless other campaigns but these are the ones I feel have really hit the mark when it comes to creating a successful blend between digital, social media and experiential marketing techniques.

I think Nike’s success is best summed up by Gareth Jones over at Revolution magazine, who wrote:

“Ever since its launch 45 years ago, Nike has been one of the world’s most enterprising companies. By continually re-inventing its products and redefining advertising genres, Nike has firmly embedded itself in the consumer consciousness.”

 

Luxury brands and social media – can it work, should it work?

My last post about Louis Vuitton got me wondering how other luxury, high fashion brands are utilising social media. And, the truth is not many of them are.

Does this mean they’re missing a trick when there’s clearly a lot of potential out there?

I think the answer is yes and no.

Before i go any further there ARE some luxury brands paving the way into the social media arena – Louis Vuitton in my post below, Cartier’s Love by Cartier Myspace profile with over 4000 friends and a number of brands have dipped their toes into the Facebook fan page phenomenon.

However, luxury brands stand out because they are LUXURY brands. By definition they are niche and, although desired by many, are designed only to appeal to the select few who can actually afford them.

Therefore, this begs the question, why would such high end, specialist brands want to generate mass conversation online anyway? Just as fashion houses won’t let you see normal looking women modelling their clothes on the catwalk, they won’t let you see xxcuteychav92xx engaging with them on twitter.

Therefore, for a luxury brand to create a strong online presence I think that the ‘rules’ need to be bent a little.

The exclusivity that makes the brand mysterious and aspirational needs to be upheld, so why not create elite communities online?

Although social media should not inherently be restrictive why not if it’s in keeping with the values of the brand? Then, conversation can be created, but with the right people.

My colleague Amy has just pointed out that social media is used a lot online in terms of sharing videos of latest lines, backstage gossip at the shows and model interviews, giving an interesting insight into the glamorous world of fashion. I think this approach seems to work a lot better than giving the brand a direct voice, like some others have chosen to do.

I’m going to be very interested in seeing which brands do manage to enter the social media realm effectively and which don’t. My favourite still has to be Louis Vuitton, but I’m on the look out for more…

Louis Vuitton – a timeless heritage enriched by social media

I think there’s a general misconception among those not involved in social media that blogger relations only works on certain products in certain industries.

However, after a recent search of online case studies for a university project I stumbled on an Ogilvy PR case study for Louis Vuitton, a luxury fashion brand arguably not the typical type of company you’d expect to be utilising social media tools. The success of the social media campaign relied upon building strong relationships with influential Parisian fashion bloggers.

It got me thinking about Louis Vuitton as a brand and how it’s communications are always impeccably executed and extremely consistent. I’ve written down a few of my key observations of the brand and how these two letters have become so well known and respected.

The classic LV of Louis Vuitton has become synonymous with travel, which is something the brand has massively taken advantage of over the years. This can be seen on many levels, most recently by the release of the new Louis Vuitton travel guides which provide a classy insight into some of the most interesting and beautfiul cities all over the world. This is further reinforced by LV’s mysterious cinema advertisements, all aiming to add a timeless quality to the products. All of these key values contribute to LV as a globally recognised brand which transcends boundaries in many ways.

The Louis Vuitton website has been praised for many reasons. It’s presented excellently and highly interactive. But, most striking is the use of video to convey Louis Vutiton’s key messages of classy, luxurious products, always developed with excellent craftsmanship.

I think it’s impressive how a brand with such a rich heritage can so successfully make the transition into digital and social media, never once changing its key values or identity.

@romeo, @romeo wherefore art thou @romeo?

I’ve always loved the theatre, particularly Shakespeare.

That’s why I’m intrigued by the recent news that the people over at Times Online Labs Blog have decided to tweet lines from the Shakespearean classic Romeo and Juliet.

You can follow all or only one of the main characters and a line from the play is tweeted every 15 minutes.

And just to add that extra quirky twist the characters are also kittens – or at least their avatars are kittens…

I’m very in favour of making Shakespeare accessible in different channels, even if it does all seem a little weird at first. But, is this just another case of jumping on the Twitter bandwagon for no good reason?

I’m undecided but felt compelled to follow.

Here are a few links to some of the characters: @romeo__, @juliet__,  @mercutio

I know you are, you said you are, but what am I?

How much can we really tell from what people write about themselves on social networking sites?

I’ve read numerous posts and articles recently which suggest that your social networks act as a CV, implying that what you write in these domains can reveal everything about you and attract the attention of potential employers. In a recent post, Liberate Media agree with this suggestion and list the comparisons between social network Twitter and the classic CV.

However, I think that people need to beware of the persona they create for themselves online.

Your blog topics may seem interesting and insightful but if you’ve just ripped off someone else’s entire post, how are you going to contribute to a face to face conversation about a similar topic?

You may be arrogant and self assured during internet debates, but if you’re shy and retiring in person you’re never going to live up to the confident personality you’ve created online.

So, I guess social networks are like CVs in the sense that if you lie or elaborate on them, you will get found out sooner or later.

Sweaty Betty leaping into social media

Sweaty betty are unique, promoting fitness whilst remaining feminine and accessible to the public.

They’re already branching out into many different and interesting elements on their website, which further set them apart from other brands.

For instance, Betty’s Planet and Betties in Action which explain their key messages to the public and clients.

However, I wonder how much work they’re doing regarding spreading their messages and promoting their brand through the use of social media?

They could follow close in Nike’s footsteps, integrating social media and digital applications to create something like Nike Plus. Which not only promotes the Nike brand, key fitness messages and creates community on and offline, but generates a great deal of Word of Mouth about the brand and its global capabilities.

On a more basic level, there are plenty of blogging communities who could be engaged with in order to spread the unique message which Sweaty Betty emulate.

Furthermore, interesting things could be done if a YouTube channel was created, emphasising the dynamic quality of the products. This could also show how accessible the products are – normal women who want to keep fit. Further attempting to break the mould the gym is only all about perfectly toned bodies and posing.

Clothing brands and stores need to realise the full potential of social media. Particularly those which are innovative with such a unique selling point, such as Sweaty Betty.

Work Experience and Placements – Hints & Tips

There have been numerous blog posts about the importance of work experience, how to gain it and how to make the most of it. Natalie Smith and Adam Lewis have written a great deal about their experiences on placements and Chris Norton wrote a great post about his top tips for students undertaking work experience.

I started a work placement one day a week at Wolfstar and now work three days a week part time. So, although I haven’t been there too long I felt it’s about time I add some of my key tips to getting the most out of a placement:

• Don’t be afraid of asking questions. I drive the Wolfstar team crazy with all my question asking, but without questions how would anyone learn? It’s a lot better to question what’s going on around you rather than sitting there on Facebook waiting to be told what to get on with or how to do something. Question EVERYTHING.
• Make the coffees. I’m not too keen on hot drinks so often forget to do this. But, it’s VERY important and shows you’re keen to get involved in office life. NEVER be a diva about this, everyone makes teas and coffees at some point in the day. Deal with it.
• Get on the phones. Apart from doing a bit of cold calling in a previous job, I hadn’t had much experience talking to important people on the phone. This may sound a bit stupid,  but when I first started at Wolfstar I was really apprehensive about talking to anyone on the phone. If you get a bit shy like me, just throw yourself into it and you’ll soon gain your confidence.
• Find out something about the company before you apply and show a genuine interest. For example, if you decide to apply for experience at an agency like Wolfstar, even if your knowledge of social media is limited, at least acknowledge that’s what Wolfstar specialises in and show some passion for finding out more about it.
• Treat it like a ‘proper’ job. Although you may only be there once a week or for a 5 day stint, treat it with the dedication, commitment and professionalism you would a proper job. This means not calling in sick all the time and being friendly and helpful, not hungover and lazy. You may well need to ask for a reference or career advice at a later date, so you want to be remembered as a great intern!

Online Shopping, Social Media & Digital Applications

I hadn’t realised the true extent to which well known fashion brands and successful online retailers are utilising social media and experimenting with the way their products and brands are portrayed online.

Topshop’s page dedicated to videos and podcasts shows new collections and interviews, regularly updated and added through their YouTube page.

ASOS’s blog is constantly updated with the latest fashion gossip and glossy editorial photos.

Furthermore, even the way products are viewed on the websites is constantly evolving. Most products on ASOS can now be magnified, rotated and viewed on a model as she walks down a catwalk.

It is clear that when it comes to online shopping, a small low quality photo of a product isn’t acceptable anymore. Online fashion successes ASOS and Net-a-Porter show us that it’s all about being highly interactive.

Potential clients now have the ability and freedom to learn about every aspect of the product and view it at every possible angle before they buy. Overall, ensuring a more satisfied customer and enhanced shopping experience.

The one criticism of online shopping has always been that it could never beat the real thing. However, online retailers are now making it even more possible to do everything you can in store without the crowded shops, irritating assistants and lack of stock.

These are ideas and innovations that are only going to become more widespread as brands and companies realise the importance of having an online presence and building relationships with potential customers. This is further emphasised by the huge network of dedicated fashion bloggers which should – and probably already have been – contacted by brands hoping to widen their scope and visibility online.

Although many retailers are using such tools and methods it surprises me that many still do not have online shops or only have a small and pathetic selection of items. It is retailers like these that really need to wake up to this great potential before they’re left in the shadow of others…