Dear Liat...

Dear Liat,

Your response to Richard Branson highlighting the customer complaint letter your company received was your opportunity to turn bad press around and put fortune in your favour. Instead, you took a 'comedic' and somewhat trivial approach to challenge Virgin Airlines while brushing your customer off. 

The Caribbean responded to your PR challenge in shock and embarrassment. I agree. That 'challenge' was the best example of what not to do in a public relations campaign. In smart and due fashion, you have removed these response videos and alas, you still have ONE last chance to turn things around. 

Your challenge to Richard Branson should have run something more like this:

Hi Richard,

Thank you for marketing us to the world. For that we’re entirely grateful. Now, we want to propose a challenge to you. After this video please tell us: Who had the better customer service: LIAT  or Virgin?

Dear Mr. Hicks:

We sincerely apologize that your flying experience with us did not simply take you from point A to B.  We agree that our high standards of our services were not met in this instance. As you probably already know, our market stretches from The Dominican Republic in the North to Guyana in South America and we are the reliable link that brings the Caribbean Region together. LIAT has pioneered many of the Caribbean destinations and its brand has now become a household name. To prevent re-occurrences we have set up a few modifications to our system. And while we continue a full investigation of this occurrence, we invite you to fly complimentary on LIAT for the next 6 months. We truly value your time with us so we hope to create new memories that override your previous experience.

To all of our valued customers:

We have several upcoming initiatives to improve our services and brand as a whole. In the upcoming weeks we will be re-branding these are exciting times. We have begun the upgrade of our fleet to AR 72-600 cargo and by 2014 we expect to have a total of 12. In addition, you’ve asked for it and we’ve listened, our loyalty program is on the cusp of its launch. We look forward to improving. Thank you for being on this journey with us.

PS. I would be the perfect addition to your re-branding and future public relations campaigns.

What are your thoughts on Liat's response to its customer and the challenge to Richard Branson?
Sound off below.


For business or career inquiries: kayla.anne.lewis@gmail.com 

GapYear/Gap _ Months

Recently a friend of mine posted this image on my Facebook timeline and I wanted to 'like' it a million times because I think this quote holds a great deal of truth. In in a previous blog post on my experience as an international student and advice to other international students, I stressed the importance of studying abroad. What's better than studying abroad than traveling on your own terms?

Even if you don't travel, one alternative route to life after graduation is taking a gap year. A gap year is basically sabbatical from structured life i.e school/work. Gap years are especially popular in the UK and Australia but... not so much in the US. I took time off after graduation to travel to Europe, California and a few other places. The four years I spent panicking by not knowing what I wanted to do after I graduated were in vain because everything was revealed in due time during my gap 5 months. Of course with most decisions they're pros and cons; I outlined some below.

Advantages to taking time off after graduation:

• The chance to volunteer
• Unlimited time to travel
• Take part in activities to learn more about yourself
• Time to figure out what you want to do for approx. the next 5 years +

Disadvantages to taking time off after graduation:

• Missed opportunities for internships/jobs
• Missed on-campus recruiting
• Potentially be set back behind peers

Whether you take time off to teach, volunteer, travel, self-study or take part in a cultural exchange program, be sure to make your experience meaningful. Keep a journal and make every moment count.

What are your thoughts on taking a gap year?
Sound off below.

That which made Coco roll...

From time immemorial, (my entire undergraduate career) I've always chosen Chanel as my brand of choice when doing case studies or presenting relevant examples. I always chose Chanel because in my head I was a Parisian girl at heart (thank you mom for singing to me in French when I was a kid). I own one Chanel product but I'm brand loyal because it's the only perfume I've ever bought. I think I bought it in Paris just for the authenticity.

I love the Chanel brand. It exudes style, elegance, class, chicness and luxury. The No. 5 Perfume is the signature fragrance of the Chanel brand and its television commercials which equaled mini films further set it apart from all other fragrances.

Nicole Kidman = superb

Audrey Tautou = magnifique

Brad Pitt (part 1) = snoozefest

Brad Pitt (part 2) = well... okay

I took a while to write this post because I've tried to like the latest commercials. Goodness me, I've tried. Part 2 is entirely better than Part 1. I'm yet to understand why Karl Lagerfield signed off on this. Brad Pitt wasn't even wearing black. Black is sexy. Black is Chanel.

 However, there was style in diction, elegance in the cinematography and success in the fact that everyone has been talking about it for the past week. The campaign certainly did not go unnoticed. People talked about it for the mere fact that Brad Pitt was paid $7mil to do it. Some were foolish and starstruck while others grunted in dismay.

If Patrick Dempsey was not tied to his own fragrance he would be my first pick. Johnny Depp would be my 2nd pick. Yes, I know he likes the disheveled look and probably wouldn't even be interested in representing Chanel but think Johnny Depp in the film 'The Tourist'. Very similar to Brad Pitt's image but winning personality. The mini film aspect was missing. Keep Brad Pitt. Give me a mini film. 

What do you think of the latest Chanel No. 5 campaign? 

Sound off below.

Vintage

Always minimalist. Always colorful. 

Took it Vintage.

free-lancing

It's about time I posted some work for actual clients right?

(Click on the images for better quality)

Magazine cover

(not an actual client)

I created a magazine cover for the type of fashion/beauty magazine I would read. The quality isn't the best but I REALLY wanted to use this image. Those earrings are everything.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold?

Last week I came across POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and my first question is... why didn't we watch this for any of our marketing classes?

A movie about product placement, marketing and advertising funded by product placement, marketing and advertising. Brilliant! Here's the trailer:

I love the fact that this documentary is loaded with satire. Even more pleasing to me is the fact that it's the type of satire that you laugh at for the first few minutes and then you're forced to think and ask yourself questions like: "Do I like these shoes because the aesthetic is pleasing to me or because they were worn by a leading Hollywood actor/actress in the latest Blockbuster film?"

As a marketer, one of my pet peeves is being marketed at. This week I went in to Verizon to buy a new phone and the salesperson was putting it on thick. What a turn off. I decided to buy online instead. I most definitely appreciate being marketed towards. The difference between the two is the approach. No one likes that person in the subway station who pushes flyers up their nostrils. Instead, I genuinely appreciate when a company takes the time to do research and target a demographic appropriately or reaches a target audience through creative initiatives. When working for clients it's necessary not only to understand their business but also what their competition isn't doing!

Spurlock also addresses the consequences to buying advertising. No one likes to be addressed as a 'sell out' and most creatives hate losing control of their creative vision. However, the documentary explores how quite often this is the case in Hollywood. 

Section 324: the product must have 15 seconds of screen time on 4 separate occasions.

Nice try POM, I may or may not give you a trial in the future. Brand integration. Product placement. Co-promotion. Apart from The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, my favorite feature was watching the Ford Focus park itself on the Amazing Race last season. I can appreciate a good product placement, keep it classy or unexpected and I won't change the channel.

What's your favorite feature of product placement? Sound off below.