Who Made My Clothes

It's been five years since the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh with the death toll of 1134 people and approximately 2500 injured. 

That man-made disaster really was an eye-opening moment that made not just myself as a consumer, but fashion brands as well, to re-evaluate about our decision-making processes when it comes to the garment and fashion industry. 

Somewhat far removed from the reality of the working conditions behind each garment, because all I see is the end product sitting nicely in the shopping mall waiting to take place in my wardrobe. 

However, as a daughter of a (former) refugee, I'm quite aware of the sweatshop conditions with long hours for little pay, that a lot of Asian refugees in Australia have taken on as work because of their lack of English speaking skills but have strengths in sewing apparel. I'm sure this case is pretty much the same in other parts of the world. So, I can't begin to imagine what the possible factory working conditions are like overseas in a third-world country where most of my clothing pieces were made in. 

Being brutally honest (and disappointed at that), I've failed to become more conscious and make more responsible shopping decisions. I told myself I will no longer buy from fast-fashion shopping chains and have completely failed. It's actually not a good feeling, even though I have slowed down a little over the last 12 months. I guess it all really comes to down to discipline. 

The "Who Made My Clothes" campaign as a part of Fashion Revolution Week (23-29 April) is a refreshing reminder of sending out the message; to really consider the working conditions and supporting the well-being of those hard-working people who physically made your clothes. 

Whilst completely avoiding fast-fashion items or items made in a third world country is almost an impossible action to take, it's worth noting that you can make more ethical decisions based on the Ethical Fashion Guide published by Baptist World Australia. 

Click here to download.  

Alternatively, you can check out global brands in the Fashion Transparency Index 2018. 

I aim to buy less and choose better from now on. 

Lots o' Love, Linda

Evan

This was brilliantly executed by BBDO New York. I won't add any further commentary to this but take a look for yourself if you haven't checked it out already. 

12 Years a Slave

It is important to realise that slavery still exists in this modern day and age in various forms, regardless of how less barbaric it may appear to be in comparison to how it was in the past. 

Developed by Dare London for Hope for Justice, the issue of modern slavery has been brought to light through an online advertising campaign using various media including a video and still images in the form of film posters, much similar and inspired by Steve McQueen's film, 12 Years a Slave. 

The campaign also came about at the right time when the film was receiving a lot of attention, especially with its numerous Academy Awards nominations and awards such as Best Picture and Best Actress. 

Campaign images via The Inspiration Room

12 Years a Slave film poster via Carlton Jordon 

Lots o' Love, Linda 

More Beautiful Than You Think

Being a woman, I know how hard it can be sometimes. I am also very aware of how critical we can be to our own selves. Afterall, we all seem to be our own worst critic and enemy. And most of all, those criticisms all stem from how we perceive ourselves...on the outside. 

There's always some kind of flaw that we pay the most attention to or are most self-conscious about. Ask any girl and she will tell you what they dislike about their image. Even the most gorgeous looking people will pick out some kind of flaw in themselves. I guess it's also hard cause people are always talking about people's looks. We start making comparisons and feel insecure about ourselves because we don't feel that we weigh up to society's standards. This is not to bash on girls but every now and then, I do hear and read harsh comments from other girls saying stuff like "she's not that pretty", "she's ugly", "she's disgustingly skinny", "her teeth are ugly", or "she's got no ass". 

Dove is a brand that is always on the mission to inspire women to embrace their own beauty. Agency, Ogilvy & Mather (Brazil) were the geniuses behind Dove's 'Real Beauty Sketches' campaign that went viral after its release more than 2 weeks ago. It's a clever social experiment that challenges how women currently think about themselves and to remind us that we are indeed beautiful the way we are. 

Check it out and you'll see why. 

 Both images via Ad Week. Sketches by Gil Zamora 

There are a few parody versions using men created that are also online. They're pretty funny! 

Here's one created by New Feelings Time.

For more sketches and videos from this campaign, click here. 


Lots o' Love, Linda

Set the World on Fire!

Alicia Keys and her team have integrated social media into the marketing of her fifth concert tour, 'Set the World on Fire' as a way of personally connecting with her fans. This included creative uses of Tumblr, crowd-sourcing, Twitter and Behind-the-Scenes clips. 

Tumblr: 

Tumblr users were selected to document her tour as it unfolded. This meant that users were encouraged to post content, take photos, create gifs and collages. As a bonus, a photo pass, two show tickets and two meet-and-greet tickets were given to the Tumblr users involved. Keys is also an active user (www.thekeysofalicia.tumblr.com) on Tumblr and is also able to connect with fans by 'liking' and 'reblogging' posts. 

Crowd-sourcing: 

Alicia Keys' "Illuminate Me" video that was played during each show used a crowd-sourcing component. This meant that attendees at each city were given the opportunity to feature in the video at the concert when they submit photos of themselves as part of a "Keep Moving - Your City, Your Video" initiative. 

Twitter: 

Using the hashtag #AliciaDedicates on Twitter, fans tweet their section, row and seat number for the opportunity to have a song personally dedicated to them by Keys. Click the link to view the campaign video since it's an unlisted video on YouTube. 

Behind-the-Scenes Clips: 

Videos were also released on YouTube prior to the tour to create anticipation of her tour. Eg: Rehearsals Part 1. 

I believe these ideas are clever and creative ways for a recording artist to collaborate with fans utilising social media to facilitate with the marketing of upcoming tours. For more information on the projects, click here. 

Lots o' Love, Linda 

Let's Go Crazy

When it comes to Coca-Cola, you either love it or hate it. You either love or hate the drinks; or you simply love or hate the brand itself. Personally, I'm a proud member of Team Coca Cola. And, most of their campaigns? Love them.  

Please put any cynical thoughts aside for once, and enjoy this Coca-Cola commercial that hopefully inspires us all to "Let's Go Crazy" and do good deeds. 

Lots o' Love, Linda

Post Brand Bowl

While I was not particularly following the event closely or interested in the grid iron game itself, I would still like to congratulate the Baltimore Ravens for their Super Bowl XLVII win! Being a marketing student, it's hard to let this pass without being interested in what the "Brand Bowl" had to offer and how the audience responded this year. 

Of course, much of the talk about the Super Bowl, especially on social media (specifically Twitter), was about Beyonce's half-time show performance. In case you haven't caught up, she did put on a marvelous show with a surprise appearance of the girls from Destiny's Child (Kelly and Michelle). They all looked stunning! Check it out! 

Another thing that made this year's Super Bowl memorable was the sudden power outage. I can imagine it being so exciting to be at the Super Bowl to witness the black out! Even though it was only half the lights, but still exciting and enough for people to mention it on social media.

On top of that, Oreo quickly responded (after approval) with the following tweet which then spread very quickly:

Image via Twitter (Oreo)

The process of what happened behind the scenes is briefly provided in this article.  

I have yet to watch all of the commercials, but here are a few that I enjoyed from what I've seen so far. The ones posted on my previous post are also in my list of favourites.  

Jeep: "Whole Again"

CBS: "Thank You"

Ram Trucks: "Farmer"

Doritos: "Goat 4 Sale"

From my observation of the Super Bowl ads, the majority of the brands have integrated hashtags with their commercials. I found this article "2013 Superbowl Ads Favour URLS, Hashtags - Not Facebook" by Jeremiah Owyang very informative about this year's Super Bowl ads integration with technology. It's useful data to think about for future marketing campaigns. 

Image via Web-Strategist 

Rise of the hashtags? Not only are hashtags useful on Twitter, but it's also useful for content discovery on other social media platforms such as Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest. Perhaps, a weakness for Facebook? 

Lots o' Love, Linda 

Super Bowl 2013: Pre-Releases

Okay, so the big game is not far away. What do I mean by the big game? The big game in America; The Super Bowl XLVII! And we all know what that means; big game, big names, big show, big audience and big budget commercials. 

With an expected audience of 110 million people from all over the world, it's no wonder companies spend around $3.8 million USD for 30 seconds of air-time. And on top of that, the commercials may be the highlight by most of that audience (ahem, that could be myself). 

While the Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers game is just around the corner, we all have the chance to view some of the Super Bowl teasers and full commercials online days or even weeks before the kick-off. 

Why are companies doing this? Won't this ruin the element of surprise and anticipation? Maybe, but according to Fortune, Suzie Reider of YouTube, says that Super Bowl ads that were pre-released ahead of the game averaged 9.1 million viewers in 2012. Whereas, an average of 1.3 million viewers were received for the ads that were released on the day of the game. 

With that in mind and the help of social media as a word-of-mouth platform, it would be a winner to release teasers and ads before game day. I also love that some of these commercials are embracing the "hashtags" so the audience may join in the online conversation. 

Here are some of this year's Super Bowl pre-releases: 

Milk Moustache: Got Milk?

Volkswagen: Get in. Get happy.

Samsung: El Plato Supreme #TheNextBigThing

Budweiser: The Clydesdales: "Brotherhood"

Better call Saul! (Only a Breaking Bad fan will understand this reference.) 

I also found this Super Bowl XLVII: Social Media Guidebook in infographic form and post of The Value of a Super Bowl Ad interesting. 

Lots o' Love, Linda

School of Scaring, Here I Come!

Images via Monsters University

Ahead of the release of Monsters, Inc. 2 - Monsters University, Disney Pixar have launched a college site for us to have a glimpse on what this university is all about. If you search up Monsters University on Google, the college site is the first listing. And, upon browsing through this site, it looks pretty legit. It's no lie to say that the Monsters University site puts my own university's site to shame.  

It's got all the content any stakeholder would look for on a university site such as events; programs and majors; academic calendar and admission details just to name a few. There's even an online store where actual MU apparel may be purchased! How awesome is that? The attention to detail is impressive! 

I don't know if it's cause I'm a sucker for Pixar but this promotional tactic is pretty genius! Just as genius as the Lots o' Huggin' Bear Commercial (circa 1983) and Japanese commercial which were released to promote Toy Story 3! 

The new Monsters, Inc. film is due to release on June 21st, 2013 but if you're in Australia like myself, we can check this out from June 20th. 

Looking forward to this. Check out the movie trailer. And then check out the MU Commercial for prospective students.  

Lots o' Love, Linda