carrie*connects

Design PR | Apartment Therapy's Hot House Tours

Apartment Therapy's daily House Tours seem to be really kicking it up a notch lately.  Today's home is this wonderful 1700 square foot flat in Chicago that belongs to designer Francesco Bilotto.  This is a remarkable venue for showcasing Bilotto's work, staging, styling and interiors.  And with Apartment Therapy's 17 million page views per month (about 65,000 per day) the exposure is remarkable.  

Sites like AT, Design*Sponge, Contemporist and SFGirlByBay really have an insatiable need for fabulous interiors and gardens to feature on a daily basis, which is no easy feat. 

Unlike design magazines which may feature between 3 - 7 homes monthly - each deliciously styled and dreamily photographed - these popular blogs have a run of about 60 interiors a month (AT probably many more through its various divisions).    These blogs also feature a very dedicated readership, with viewers returning to the sites daily to read, comment and reblog creative and well illustrated posts.

A Flow Chart For Getting On The Sartorialist

 
If you're familiar at all with this new fangled thing called blogging than chances are good that you've heard of the Sartorialist - yes the little bloggity blog that gets upward of 50,000 readers a day and has spawned a book and a reality show for street photographer Scott Schuman.  

Considered one of the most influential fashion portals on the web, many with a mind for fashion branding have been devising ways to surreptitiously get their goodies (ie accessories, clothing, ect) in front of the famous street snapper.  Now, the evil geniuses at Refinery 29 have come up with a very clever (albeit tongue in cheek - but with vast amounts of irony thrown into the mix) flowchart of ways to improve your chances of getting on the site. 

I'd cut and paste it in here but think snagging their fabulous artwork is not really playing fair - so here's the link >>>

Technology Trendcaster | Become a Sociopath ~ It's the Latest Thing!

I recieved an invitation this morning to join the new social network StyleCaster (which sounds suspiciously like a column that I write called Trendcaster on Bloomacious.com) - naturally I immediately zoomed over to take a look and post my mug on my own page.  

While the site doesn't seem all that different from our own network Bloomacious Cafe it apparently is embedded with lots of watching and listening devices that when explained in the video below makes me yearn for a nice long nap. 

Terms like "associated neuro network"  and "associative dynamics" are a far cry from my favorite phrase "me likey!"  but they mean similar things.

If there's any doubt after listening to this explanation that networks are the new blogs (which are the new magazines) then take a sneak peek at Fashionair which is girding up to launch soon.

Broken down gently, networks allow companies to watch the patterns and flows of their members - whom they friend, what they comment on.  We've done the same thing for the past 6 months through our networks and it's not quite as scientific or reliable as the Sociocast guys would like you to believe. 

Networks do provide a venue in which individuals can enjoy a club-like camaraderie- they also can serve as a TV station, a community blog, a messaging system and a newsletter - and are the next step beyond Facebook and Twitter.

Fashion PR | What's Better Than a Fab Louis Vuitton Ad Starring Madonna? A *leaked* LV Madonna Ad

 
The fashion world is abuzz about this "leaked" Louis Vuitton ad starring Madonna in her bunny ears (you may recall the ones she wore to the Met Gala a few weeks back).  While readers of The Fashion Spot swear its authentic, one has to ponder the intensive amount of airbrushing the Material Girl has recieved in this shot.  Depending on your perspective it looks either very dreamy or barely recognizable.  I personally love the rich colors and to be frank it hardly matters at this point whether it's the actual photo that will show up in the September issue of Vogue or not - the picture is being posted on thousands of websites and blogs as we speak in a clever viral PR campaign.

Sun and Sea in the April Issue of Architectural Digest.

I'm more than a little enthralled with this house in the April issue of Architectural Digest.  Located on Long Island's East End, and designed by Stelle Architects with interiors by Thad Hayes, I love the beachy neutrals and refined modernism of the house. 


Of the project AD writes:
“We told Thad we wanted it to be calm and simple, like the landscape—full of light and air,” says the wife; and Hayes complied. With a résumé that includes five years studying landscape design, he understood immediately how to bring the house’s interiors into harmonic convergence with its setting. In addition, he had the benefit of having worked with the couple before, on a ski house in Park City, Utah, and a New York apartment on Fifth Avenue that balances 18th- and 19th-century furnishings with contemporary ones against a backdrop of extraordinary 20th-century art (see Architectural Digest, April 2002). “I knew they didn’t like overwrought design, or anything self-conscious,” he says."

See all the photos and read the story at Architectural Digest.

Branding in a Fishbowl: Makeup artists step up

This article, It's Your Makeup Artist's Autograph I Want, in the New York Times caught my eye.

The story, about the growing celebrity of makeup artists, demonstrates that we're long past Andy Warhol's maxim of everyone having 15 minutes of personal fame... (it's up to at least a half an hour at this point).  This is the era of the personal brand, where the personalities of the people behind the products are just as integral to the marketing of a brand as the product itself. 

Now, it's unclear whether the trend discussed in this story is really a New York and Los Angeles phenomenon, and if women in Kansas and Ohio are also focused in on the doings of Pat McGrath (shown here with a model), but it does further the notion of promoting personality.  With all the blogs, websites, pod-casts and video stations devoted to the minutia of every market segment (cosmetics being carefully documented with each product roll-out and spokes-model hiring) it's easy to see the wave of things to come.   

As a publicist working with consumer brands like beauty, and baby, I have always felt that product comes first.  Package design, market positioning, and product performance are keys to successful branding - however in this day and age a charismatic CEO helps the effort immensely.   Blame it on the paparazzi and our fascination with the doings of celebrities when they're off the clock.  It's gotten to the point that even snaps of Jennifer Aniston at the grocery store have grown tedious.  We now want insight into everyone's personal lives ... there's more and more swimmers inside the fishbowl and fewer of us benignly watching from a safe distance.  Fantastic looks aren't a requirement as they were some years ago for getting ink and airtime.  Being knowledgeable, speaking well on camera, and the ability to tell a joke go just as far these days.

Call it hyper-market-democratization, Fishbowl Marketing, or Deep Branding....it sure livens things up!   

Style: Vanessa Williams at the 33rd annual March of Dimes Beauty Ball in New York

The 33rd annual March of Dimes Beauty Ball in New York brought out Vanessa Williams, and many more last night.

Vanessa, wearing a lovely one-shoulder draped Vera Wang gown, hosted the event.

The long sleek look of the brown silk gown was accented simply with a pair of cylindrical earrings and a strong (almost masculine) cuff.

Wang said the dress was inspired by the TV series Rome. 

The event was also hosted by Bernd Beetz, CEO, Coty Inc. and Vera Wang.

Note:  Coty makes Vera Wang's Princess fragrance collection, as well as the collections of Jennifer Lopez, Marc Jacobs, and Sarah Jessica Parker.  Be sure to see my notes about the fabulous book, The Perfect Scent, by Chandler Burr at left.

photo: Wireimage

Event Planning: Idea{Board} - romantic

We've been pulling together ideas for designing parties and weddings. 

Here we have some ideas that have a strong, but romantic impact.

These are traditional looks that have an imaginative lift.  Blue Hydrangeas mixed with garden roses and loose grapes on a blue table cloth is like a still life for modern times. 

Other themes like tropical, with orchids and a proliferation of votives, are great too.