Challenge three: Make a Profit!

What a fast and furious week it's been - our last task seems a dim and distant memory ...

This one was met with mixed reception and pressure seemed on from the word go.

We struggled as a group coming up with ideas -  I kept thinking of the feasibility/safety of some of the ideas given the timescale; other pressures and the projected outcome of PROFIT.

I thought eBay - where in the past I had had success selling items,  we may do quite nicely in terms of our profit it we get bidders bidding at the auction.

Initially the idea was met with some disdain and other ideas sought as more interesting ... I'm glad we didn't go with the dry ice and Vodka shots! (After today's horrific tale)
I remember saying in my very first blog post there is no 'I' in team but there is a me. Oh the challenges of team work ...
Anyway cut a long story short we went with the eBay idea.  We couldn't decide on a unanimous product so we all pitched in to sell, either a used item worth in the region of £10 or a new purchase for £10 approx. ( remembering to take off fees )

I suggested toys; phones; clothes and in the end I decided myself to go with toys:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19435259

I found this really interesting article about LEGO and how the brand has been revitalised again with the development and production of the new 'Friends Range'.

 

So I bought brand new lego, off Amazon for a reduced price.

 

I checked out eBay for evidence of this product selling and found the exact same product  had sold for about £10.

 

Set the auction of on Thursday night and then watched as it took place over 3 days.

 

There were 11 watchers on  and about 9 bids on the lego.

 

It sold on Sunday night for £10.50 with postage quoted at £3.45 (may be less to post)

 

I paid £7.45 for it originally - so I made a small profit of about £4 after fees were deducted, giving approximately 54% profit.

 

For my presentation slides I decided to do pros and cons of selling on eBay - so that's tomorrows presentation.

 

 

Thank You and good night! See you again soon ...

Presenting to Emmaus

Very nerve racking - don't know why - I guess nerves are a good thing though!
Brilliant presentation - team worked well and Tracy loved the short film - it's RAW quality in all - we managed to capture perfectly what Emmaus is about ...

Thanks to everyone involved.

Challenge two: Creative PR Event

Brief 2: Creative PR for Ivana Helsinki

-to launch the brand into London Based Boutiques and raise awareness of brand using guerilla marketing:

[Prior to researching her brand - ideas formulation with our new group - went well and got some good stuff.
Only concerns I have are over the 'low-cost' aspect of what we are doing and maybe also environmental issues re: bus?
Could do the same campaign I suppose on rented london bikes - where Ivana Helsinki clad models ride around classy parts of london urging you to photograph them and share experience on Social media (raising profile) - competition winner gets Ivana spend in-store/on-line (winner picked later on from Ivana website/twitter/facebook pages at random). Just an alternative to our campaigne idea if the buses were considered too environmentally unfriendly].


OK so first I needed to check out IH to find out what she does and get the tone of her brand fixed in my head!
Here are all my links:

http://nordicdesign.ca/blog/2010/08/profile-paola-suhonen/

http://www.elle.com/fashion/spotlight/fashion-news-ivanahelsinki-319989

http://www.sunduka.com/sunduka-ivana

http://product68.com/1211/interview-with-ivana-helsinki-designer-paola-suhonen

http://www.elle.de/Designer/Ivana-Helsinki_1143596.html

http://thewildmagazine.com/blog/northern-oddities-at-ivana-helsinki-concept-store/

http://www.scanmagazine.co.uk/2010/05/the-secrets-of-ivanahelsinki/

http://fashion360mag.com/2012/09/ivana-helsinki-ss-2013/

http://www.visitfinland.com/article/passion-for-fashion/

http://www.rawr.fi/2012/06/ivana-indian/

http://youfeelinit.blogspot.co.uk/2010_01_01_archive.html

http://thewildmagazine.com/blog/northern-oddities-at-ivana-helsinki-concept-store/

http://www.elle.de/Designer/Ivana-Helsinki_1143596.html

http://www.styleseendaily.com/2012/01/introducing-indie-finnish-brand-ivana-helsinki/

http://www.contemporary-magazines.com/focus60_1.htm

http://www.skimbacolifestyle.com/2012/09/fashion-ivana-helsinki-ss-2013.html

http://www.skimbacolifestyle.com/2012/09/fashion-ivana-helsinki-ss-2013.html

http://www.itella.com/english/current/2008/20080513_ivana.html

http://www.finnishdesignshop.com/IVANAhelsinki-m-16.html?source=adwords&gclid=CKWj4Ziv37ICFcPHtAodkkkABQ

http://www.sunduka.com/sunduka-ivana

http://www.fashionbuzznow.com/tag/ivana-helsinki/

http://www.elle.com/fashion/spotlight/fashion-news-ivanahelsinki-319989

http://marie-louisespulse.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/interview-poala-from-ivanahelsinki.html

interview: PAOLA from IvanaHelsinki

 

I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Paola before the show about what is coming up for IvanaHelsinki, what inspires her and why, people like me, really do make a difference for a brand like hers.

 

The biggest news for this brand is their new flagship store opening on Elizabeth Street, proudly next to the likes of Rag & Bone and Tory Burch. (Post to come on this!) After the successful pop up store a couple of years ago, it became a goal to find a permanent home in NYC. The scene invites the likes of IvanaHelsinki to feel right at home. The boutique will not only feature the collections but local artists and musicians. Having numerous friends within the indie scene, Paola, a film maker herself, wanted the space to be a place where artists can come together and share through different events.

 

IvanaHelsinki's collections have a strong bohemian feeling yet the Scandinavian countries are known to produce design that is minimalistic, simple and functional. Paola feels a much stronger influence from the Slavic countries. She clearly translates this in her 70's reminiscent fabric patterns and styles. She owns each piece in the collections, designing each piece down to the fabric patterns.

 

My biggest burning question for Paola was why she valued individuals like myself, who promoted the brand through blogs and social media. I first photographed IvanaHelsinki in Copenhagen back in 2010. From then on, each NYFW I have been covering the show, keeping my readers up to date with Paola's collections. Paola feels that it is the new way to reach to the masses through the small veins that bloggers create. "I think that its the modern way of communicating with the people, that's the way to do it nowadays..it's part of being in this underground culture, I don't think fashion should be up there." With the likes of Natalie off Duty, Late Afternoon and Flashes of Style showing up in the front row, this really is a major way of connecting with the masses and allowing consumers to feel a part of the experience.

  

Thank you to Paola for giving us an insite to IvanaHelsinki. It's about creating what inspires you and growing in today's world while keeping a true sense of style and individuality.

 

 

Post to come: Backstage, Runway show and Store Opening

 

xx Marie-Louise

http://marie-louisespulse.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/interview-poala-from-ivanahelsinki.html

 

... And thanks to Marie-Louise for her interview!

 

Ok so back to the presentation - our idea is to have a 'Boutique Bus' travel around the smarter/afluent areas of London where the boutiques and cool fashion people are.  Picking them up on the Ivana Helsinki Boutique Bus where they will experience the Ivana Helsinki Brand in it's many product forms with focus on fashion.  They will be given Ivana Helsinki promo ticket and asked to tweet their experience of what they saw/did.  There will be a competition and from all the social media a winner will be chosed and given an Ivana Helsinki discount voucher to spend in her boutique.

Here are my slides from the presentation:

 

I have to script it yet but I'm ok with that.

 

A little look at some of her designs in my moodboard.

 

A quote from Ivana Helsinki:

" ... For me beauty is the inner aesthetic and for me that is a combination of the hippie style and rock and roll. My designs need to have that edge. For beauty is not just about happiness. Beauty has to have sadness and a dark side..."

( http://www.scanmagazine.co.uk/2010/05/the-secrets-of-ivanahelsinki/)

Just finished the ticket for our 'Bus Boutique' - aide memoire for those passengers who don't tweet until later on -

(artwork not mine only text -via google images)