Dolce & Gabbana’s starry-eyed surprise

When I reached for my default monthly glossy at a newsagent’s last weekend, it wasn’t the alluring doe-eyed Lily Allen that caught my eye so much as what the former popstrel was wearing – enveloped as she was in an utterly divine combination of navy lace and white-star print fabric. Exhibit A:

Being a traditional type who reads a magazine front to back (and supplements first, always), I had yet to discover who devised this luxe creation – until I picked up the latest Grazia where I learned it was indeed the handiwork of D&G.

What Gods. The piece full length (below) is a very civilised below-knee length, devastatingly figure-hugging in all the right places, sleeves that comfortably fall beyond the wrist (always a love of mine) and playfully displaying just a hint of Americana (which, frankly is probably what really sold me).

It then transpired that the rest of their fall collection displayed more than a hint of astronomically inspired prints across pretty much every third look in the collection (my ultimate favourite being the fabulously floaty high-necked maxi – maximum fabric, maximum stars, maximum impact). Basically, if you stood still long enough in their studio last winter, you got showered with stars.

Of all the trends I have seen so far this summer, and now that we move swiftly into autumn (err, where was our British summer exactly?) this is by far my favourite.

So I set about picking out a few stars of the High Street just to see how one could acquire a decent handful of star-dust without paying D&G prices. Well, it turns out we’re spoilt for choice. Click to purchase any of the pieces pulled below.

Cream star print long line vest - River Island - £25

Star Print Bandeau Playsuit - TopShop - £26

Louche Julie Star Print Skirt - Joy - £20.30 (REDUCED from £29)

Jodie Star Print Jumpsuit - Boohoo.com - £20

Scatter Star Scarf - Oasis - £18

All over star print waterfall dress - Therapy at House of Fraser - £31.50 (REDUCED from £45)

All Over Star Tights - Miss Selfridge - £8.50

Shooting Star Wellington Boots - Cath Kidston - £38

Jack Willy, Jack Wills and what to do when passing off is all in the name of charity

It is no secret to this blog – and to pretty much anyone that knows me – that I am a long-time, ardent fan of Jack Wills.

So this evening, when I started to pick up tweets about Jack Willy for the first time – a brand new charity initiative in support of prostate cancer awareness – I initially thought, bravo JW for having enough gumption and banter around their own brand values to create a tongue-in-cheek charity campaign.

Or so I thought.

After a bit of digging on the site it became apparent that they are ‘BTW, NOT Jack Wills‘ and are instead playing on the renowned middle class clothing brand’s wide appeal. And, in for a penny, in for a pound, the site invokes JW’s look, feel, font, tag-line (‘outfitters for the general’ – rather than gentry), image/model look style and web design.

They’re hot on Twitter, they engage with their posse of fans on Facebook – they even run an ‘Ambassador‘ program whereby enthusiastic consumers of their clothing can earn themselves free stash by being photographed in the gear and posting their shots back to the brand. Any of this sounding familiar?

Now whether you’re a fan of the original brand or not, this led me to thinking: as a brand manager or owner, what would I do? I’m in charge of a hugely successful, internationally expanding, young, influential fashion label and a charity initiative sets up for a very worthy cause, riding on the coat tails of my brand’s image (and poking a little fun in its ribs at the same time). How do I feel about this? What are my options?

I figure they are, namely, these:

1) Do nothing

2) Do nothing – yet. Ride it out. It’s a start-up so wait and see what kind of following it gets (and what comments you get as a result) before making any move. (It’s got them this blog post for a start…)

3) Be reactively supportive. When fans, consumers or press ask the question, ‘So whad’ya make of all this Jack Willy stuff then?’, respond with a reasonably non-committal ‘We think their cause is an incredibly worthy one and we wish them all the best.’ Or even something a tad more engaged such as ‘and we’re honoured they saw the value in the Jack Wills brand to help promote awareness for their campaign’. But kept fairly at arm’s length and not promoting an association

4) Be proactively supportive. Seek out the organisers and reach out to them. Discover more about the set-up and explore the option of an official partnership. In an if-you-can’t-beat-em-join-em kinda way. Cross-promotion could work in your favour (though on first impression from the site, significantly TBC whether the Jack Willy gang would want an official JW stamp or seal of approval.)

5) Be privately opposed. The public voice decries any association with the charity – no negative comments per se, but making it clear there is no connection. Privately, approach with a view to enforcing a stronger message of complete independence from the JW brand in order to put an end to the passing off (which, frankly, it undeniably is as it took me at least 5 minutes to find the ‘NOT Jack Wills’ statement. Granted it was mobile web, but I’m not exactly web illiterate)

6) Be publicly opposed. Dangerous territory, but if a brand feels its values have been compromised, sometimes it should go all out to protect those. Harder if it’s a worthy cause, but if it were an organisation of deplorable or questionable (or competitive) intent, a brand wouldn’t hesitate. Just because it’s for ‘charidee’, should it act differently?

Of course, it might all be a double bluff, and maybe the Northern Irish founders really do have a link to JW. Maybe Pete Williams gave his blessing. But it doesn’t look that way to me. And whatever stance the brand takes, they should decide a position fast because the questions will come – if they haven’t already.

 

Jack WILLS Spring look (that's WILLS. With an S.)

 

So what would I do? I’d rule out #6 immediately – the cause is far too worthy and the objective well-meaning to bring in the heavies. For the time being, I’d also avoid #5, but consider a conversation in this territory later down the line if a supportive angle is decided against. Your brand equity is your livelihood – regardless of the well-meaning nature of potential impostors.

It’s probably too early days for #4 and you would need buy-in and weighty consideration from all stake-holders within the organisation before going down this route. But it’s not out of the question. So I think my take would be a combination of #2 and #3 – with a skew towards the latter. As a light-hearted, fun-loving brand, unofficially supporting these guys would be a strong way to demonstrate not taking yourselves too seriously.

Whatever happens, don’t do #1. Even if, at the very least, you prepare an internal reactive brand position to respond to queries in this area. Silence is damaging – especially for a brand whose lifeblood is its highly engaged dialogue with its avid fan base. They will ask, and a brand always needs a (consistent) answer.

And in the meantime, go buy yourself a Jack Willy hoodie. Go on. It’s for a good cause.

Federer and Nadal get the giggles while Credit Suisse has the last laugh

I spend a good deal of my working life managing the varied personalities of professional sports people, largely in their capacity as some form of brand ambassador.

I’m fortunate to work with a host of exceptionally talented and good natured individuals, and for the most part every bit the professional media spokesperson.

A media appearance going to plan without a hitch is a rare thing, and whilst we don’t like to laugh at others’ misfortune, this latest video to surface from Credit Suisse of the World’s top two tennis stars is honestly pretty funny. All carefully briefed messages fly out of the window and replaced by endless fits of giggles.

But surely, I hear you cry, this is just an intentional promotional mechanic by one of their sponsors (or the event sponsor in this case)? Just a shameless plug for publicity?

It’s interesting for me, because money can’t buy a viral of this nature. I am absolutely convinced it is entirely natural and uncontrollable. Anyone who has worked with professional athletes in a similar capacity knows that asking them to act rarely delivers any effective results (Gillette’s recent Federer ‘trick-shot’ viral just about scraped by), and so any outtakes are a total bonus. Unless Ken Dodd was carefully positioned behind them, branding his famed feather duster, that laughter is 100% genuine.

So while credit should be given where credit’s due, Credit Suisse undeniably got seriously lucky with this, getting more publicity for the RF Foundation’s charity tennis match than they could have dreamed possible (871,000 views at the time of blogging). The two guys played off each other beautifully and what probably started life as a straightforward interview soon became an instantly infectious viral. Job done.

Karl Lagerfeld hits the (Diet Coke) bottle

How cute is this?

Favourite soft drink partnering with epic design talent. And before you brush this off as just another brand exercise reaching its target market (though bravo Coca-Cola on that front too), it may interest you to know that Lagerfeld actually has more of a tangible link with the brand than the dollar paid to slap his image and signature on a Diet Coke bottle.

Back in 2005, rumour had it that his slimming techniques have centered around dedicated consumption of the soft drink. That and horse meat. Yum. But fair play to the guy – he shifted 90 pounds apparently. I’ve also just discovered that so thrilled was the fashion mogul with his achievement, he even authorized the publication of his insights in a book, aptly if unimaginatively named The Karl Lagerfeld Diet.

And, like every established fashionista, he naturally employed staff to fulfil his every whim. During a break in a New York fashion shoot in 2008, a butler was seen delivering a goblet of his miracle juice to see him through the final half an hour (thanks to Towelroad for this tidbit):

(via Mordechai Rubinstein on flickr)

Sadly for us UK folk, the little beauties above are only available in Paris, from Colette. A snip at 60 Euros. Though if you did want to put Lagerfeld’s diet theories to the test, the standard 330ml can multi-packs might work out a bit more economical.

Regardless of what you think about his methods, you can’t fault the guy for his honesty. When asked why he dieted in the first place, he replied:

“It was for totally superficial reasons that I got started on this diet.

I think that fashion is the healthiest motivation for losing weight.”

Bravo brand, bravo brand ambassador.