| NEWS 06.16.09 11:46 AM |
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Industry Leaders at BizBash L.A. Expo Stress Innovation and Negotiation
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FROM LOS ANGELES
The right response to these times is to adapt, innovate, and negotiate. That was the message communicated by many of the speakers at the BizBash Los Angeles Expo at the L.A. Mart on June 11—who overwhelmingly believed that getting smart and staying positive are the most productive reactions to economic challenges. “It's easy to be good in good times," said veteran publicist Howard Bragman of Fifteen Minutes, an inductee in BizBash's hall of fame.
To be good in bad times, planners are developing their negotiating skills and casting wide nets. To keep costs manageable, Warner Brothers special events director Hillary Harris now gets three outside bids, as well as a bid from the studio’s appropriate internal department. “That keeps everybody honest,” said Harris, who responded quickly to the downturn by restructuring her team and encouraging the group to innovate and learn new skills. She has begun training her team in AutoCAD drafting and design software to provide a higher level of service for events on the lot. “If you can’t significantly change your budget, what’s the added value you can bring? What separates you from your peers is being ahead of the game. [My group meets every day so] there’s feedback and it keeps my team enthused. It’s really paid off well.”
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Warner Brothers, Mattel |
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| EVENT REPORT 03.17.09 2:20 PM |
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Barbie Pop-Up Showcases Furniture Line, Designs From David Dixon's Opening Night Show at LG Fashion Week
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 | David Dixon's runway show
Photo: George Pimentel |
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Furniture bearing Barbie's pony-tailed silhouette, earrings in the shape of black stiletto heels, and Wellington boots adorned with the doll's image—in pink, of course—are just some of the items for sale at Canada's first Barbie Signature Shop. Launched by Mattel on Monday—just hours before Canadian designer David Dixon presented a Barbie-inspired collection to open LG Fashion Week—the pop-up store will house collectible dolls, Dixon's designs, and a furniture line created by his brother Glenn Dixon. The shop, on the main floor of the Bay's flagship store on Queen Street, will be open for the next two months.
"In Canada we always wanted to go after the whole Barbie experience. So we partnered with the Bay to launch this initiative," said Carmen Martinez, Mattel's Canadian licensing manager, who worked with Mattel senior marketing manager Reidin Goode to create a program designed to expand the Barbie brand beyond the doll, and mark her 50th anniversary (which Mattell celebrated in California at a luxe version of the doll's Malibu Dream House earlier this month).
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LG Fashion Week, Fashion Design Council of Canada, David Dixon, Glenn Dixon, Mattel, The Bay, Barbie, Town Shoes, Foxy Originals, Cake |
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| NEWS 03.16.09 8:00 AM |
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Buyers Market, Mezzanine Seating, Film Screening Planned for LG Fashion Week
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 | The lounge for the fall/winter 2008 collections
Photo: George Pimentel |
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The Fashion Design Council of Canada kicks off the 10th anniversary of Fashion Week today with a "Show Love" theme, the addition of a buyer sales environment called the Market, and the introduction of a mezzanine level inside the tents at Nathan Phillips Square. "Structurally, it's very exciting," said council spokesperson Megan Loach, who reported that the addition of a second level will free up more floor space inside. The Studio, a smaller runway that debuted last season, won't be part of the setup for the fall/winter 2009 collections.
More than 30 runway shows will be presented in the tents—from Regal Tent Productions—during LG Fashion Week, which runs until Saturday. The week gets under way with a media reception at Holt Renfrew's flagship store on Bloor Street on tonight, followed by the presentation of David Dixon's signature collection in the tents. The designer will also present Barbie by David Dixon, a line inspired by the famous doll and created in collaboration with Mattel in honour of Barbie's 50th anniversary.
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LG Fashion Week, Fashion Design Council of Canada, LG Electronics Canada, Mattel |
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| EVENT REPORT 03.11.09 4:07 PM |
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For Barbie's 50th Anniversary, Mattel Makes Life-Size Malibu Dream House
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FROM LOS ANGELES
You might say that Mattel had an insta-theme for its Los Angeles bash for about 200 celebrating the iconic Barbie doll's 50th anniversary. Playing off the Malibu Dream House toy—a coveted accessory for the doll—organizers picked a real life beach house on Pacific Coast Highway and went wild with full-size incarnations of the doll's tiny treasures and pleasures. The date of the party, March 9, was the doll's actual birth—er—launch day at New York's Toy Fair 50 years ago.
Mattel's Lauren Dougherty—along with two other co-chairs of the marketing campaign, Liz Grampp and Brad Armistead—tapped Colin Cowie to plan the party and conjure the food and beverage ideas and Jonathan Adler to decorate the interior of the home. "Barbie is a reflection of fashion, pop culture, and aspiration, and that's really how we celebrated her for her 50th birthday," Dougherty said. "In many ways, the Malibu Dream House [party] was the quintessential moment [in the campaign] because she is a California girl—this was our big marquee moment."
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Barbie, Mattel, Jonathan Adler, Volkswagen, Fashion Week |
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| Q & A 10.16.08 9:00 AM |
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Cathy Brown Is Planning Halloween Events in Three Cities and Bracing for the Next Administration
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 | Cathy Brown
Photo: Courtesy of Children Affected by AIDS Foundation |
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Cathy Brown has spent more than 10 years as president of Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF), and for her, October always seems to be particularly busy. From her base in Los Angeles, Brown oversees the foundation's annual Dream Halloween event, a production-heavy affair that brings family activities set in a Trick or Treat village to three American cities. This year, the event comes to Chicago's Windy City Fieldhouse on October 18, New York's Roseland Ballroom the next day, and Barker Hangar in Los Angeles on October 25. The event is expected to draw 1,200, 700, and 2,200 guests, respectively.
Along with planning the three-city event, Brown spent the past year facilitating a surrounding campaign, which launched October 1. The campaign aims to raise funds and awareness for CAAF and features everything from specially designed Dream Halloween costumes to an interactive e-card available on the CAAF Web site and a promotional video starring Jamie Lee Curtis. We recently spoke with Brown about these efforts, building relationships with corporate sponsors, and working at a nonprofit in the current economy.
Give us some background on Dream Halloween.
Halloween is the second largest retail holiday, and it's a time of fun and celebration for both children and adults. Fifteen years ago, CAAF decided to capitalize on this and celebrate Halloween in a fashion that would also enable us to raise funds. This last year, we have expanded the event into a full-blown campaign that involves corporate partners, a Halloween e-card, and a text-message campaign.
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Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, Toys R Us, Mattel, American Airlines, Nickelodeon, Resnick Automotive Group, MySpace, Facebook, Disney, Jamie Lee Curtis, James Gandolfini, Melina Kanakaredes |
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