Gaga on Radio One’s Big Weekend

So she turned up to the Grammys in an egg, and Radio 1’s Big Weekend in a coffin, seemingly pregnant. After an impressive entrance Gaga powered through an hour long set to the 20,000 strong audience at Carlisle. Watching it at home with friends, there were mixed reviews…

After the black latex-esq pregnant belly was removed Gaga wore an assortment of morbid black leather outfits, with dancers, classics such as Just Dance and Poker Face and a jazzy guest from New York the show commenced….

Many were, I think, expected a more aesthetically spectacular show, I personally would have liked to have seen some more spectacular outfits. Though one of my friends likened her to a bar singer, I thought her rendition of Orange Coloured Sky, Speechless and The Edge of Glory were beautifully performed!

The Big Day

So, the 29th April came and went and by the end when tears had been shed and parties had, a glimmer of pride remained in the eyes of all who watched and celebrated the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

It’s 9:30 and the majority of the UK who are lucky enough to have the day off school or work are starting to get ready for the day with the either Huw Edwards or Phillip Scofield talking through the proceedings as an array of guests arrive at Westminster Abbey. The Beckham’s and Elton John and David Furnish can be spied within the crowd along with other celebs and Royal faces, some in questionable outfits, some in spot on attire.

Others who bravely camped out in London overnight take their positions around London, hoping to get a glimpse of the wedding procession. At 10:15 chants can be heard outside Clarence House ‘We Want Wills’, around two minutes later Price William and Prince Harry Emerge, William wearing the uniform of Colonel in The Irish Guards. They both coolly wave at the crowds, looking calm as the frantic crowds scream  for them.

At 10:30 Carol and James Middleton arrive, Carol in ice blue (an instant hit with fashion commentators) and James in tails. They both looked excited as they walk into the Abbey. Then at around 10:50, the moment we’ve all been waiting for…..

Catherine and her Father, Micheal, emerge from the hotel and we get the first glimpse of the delicate laced sleeves of her Sarah Burton gown. She looks collected and excited, Micheal looking the same and waves to the crowds. Her natural make-up and romantic half-up-half-down hair is stunning.

After a glimpse of the Queen in sunny yellow, Pippa Middleton looking equally beautiful as her sister, arrives with the bridesmaids and paige boys. Then the iconic image of Catherine emerging from the car and the gown in profile as she waves to the crowds around her. Her gown is perfect, and she looked every bit a Princess. The Middleton’s looked on during the ceremony, just a family watching their girl marry the man she loves and start a family of her own. For those watching at home or on a big screen in Hyde Park it was an overwhelming ceremony to witness.

The Balcony Kiss was then the last part of day before the general public left the guest list and the couple could enjoy their day with loved ones. The rest of us then proceeded to have street parties or BBQs to celebrate a day to be proud. For me this was a lovely BBQ in the back garden with university friends and making a very British Banoffee Pie, another moment of great pride.

Bon Iver: The Sound of My Summer

……… and every other season of the year! After being introduced to the band by a friend a few years ago I’ve been in love ever since!

Founded by American singer song writer Justin Vernon from Wisconsin, who put together the beautiful album For Emma Forever Ago. Their music is absolutely gorgeous with beautiful acoustics and harmonies and Justin Vernon’s captivating voice. They performed at Coachella this year and Vernon even sat in a performance with Kanye West. They also feature on the Twilight Saga’s New Moon soundtrack with their stunning song Roslyn.

I listen to my favourite of their albums For Emma Forever Ago so so much and have never once got bored and doubt I ever will!

Definitely worth a listen, here’s a cheeky vid of my favourite track, Skinny Love.

Tea Loaf Recipe

As well as music, friends and wine, baking is something I love to do to unwind and have fun! I’ve recently really got into it and a few weeks ago my lovely Mummy gave me the recipe for Tea Loaf…..

Here's one I made earlier

It’s basically fruit bread, but with a twist and this fat-free beauty is so easy to make. If you’re like me and trying to slim down for summer tea loaf is fab because it’s filling and as there’s no butter in it it has zero fat.

The loaves have gone down a treat with my friends and I’ve had lots of requests for the recipe so here it is!

You will need:

1 pint strong tea                                                 A  large mixing bowl

500g mixed dried fruit                                   2 loaf tins or one cake tin

8oz light brown sugar                                     Grease proof/ baking paper

1Ib self- raising flour                                       Cling film or tin foil for storage

1 egg

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees/ gas mark 3/4

Soak the fruit and tea together in the mixing bowl for a minimum of half an hour (could be overnight if you’re very organised!)

When it’s all lovely and soaked stir in the sugar then the flour then the egg. Stir well making sure all is mixed in thoroughly

Line the loaf tins/ cake tin with baking paper, then add the mixture and bake for around 1hr 15mins- but check after about an hour.

Keep in the baking paper and wrap in foil or cling film immediately to keep it moist, let it stand for about an hour, then make a cuppa and enjoy a large hunk!

Sarah Burton to design the dress?

The rumours that Sarah Burton, new head of fashion house Alexander McQueen, is going to be designing Kate Middleton’s wedding dress are being banded around all over the place, though she is denying that she’ll be the lucky designer.

With contenders such as Alice Temperley and Bruce Oldfield, the new head of the boundary-pushing McQueen label may seem quite a controversial choice. Though after Burton revealed the Alexander McQueen winter 2011 ready to wear collection in Paris, she could just be the one!

After the details of the big day were revealed on Twitter (check out my post on this) it is clear Kate and William are going for a less traditional event than that of Charles and Diana. Though Kate could wear whatever she chooses, it can be imagined she’ll go for a more demur look than spaghetti straps or a plunging neckline, but maybe she’ll add some classy sass to the traditional frock and perhaps Burton can make this happen.

Burton showcased some STUNNING pieces in Paris Fashion Week, many of which had a very bridal feel…

The romantic frills, high necklines and beautiful embroidery would be fit for any royal-bride-to-be but the pieces were also sexy and edgy.

The high neckline fits the royal bridal bill, but the bare arms and the frantic design of the full skirt give the dresses the edgy and sassy McQueen look.

So Burton’s designs are fabulous, but it would seem they’re going to make us wait a bit longer until the designer is finally announced!

Annie Leibovitz’s Disney Dreams

So lovely! Annie Leibovitz has teamed up with Disney and created some beautiful photography. The pictures encompass Annie’s vision and some iconic Disney moments! Disney Parks unveiled the pics last week.

 

Here we have Beyoncé Knowles as Alice , Lyle Lovett as the March Hare and Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter.

 

 

David Beckham portrays Prince Phillip slaying the dragon in Sleeping Beauty.

 

 

 

This, I think, is my favourite of them all! Jeff Bridges and Penelope Cruz are Beauty and The Beast.

 

The collection is so interesting to look at, and Leibovitz’s photography is mesmerizing. See if you can pinpoint all the celebs!

Check out more pics on the BBC Website.  

u.can cook with James Martin

PR agency Grayling have teamed up with Celebrity chef James Martin and Canned Food UK to create and promote the first APP to promote cooking with Tinned foods.

The app will have recipes with tinned food as a meal or snack. The app is also said to highlight the tinned food as a source of both nutrition and convenience.

Steve Thomas, chairman of Canned Food UK, on the PR Week report said: ‘How people access information has changed significantly, and we want to make it as easy as possible for consumers to learn about the benefits of canned food. The audience we communicate with now are using digital and social media more frequently – from silver surfers to parent bloggers. As a result, we have always tried to use digital content such as webcasts, podcasts, webchats and downloadable information to engage with consumers through channels including YouTube and our website. The iPhone app is another effective way to do this.’

The app is free so all for all you iPhoners, wiz in the kitchen or not, try it out!

Student Treats, my ‘Big Idea’

A proffessional report I did about 6 months ago outlining how I would market my ‘Big Idea’ Student Treats.

 Summary

This is a report into the marketing strategy of a new online company ‘Student Treats’. This company enables friends and family of students at university to choose personal items to send in a gift wrapped package anywhere in the UK. The items include food, stationary, home ware, toiletries and specialised items. The unique selling point of this company is that the packages are completely personalised and the customer can choose, online, exactly which items will be sent to the student, making it completely personalised.

The company’s demographic is ages 18+ this will appeal to both friends of students but also parents and grandparents too. This does pose one of the main threats to the company; it is likely many of the older demographic will not be familiar with the internet or online shopping, this may mean the company loses some of the custom it expected to have. Other threats lie in the competitive prices of groceries and home ware in supermarkets and also similar websites that sell pre chosen hampers or packages for students. Opportunities for the company will arise in seasonal periods such as Christmas and Easter, also at the beginning of each academic term. With the aid of a PESTEL analysis, the factors in Student Treat’s Macro Environment have been identified. The main being environmental, Student Treats will endeavour to use recyclable materials when gift wrapping and will encourage customers to recycle.

To market Student Treats effectively, it must be advertised in diverse areas, student websites such as UCAS and The Student Room will take priority so students and parents will be informed, it will also be advertised on social networking for the younger segment and magazines for the older segment of the demographic. Promotional discounts will be advertised during seasonal times and at the beginning of each academic term to ensure business and promotion throughout the year. It has also been advised to advertise in the places discussed above.

It has been recommended that Student Treats observe and challenges both financial competition from supermarkets and similar websites to ensure at all times the company is aware of its competitors. Student Treats should also observe and continue research into competitors such as supermarkets and similar websites to themselves.

 Introduction

This report is an internal report and is a marketing plan for the new online service Student Treats; this is an online shopping product which enables personalised packages to be sent to university students by family and friends. The website enables customers to browse a large number of products and select items to put in their package, for example toiletries, kitchen utensils, fancy dress and food items. The website also contains pictures of the gift wrapped products how they will look when they arrive with the recipient. The main selling point of this product is that the packages are completely personalised, customers can pick a minimum of five items from the wide range of products for their package so the student receives exactly what they like. Packages can be sent within two days of ordering and specialised packages can be sent for special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas and when a new academic year starts. This report examines the product and its marketing environment to create a marketing strategy to successfully brand and deliver the product online.

 Marketing Mix:

Product	Student Treats is an online service allowing friends and family of students to send personalized packages anywhere in the UK. The contents of the package is chosen online and includes food items, home ware, stationary and specialized items such as fresher’s dressing up pieces. The packages can contain whatever the customer chooses and a minimum of five items can be chosen.
Price	The prices of the items will aim to compete with those of large supermarkets such as ASDA. Profit will be made on the content of the packages; these will be bought in bulk. Profit will also be made through advertising on the website.
Place	The product can be accessed on the internet, the structure of the website will be easy to navigate and will appeal to the wide demographic of 18+. With a large growth in internet shopping, the majority of the demographic will be able to access the product easily.
Promotion	With a wide demographic the product will be promoted in a wide range of places. These will include social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to appeal to the 18-40 demographic and in magazines such as Woman and Home to appeal to the 40+ demographic; this will be amplified during seasonal periods. It will mainly be promoted on UCAS sites and The Student Room. Promotional discounts will be advertised at the beginning of each academic term, ensuring business throughout the year. Direct marketing may also be used. Information about discounts and special offers may be sent to customers who have a log in account via email or direct mail. This will be done primarily in seasonal periods and at the beginning of the academic term.

  Secondary Research

Internet research

Competitors in the market: research into the pricing and branding of similar companies, ensuring Student Treats have competitive prices and innovative branding.

• thecookskitchen.com
• unipacks.com
• theunibox.com
• unihampers.com

 Supermarket Research:

Competitive prices on products Student Treats are likely to make most profit on: the most competitive financial competition for Student Treats will be supermarkets such as ASDA; this research will enable Student Treats to recognise the pricing of the products that are likely to be most profitable to these.

 Findings

Primary Research

Marketing Mix

Taking information from the four elements analysed in the marketing mix, Student Treats can assess how each element and all the elements combined can promote and deliver the product effectively.

 SWOT analysis

Strengths: The strengths in this business lie in the pricing and the possibilities of expansion into other markets. The company will be buying all its products in bulk from their manufacturers, this will therefore mean buying cheaply and selling at lower prices, competing with similar brands and online sites. As it is mainly selling gifting ideas there are opportunities to expand into personalised gifting for children and also adults, sending personalised gifts to people at work or school. The company could also expand its student site by selling more expensive products such as rice steamers, slow cookers and electrical goods such as portable speakers.

Weaknesses: The main weakness in the company lies in pricing. Bulk buying may insure lower pricing; however Student Treats may find it difficult to maintain these low prices. A way to combat this would be to take some items that d not sell well off the website and eventually just sell products that are most profitable. Another issue would be storage space as for a new company; the amount of product and storage space to buy may be hard to judge, this could mean too much storage space and over spending.

Opportunities: Social and Cultural factors could have a positive impact on Student Treats. Firstly, due to the current economic state, it has been shown that many more are applying to university and higher education, this, for the company, means a higher number of people in their demographic. Another major opportunity is the huge growth in online shopping, with sites such as ebay and Amazon leading the market. Fishbein’s Theory suggests that demographic profile has a large effect on attitudes towards online shopping, research was conducted to assess whether gender, age, job designation, marital status and salary were factors in the amount one shops online. Research proved that people between the ages of 29-39 shopped online more than most (Hashim, 2009), this is a large section of Student Treat’s Demographic, parents and family members of students. The company will cater to seasonal demand, for example adding festive items to the site at Christmas, this will create a higher number of sales and the company will be targeting the older generation who may find it hard deciding what to buy a student.

Threats: The older generation, who will be targeted at seasonal times, may not partake in online shopping, if this proves to be the case the company may consider, in seasonal periods, advertising in news papers such as The Daily Telegraph and magazines such as Good Housekeeping and Woman and Home. A major threat may be that similar sites that sell pre made packages move on to a more personalised approach and may sell their products at a lower price, if this was the case Student Treats may have to decrease the number of products that do not sell. Many of the products sold on Studenttreats.com are products that are sold at supermarkets with very competitive prices; this indicates one of the main threats would be potential customers buying the products from supermarkets. To reduce this, Student Treats, through advertising, would increase emphasis on the gift wrapping and free delivery of the product.

    Recommendations

• Student Treats must price their items competitively and challenge the prices of supermarkets such as ASDA and TESCO.
• Student Treats should aim to be perceived as an environmentally friendly company and whenever possible make materials they use recyclable.
•  For an effective marketing campaign, Student Treats must promote itself on UCAS online and various social networking sites. The company must also effectively promote itself to the older segment of its demographic by advertising in magazines and websites aimed at that demographic.

Splendid!

I have a keen interest in Public Relations and after writing an essay on PR on the web I came across Splendid Communications. The company is totally modern and exciting and this shows through their contemporary website and fab social media awareness. I am so excited to have been offered a placement there this summer.

Splendid are a communications agency with offices in London, New York and Australia. Specialising in creating communications within brand strategy, PR, social media and event marketing. Splendid have successfully worked with clients such as Marmite, Smirnoff, MAC and Spotify, creating films, events and hype for the companies!

Some of Splendid‘s most memorable work is with Marmite. Not only did they persuade Simon Cowell to declare his love for it on TV but they also cleverly devised a campaign during the General Election featuring two  parties the “The Love Party” and “The Hate Party“. The campaign was posted over all media platforms and was a great success! I myself, support The Love Party!

Splendid have a big involvement with music and events and  won the 2010 Music Week Award for Best Music & Brand Partnership for Smirnoff’s Creative Grants music event programme. They also organise a four-day music experience in Seattle, Bumbershot Music USA!

Splendid work closely with Smirnoff Creative Grants and encourage promoters to apply by telling the inspiring story of  Radio 1 DJ and Bestival King Rob da Bank, check out the video…

Splendid are so good because they are so aware of how fast the world is moving. They have superb awareness of social media and post info and job vacancies on their very active Facebook page! I am so excited to work with such a modern and innovative company!

Jessie J Wins BBC Sound of 2011

With her single ‘Do it like a dude’ being played more and more on the Radio we’re likely to be hearing a lot more from Jessie J as she’s announced the winner of BBC’s Sound of 2011.

Taking the crown from Ellie Goulding’s 2010 win, 22-year-old Jessica Cornish will bring a new R&B style to 2011. She wrote poetry as a child and attended the famed Brit School which led to her first record deal with Gut Records and early interest from R ‘n’ B communities in the United States.

Jessie J originally wrote ‘Do it like a dude’ with Rihanna in mind but thought she would keep it for herself. She was right! As well as high-profile writing for Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake is also a massive fan! View BBC’s official Jessie J page.

BBC Sound of 2011 The Top 5:

1. Jessie J

2. James Blake

3. The Vaccines

4. Jamie Woon

5. Clare Maguire

Personally, I was rooting for Nero, who sadly came in at 11th place! But I’m much looking forward to hearing more from Jessie J’s cool R&B style.