Orientating Uni with Sportsgirl

Sportsgirl have been hauling their brand-wagon to various universities around the country to assist in O’Week celebrations. Delivering the latest Sportsgirl mag along with cupcakes, Sportsgirls have the chance to win a $50 voucher by simply taking a pic of them on campus and tweeting it at http://twitter.com/sportsgirl.

I love seeing brands taking the initiative and making the effort to enter the world of their customer to give something back rather than waiting for us to always visit them on the high street.
 
 

Window Themes – February ‘11

Here’s a snapshot of windows at Chadstone this month.

Sussan, Portmans and Peter Alexander all featured travel themes. Paris for Portmans as shown by the map of the city laid across the floor. Three enormous black and white images of a girl in streets (that I have to say looks suspiciously like GPO in Melbourne) filled the panes, whilst mannequins in dynamic poses surrounded street signs labelled with Autumnal trends – the Fitted Trench, the Fitted Suit and the Full Skirt.

 
     
New York was the scene of the action at Peter Alexander. Cute illustrations of city folk, lamp posts and the classic yellow cab created a strong image on the glass. The colourful garments on the mannequins behind the window popped next to the two dimensional white characters on the front of the window.

 

At Sussan mannequins were seated on park benches in windows that could have been the streets of Milan as suggested by the pavement patterned floor decal and Italian postage stamp on the glass. The repetition of holiday snapshots of friends in a European city filled the background.
 
Sportsgirl, Seafolly and Seduce capitalised on the month of love.
Sportsgirl communicated an empowering message to customers at a time that can see the single among us, a little low on self-esteem – I Heart Me. 

 
Whilst Seafolly went all warm and fuzzy with a giant heart comprising multi-coloured pompoms suspended in their window.

 
Seduce meanwhile, managed combine both love and travel with their Seduce Black promotion. “Join Seduce Black to go into the draw for a luxury evening for two filled with roses, bubbles and late night checkout”, read the love note posted across the hanging banner. A giant pink transparent heart was adhered to the glass and a cluster of suitcases filled the space amongst the mannequins. 

 
Dotti, perhaps O’week inspired, went Geek Chic with piles of books on the floor and desks surrounding mannis dressed in preppy glasses, cardis and leather satchels.

 
Finally, the Body Shop showcased one of the most interesting window displays I’ve seen in sometime to promote their Nutriganics Skincare range. Watering cans were suspended, tipped slightly downwards inside the window to create the appearance that they were watering the green shoots that were plastered on the front of the window. Visual merchandisers had even gone as far as fitting long strands of clear plastic cable from the spouts to mimic water falling.

   
           

The Mathematics of Windows

Seeing these vector diagrams in the windows of Ghanda in Lorne on Sunday brought back fond memories of the only enjoyable chapter in Year 9 Maths… matching up the numbers with coloured pens to create beautiful floral patterns. This window display is so appropriate when you see the brightly coloured merchandise inside – cute printed tees and jumpers and bold stripy canvas bags. I’d have blown all my pocket money in here had I been 14 again.

  
  

The Break Up

On the back of my last two V-Day posts here’s another, and can I just say WOW, this is deserves the bouquet!

NAB have broken up with the other 3 major banks in Australia. Yes it's true, they’ve severed ties with CommBank, ANZ and Westpac and it’s apparently, “still a little raw.” The Break Up campaign was launched on Valentine’s evening with a series of very public break ups in bars, restaurants and other spaces across the country at 7:31pm. The 60 couples involved were all filmed and to watch online, some of the lines appear a little awkward (like the banter about hidden fees in the video posted below) but I’m sure they caused quite a scene amongst the many loved up couples celebrating nearby.



There is so much content dedicated to this campaign and across multiple platforms – facebook, YouTube, Twitter and a dedicated microsite. Like the emotional rollercoaster that is a real breakup, NAB are continually updating us on their feelings and providing explanations as to why it just had to happen. Only an hour ago they posted on Twitter -
“Heading home to listen to #breakupmusic - thanks for the support! Definitely feeling good about our decision!”

Australia’s four big banks have long been suspected of colluding with each other, particularly since the GFC led to the tightening of banking regulations which shut many smaller players out of the market. NAB’s Break Up campaign could be construed as an admission that this has been the case and provides an opportunity for them to differentiate themselves from the other three. 

With lines like -
“Honestly, we just grew apart and have nothing in common with them anymore.
So if you speak to any of them in the next couple of days try to be a bit gentle with them.”
- I suspect things are about to get quite nasty in Barbara’s bank world!

Why the Heavy Breathing?

Is it the pack of runners sweating it out to reach the finish line first, or the couple of joggers that have dived into the bushes for a ‘cheeky quickie’? This Saturday, Melburnians looking for love can participate in the Puma Love Run to meet someone fit or share the trail with the one they love through the heart of the city.


Whilst I believe fun runs provide great benefit to the community – take the Sussan Women’s Fun Run supporting the Breast Cancer Network Australia or the Sun-Herald City 2 Surf which last year raised almost $3M for charity, it’s refreshing to see a brand do something totally new with the concept. Puma have really considered their market with this promotion – it’s being held in the evening rather than morning, choose from a 4.5km or 6.5km course depending on your fitness level, and by hosting an after party featuring Miami Horror. Then there’s the free training guide from ambassador (and total Blues legend!) Chris Judd, the limited edition Puma Love Run tee, the really cool artwork that conveys the promotion without any explanation and the raunchy viral.

Puma gets my heart this Valentine’s Day.

This Valentine’s Day I wish…

…I wish for something a little more inspiring than cartoon covered satin underwear and overpriced roses. Cupid has drawn his bow and Chadstone Shopping Centre have delivered by creating their own facebook app that allows me to be showered with the gifts I really want.

The app allows you to select 3 of 30 hot items available from retailers within the Centre and send a ‘wishlist’ to your Valentine. It then allows you to post the coveted items, along with a personal message to both your facebook pages. And even if your lover doesn’t get the hint you may still score with the chance to win 1 of 2 $500 Chadstone gift cards or 1 of 140 pairs of movie tickets.




Retailers at Chadstone can also get in on the promotion by posting their own gift ideas on the Fashion Capital’s wall. Rather than telling us what we need, Chadstone has instead created the conversational forum for us users to share what we want.