Hiring guide or model casting?

This week, American Apparel’s hiring guidelines have been released. And if you’re looking for a job in retail look another way since these are very very very specific guidelines.

Silly guidelines for girls:

a) Makeup is to be kept to a minimal- please take this very seriously. Liquid eyeliner, pencil eyeliner and eyeshadow are advised against; mascara must look very natural (ie. should not be clumpy or a color that does not compliment your skin and haircolor). Blush must not be overdone- should not have glitter or sparkles. Liquid foundation is prohibited (undereye concealer is understandable if it looks natural- ie. not clumpy or caked on, must match your skin tone). Please do not use a shiny gloss on your lips; any lipcolor must be subtle.
b) Eyebrows must not be overplucked. Full eyebrows are very much encouraged. Please do not dye your eyebrows a different color.
c) We encourage long, healthy, natural hair, so please be advised of the following:
-Hair must be kept your natural color.
-Blow-drying hair excessively could cause heat damage, so this is advised against.
-”Bangs” or “fringe” are advised against. It is not part of the direction we’re moving in.

And guidelines for the poor guys:

a) Hair should look natural. Excessive product to the extent of creating stiffness and an unnatural or greasy appearance to your hair is advised against.
b) Eyebrows should be natural. Please do not dye your eyebrows a different color or overpluck them.
c) Males should not wear makeup.
d) Facial hair needs to be kept clean and well groomed. Any mustache or goatee of a contemporary style are advised against.
e) No gauges allowed whatsoever.

At least I’m on the same page as them regarding men plucking their eyebrows.

Am I the only one that thinks this is extra nutty?

Apparently, American Apparel thinks this is nutty too.

World of Paper

Simple product. Great ad.

I guess I’m never going to be allowed to complain to myself about having a dull client when BBDO México made this visually intriguing ad about a simple lined notebook. I love it.

more about “World of Paper “, posted with vodpod

The tagline says : All good ideas start with paper. I agree.

Coco Chanel is Rolling in her Grave

Perez has made his life criticising others. He’s made a ton of money over making people feel inadequate at what they do (or attempt to do). I won’t pretend I hate him, I was obsessed with his web page not so long ago, but I’m over his new self-promotion antics.  He loves dissing actresses that go into singing and singers that go into acting. He’s tried writing a book (didn’t sell as much as planned), and designing a fashion line (horrible), but his success has been through his gossip blog. If he recognizes that to each his own why is he going into fashion blogging? His new web page Coco Perez, which Perez refers to as “the ultimate destination for where celebrity meets fashion,” is an unnecessary attempt to dive into one of the areas he knows the least about. He knows nothing about fashion (see his own clothes and styling) and I think it’s ridiculous in venturing into this area. I doubt he’ll be feautring anything beside b, c and z list actors and actresses that don’t know how to dress. I wonder if we’ll be seeing any real fashionistas or stylish people there? And no, his obsession  Lady Gaga, doesn’t count as stylish.

The weirdest thing is his reference to Coco Chanel in his blog title page when I’m sure that if she were alive she’d want nothing to do with him.

Another interesting observation is Gap’s sponsorhsip of this page. It tells how desperate they are to jump into the “hip” and “fashionable” band wagon. I don’t think Perez is the best way to do so. The Sartorialist and other blogs of the like show people in classic, not trend, pieces that look great and might identify more with the Gap brand. Yes, Perez reaches a mass market, but it’s a mass market obsessed with Britney’s comeback, Katie Price and Lilly Allen’s stupid moves. I don’t think this is something that Gap, known for its classic looks, wants to be associated with. Their collaborations with designers was a much better way to get attention.

Though Perez is a media genius and I have to give him props for being able to get virtually unknown singers into everyone’s head and for adding charities into his blog posts, I think he should’ve learned from his past mistakes of venturing outsie his forte, and leave fashion blogging to those who know about it.

Some of my favorite fashion blogs:

• The Sartorialist - for stlyish street fashion from NY to Milan
• Easy Fashion – for street styles from Paris
• The Cut – Ny Magazines fashion blog. Great for info on Brands and
• Go Fug Yourself – for my dose of celebrity bashing with wit and amazing pop references
• Sea of Shoes - a sort of edgy fashion diary. so famous she got her own shoe collaboration with uo.
• Cherry Blossom Girl – a great mix between fashion and photography.
• Jak and Jil Blog-  amazing pictures of shoes and fashionistas.
• Who What Wear- celebrities and fashionistas with a unique take on trends.

Members Only Bargains

 

When you think of bargain hunting nothing nice comes to mind. You usually associate with crowded racks, pushy women, long lines for the dressing room and an overall unpleasant shopping experience. And there’s always the risk that wehn you find that perfect top/dress/pants/skirts it has a stain/ snag/tear. In my head it’s a little different.

For a while, I’ve been fascinated by the recent rise in members-only shopping web pages. I love going on RueLaLa, Gilt Group and Hautelook to check what the sales are for each day.   They’ve managed to turn crowded and unglamorous sales racks into fabulous exclusive online boutiques. They have sales that last one to two days with prices that are usually 40-70% off.  I have to admit that I quickly became addicted to checking what was on  each day and what fabulous finds I would save money on.  I love everything about the shopping experience. I like feeling I save money, the idea that I’m part of a secret club, the amazing selection of brands, the quick shopping and getting the gorgeously wrapped package with the personalized notes. I’m the ideal customer.

As an advertising student I’m amazed at how the marketing aspect of these webpages work. They opened a nische market in a seemingly overcrwoded internet. They found a way to tap into the demographic of big spenders, and those who want to be big spenders, by  packaging a sales rack in a much more alluring shopping experience. To get customers they rely on word of mouth and since women love secrets, especially shopping secrets, this method has been a hit. That, along with a $10 credit incentive has women sharing memberships with all their friends and taking the advertising aspect away from the online sotre’s hands. According to a Wall Street Journal, 

The private-sale business avoids two common pitfalls of online commerce: low margins due to inventory costs and spending on online ads. Marketing centers on email blasts to members. And by carrying only a few dozen styles, often out of season, the sites are able to keep a lid on inventory spending.

They not only manage to save themselves money, but also their clients. The time limit also ads pressure for the consumer and they think less about buying things. I’ve been about to buy things that have sold out and because of that (and to their benefit) I’ve learned to act quickly when I do want something. They don’t skimp on the shopping experience though. The web-pages are extremely user friendly and make sure that the shopping experience is special up to the point where you get your package. You get your quality goods in a gift box with a letter and  in some cases other perks. RueLaLa has RueLaLa business cards which you can use to give to your friends and invite them to join the site. It sure beats shopping at Marshall’s or TJMax’s crowded racks to try to find some fancy bargains.

I might be a bit biased since I love bargains and I love shopping, but there’s definitely a future for these pages. There’s a reason why there’s so many popping up. Brands, clients and investors love them. I’m not the only one.

If you’re interested in some bargains, here’s a link for a membership to Rue La La (by far, my favorite)

http://www.ruelala.com/invite/didisworld

Free Nothings

 

read the small print

 

 

All companies want a piece of the free publicity that social networking brings. Twitter, Facebook and bloggers have the ability of getting the attention of a lot of people. Recently, companies have been trying to find new ways to exploit this new media and its influence. Moonfruit has been the best example so far. They managed to get themselves on the trending topics by simply offering 10 MacBook Pros to one random person per day that mentioned moonfruit in their tweets. It managed to get them a huge amount of attention and free press. 

Some have been victims of it. Yesterday i saw that one of the trending topics was “AT&T is a big” and another one was “steaming, hip of failure.” Of course, I had to click and it led me to an article that trashes AT&T and encourages Apple to not renew their exclusivity contract for the iPhone with AT&T. 

Hopefully, Starbucks won’t get trashed for their pathetic attempt to get positive press. Thier offering a free pastry  on the morning of July 21st to anyone that buys a beverage. But by morning they mean opening time to 10:30am. They are obviously trying to increase sales and entry into their stores, but maybe they should try harder. Ben and Jerry’s has a free cone DAY  and one day a year Dunkin Donuts offers free iced coffee from 10am to 10pm. Everyone could get a free cone or a free iced coffee but only those that print out the paper or show it to the barista on their handheld device will be able to get the pastry. I think braving those bound-to-be-crazy lines is certainly enough.

I wonder if Starbucks will get the publicity and sales rise it desires. I personally, don’t think a couple of hours is enough. And they definitely owe loyal customers more than 2 or 3 hours of a limited amount of free pastries.

In an Ideal World

I’d love to see this concept in action.  It’s a paper bottle to replace the plastic bottle. Though it’s still not as environmentally friendly as drinking regular tap water or using your own reusable thermos it offers users an option other than the typical overused plastic bottle. Yes, it has its shortcomings (it still needs to be recycled, paper production takes a lot of energy, people won’t catch on…), but at least it’s proof that people are thinking the right way.

CHALLENGE
Each day, Americans throw out 60 million plastic bottles. Only 14% actually get recycled—meaning 86% become garbage or litter. We looked at this as a radical problem requiring an equally radical solution. Could we design a container that would leverage sustainability, be easy to transport, and enhance the consumer’s drinking experience?

SOLUTION
The 360 Paper Bottle is a sustainable vision of the future. It is the first totally recyclable paper container made from 100% renewable resources. Versatile in its range of consumer applications and made from food-safe and fully recyclable materials, it decreases energy consumed throughout the product life cycle without sacrificing functionality. It is paper packaging that stands up to all liquid categories.

This is a project from BrandImage that still needs a branded home in order to work. 

 

 

via Dieline

Buying Followers

 

I won’t lie. Tweeting, like blogging, makes me feel important. I like it when I get many clicks on my blog or when i get a new follower. I like knowing that someone is interested in what I’m saying. (It might sound egotistical, but I’m jsut saying what others aren’t).   Everyone that’s on Twitter follows and likes being followed, but how far would you go to get new followers?

Tweeters are now able to buy more followers.

uSocial, a social media marketing company based in Australia, has launched a paid service to track down followers for Twitter users. Followers can be bought in blocks of 1,000 for about £50.

The company finds potential followers by searching through Twitter to discover areas of common interest to match people more closely. uSocial then send these potential followers a message, alerting them that there is someone on Twitter they might want to follow. The potential follower then decides whether or not to follow that person.

Though amazing for brands it defies the subtlty of social media. People will be suggested who to follow and not choose by themselves. Eventually, they may get overwhelmed and annoyed by all the ‘suggestions.’

As a marketer, I see the appeal of getting your word out to thousands, especially at 50p per person. But I would rather have a few followers that sought me out and actually follow what i say then many that aren’t that engaged.

Personally, I’d hate emails telling me who to follow. I like the suggestions that come from friends, but I’d find these oddly invasive.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL ARTICLE

via Telgraph.co.uk

Nigaz

It’s easy to fail in international branding. Markets have different slangs, customs and cultures and it’s hard to take them into account along with the norms for the global market. A failure that’s boundto make the media rounds this week is “Nigaz” – Russian gas giant Gazprom’s new joint venture with Nigerian firm NNPC- which, though a simple joining of the words Nigeria and Gazprom will be causing a lot of controversy. For English speakers it has a different meaning that Gazprom will definitely not be able to overcome. Twitters were definitely on it like wildfire (seems to be they’re the olace to go for everything lately). Here are some of the recent tweets regarding this.

RichardYoung: You know those brand consultants we all hate so much? Sometimes worth the money: http://bit.ly/HAKVF (hat tip: http://bit.ly/lFgocb )

MikeyTRRP: Erm, the firm is gonna be called WHAT?! http://bit.ly/HAKVF

RichHL: The Russians like Nigaz with attitude. http://bit.ly/HAKVF

CheEdgarissimus: It’s impossible, but true! Nigeria + Gazprom = Nigaz. http://tinyurl.com/l2lhkl

kollner: Gazprom signed $2.5bn deal with Nigeria’s state forming join venture to be named NIGAZ. Seriously, nigaaaaz http://bit.ly/QHQtn

renepower: http://tinyurl.com/l9n5uu Doh, more ‘Whats in a Name’ fun – Gazpro’s Nigaz Nigerian joint venture

For up to date tweets: https://twitter.com/search?q=%20http%3A//bit.ly/HAKVF#search?q=nigaz

I think a little bit of international research would’ve gone a long way. I’ll assume the rebranding they need to do will cost more time and money than that research would’ve.

via BrandRepublic

iNtense

I’m a Mac fan. i wouldn’t go back to PC for anything, and I can’t stand vista. I love my iPod and don’t imagine myself using a Zune, a CD player or any of the other music players in the market, but some things are just too much. I thought this list was full of ridiculous things. An ipod coffee table?! and an iCePod ice-cream?! come on!

1. Cupcakes

(image credit: clevercupcakes)

(image credit: nickbilton)

I’m a cupcake freak. So I’m bias on these. I think they’re cute, and I admire the talent and time put into them.

2. Costumes

(via: DVICE)

(via: DVICE)

The dog one is amazing. Is that a display ipod? I have no idea, but it’s perfect. THe couple might as well have gone as the plug and the outlet. It’s just as cheesy , half as geeky, and would’ve taken less time.
 

3. Doormat

(via: Meninos)

I dont get it.

4. iPad Tower, Dubai

(via: Boing Boing)

It doesn’t look like an ipod to me, just  a very impractical building.