Posted by Amy on September 2, 2010 – 12:41 pm
News broke this week that Kate Moss’ October collection for Topshop will be her last. Cue rumours about her being dropped for being too old, Sir Phillip Green’s daughter Chloe taking centre stage etc.
I think this is a good decision. When Kate Moss unveiled her first collection for Topshop in 2007 I can remember the hype and excitment around it. People qued outside Topshop’s flagship store and I remember being giddy with lust over a floasty green dress from her range.
However, three years later I feel Kate has kind of lost her appeal. She’s much older than the majority of Topshop’s customer base, and she just doesn’t have the kudos anymore - regardless of how sucessful she still is as a model.
It’ll be interesting to see who Topshops’ new collaboration, if any, will be with. The brand has a lot to contend with now rival high street retailer H&M has collaborated with Karl Lagerfield , Stella McArtney, and most recently, Alber Elbaz from Lanvin.
Posted by Amy on August 31, 2010 – 4:27 pm
I’m a massive fan of ASDA’s communications strategy. I think the brand is innovative , ahead of the curve and not afraid to take chances. ASDA PR stories are always really timely and quirky, you rarely go a week without seeing ASDA in the national press.
It’s online strategy has been just as innovative. From the very personal video response to the scandal in one of ASDA’s stores to the parenting online community, ASDA is blazing a trail for other retailers.
It’s latest foray is the George Style Blog. The blog features helpful hints and tips about how to dress for your shape, celeb fashion and new products and lines in-store. I think this has been pitched at just the right level. By not trying to be too high fashion, the blog has managed to keep the down-to-earth, yet fashionable and value for money brand identify. The blog is fresh, colourful and interesting.
I like the way they blog engages with people by asking them to submit their own photographs of their George outfits. The fact it’s CRM linked to ensure people can buy the things they see means it makes good business sense too.
There’s so much potential here for things like creating an iPhone app, creating more varied content such as catwalk videos or behind the scenes photo galleries or guest posts from fashion bloggers ala Topshop. Exciting stuff!
I’ve just read an article in the Guardian about Marks and Spencer introducing a new, more environmentally friendly receipt using “thinner paper and 8% less pulp.”
On the surface, this sounds like a great step forward and I think M&S should be applauded for their efforts to be environmentally sound (their Plan A campaign is brilliant). However, as a cynic - one who has worked in the retail sector - I’m a bit dubious.
Is it the law for retailers to provide a receipt? I didn’t think so - if you go to a small shop or market stall you don’t get one.
Surely, if the large retailers asked each customer if they required a receipt, they would cut the number the needed printing in the first place by hundreds of thousands. I personally have about 15 receipts gathering at the bottom of my bag from lunches, drinks etc that I will inevitably bin when I have the motivation to clear out my handbag.
The supermarkets have been under a lot of pressure to cut carrier bag use, and as such have taken steps to remove them from the tills. People have to ask for bags now and this has seen numbers drop dramatically.
Could they not operate the same policy with receipts? The article says they use a lot of paper for receipts – so surely any savings would be good for the environment and for their profits? It would be interesting to find out if this is possible, and if so, why more retailers aren’t doing it.