social media

Beauty social networks ‘are a marketer’s paradise’…




I often trawl The Fashion Spot forums to research new fashion ad campaigns and magazine editorials but I’m not so well up on the beauty forums. The New York Times has an interesting piece on beauty review sites like She Said Beauty and Pampadour, which let consumers talk to each other about beauty products before they buy. Sephora’s beauty network, Beauty Talk gives its super-users advance info on new products which is a nice perk as well as a good way to keep them contributing to the site (unsurprisingly, Beauty Talk members spend more money on the site than regular customers). Read the story here



Glamour magazine: How Cara Reinvented Cool



Much as I love digital, there’s still a buzz to be had from seeing my byline in print. Glamour magazine commissioned me to write a few words on Cara Delevingne, in which I tried to pinpoint the essence of her success. Conclusion? It’s a combo of everygirl personality plus a super-social media presence that her fans love to engage with. And from a brand point of view, rather like some uber-bloggers, Cara has the cash factor – when she wears something, it sells. (As streetwear brand Hardware LDN told me, “when Cara was spotted wearing Hardwear LDN at London Fashion Week, we sold 200 units within the hour”.) No wonder she gets repeat-booked by brands like DKNY, Chanel and Burberry – it’s all about the ROI, baby!

You can read the four page feature in Glamour, out now…



Are Twitter-checkers causing magazine sales to slide?



This is an interesting snippet about why fewer people are buying print magazines. According to Biz Report, the ‘mobile blinder’ effect (people hypnotised by the constant feeds on their cell phones) means customers aren’t picking up magazines at the supermarket checkout anymore. In the US,  newsstand sales of magazines are down by 8%. I’m definitely one,of those people who checks Twitter at any given moment (but I’m trying to break the habit). Are you?

[Image: Miles Aldridge/NYT]



EXCLUSIVE: Who is the secret Chanel tweeter @CC_Linlithgow?



On Tuesday night, coming home from a dinner, I was gripped by the tweets about Chanel’s Metiers d’Art show in Linlithgow, Edinburgh. So many of my Twitter followees were at the show, retweeting tweets from what I assumed was the official Chanel @CC_Linlithgow account. It certainly looked official from what I saw when I logged onto Twitter at home. This ten-day-old Twitter account had aggregated hundreds of Instagrams, Twitpics and nuggets of as-it-happens commentary from the models, press and guests at the show. But as I scrolled through the images, a story unfurled further back to include the entire ten-day build-up to the event, including atmospheric photos of the palace grounds and romantic Linlinthgow scenery. (more…)