Lol Amy..good question. I don't know if it does. A bit maybe..impressed that he could be bothered to try and sort it out personally but on the other hand it should never have come to that.
Illamasqua is a brand that I personally only know anything about as a result of bloggers. I am not sure how they are supporting bloggers - it looks like exactly the opposite from where I am sitting.
If you want to know how to handle an online PR gaff look at the way King of Shaves handled a recent one.
I think it's nice that they are so transparent. Took me 3 weeks to get through to the Shu Uemura PR team and then another 3 weeks after that they gave me a shitty email saying how I didn't warrant any press releases as I wasn't press.
Illamasqua have always been very friendly in my opinion andhave looked after me. And it seems like it's the same person who works with all bloggers and she's nice sweet and not PR at all
Not impressed with Illamasque at all. To me this is turning their shoulder on the medium that made them. Through various purchases I am personally quite convinced they are not worth the hype, they are the only consistently positively blog reviewed brand that I have been consistently disappointed in. When discussing this with their Illamasque staff recently at a Debenhams they quietly told me that this was all due to the massive investment they made in giving away freebies to bloggers. Does this mean that I think bloggers were influenced by generous freebies? Yes it does,which I hate but cant help, cause quite frankly I'd choose Prestige over this lot any time. Call me a sceptic but this open letter sounds like a reaction to being rightly called out on their rather obvious decision to make a conscious switch to a more commercial advertising option. 'Anarchic at is heart' and 'no conformity as we grow'? Can I say the word 'balls' on your blog BBB? While I think BBB is generous in her praise of he response, to me its blatant and corporate and typical and really disappointing. Ranty? well yes quite frankly!
i am sorry people but you all sound like little e-divas. why does it matter if you can post the pics now or on monday? You do seem to be stirring things up for no reason. I think the fact that this guy's direct answer defo inflates your blogging ego. Also at which point does this guy turn his back to bloggers? He even takes the time to answer back. The problem with bloggers is this: they do seem to have a very aggressive attitude: supposedly people start their blogs out of love for beauty, only to become hungry for freebies and write low quality content. I am not saying that all mags are great,but then again bloggers are not the voice of the people. to the blogger above re: uemura. well if you had a brand and you were inundated with 109495 request from 2874874 bloggers (it seems that everyone is a blogger now) would you really give out your product like that? doesn't it sound risky to you? not having control over your product at all? or just because you are part of this new movement does this entitle you to demand more and more products ? i don;t really understand here....
Illamasqua have done VERY well for an indie brand, and for my part, this is due to MizzWorthy and her competitions, which spread like wildfire across blogs and YouTube. Before her I had seen the stand in Selfridges but never approached, as they have too many staff there and they POUNCE on you. Going to their counter is a nightmare (well most Selfridges beauty counters are, to be fair) so that's one reason I don't go. The other is that their prices are high end, yet their blog gifts are splashed -which frankly DOES cheapen the brand! I don't blame them if they now retrospectively want to set a premium (let's be honest, a National paper supplement would represent a prestige status symbol to put on their press clippings - more than any blog, even a powerful one such as this - simply because blogs as a medium are comparatively new and easier to establish.)
Their mistake was not to initially chase the papers. Now they inevitably alienate the blogs who set them up. Illamasqua have made thier bed and must lie in it, so your stance implies. I think that is true in that Illamasqua have come across as having no clear gameplan. i.e "It's easier to romance bloggers with free stuff, so let's start with that; oh now let's justify our prestige place by doing the exclusive print spread." Julian does not help smooth the cracks by his badly worded and ramble ridden email, I would have suggested a sleeker PR response that made sense.
Illamasqua, objectively speaking, would actually do well to reign in their blog connections. I was invited to the launch recently which got cancelled last minute and never rescheduled (very unprofessional and dare I say would not have happened were we print media bigwigs) and then people who were not even invited, got sent packages of stuff to blog about, whilst some, like me, never got anything. I don't mind (and possily if I wrote to ask for my free goodies would have got them)but it does make the brand seem confused and drowning in their blog connections. It seems Illamasqua see bloggers as their friends: we can be coaxed but equally we can be dropped, and as friends, we will stick by them. I don't think Illamasqua ever saw blogs as "media" in their hearts.
However on the whole, to reiterate, Illamasqua - however they got there - have done a marvellous job: going international, building a varied range of products, forging a distinctive identity. No one can take that achievement away. All's fair in business, and even if it is laughable to claim to be "anarchic" when you are so clearly a corporate business setting up in any shopping mall that you can, and obviously would be in heaven if you could be the next Lauder...!!! But it's an image, and there is no harm in that. The rock n roll cliche is as bourgeois as they come, afterall. Nothing new there.
I hope Illamasqua work out a professional strategy so they balance their interests wisely. To their immense credit, Illamasqua's website swatches (an idea cultivated by blogger/Youtube requests) shows that they are open to appreciating blogger input. They are a new brand, and the learning curve is a bit too visible, that's their only fault.
I get the feeling this won't be the last post on Illamasqua afterall, BBB. That was easy enough! Try that with a disgruntled magazine editor on the other hand....
I think it's great that you made the effort to post both sides of the "story". It showed professionalism and integrity. I am your fan forevermore.... :-P
13 comments:
Wait, why did you title this the "last, last post"? Does this answer your concerns?
Wow. Kudos to Illamasqua
Lol Amy..good question. I don't know if it does. A bit maybe..impressed that he could be bothered to try and sort it out personally but on the other hand it should never have come to that.
Illamasqua is a brand that I personally only know anything about as a result of bloggers. I am not sure how they are supporting bloggers - it looks like exactly the opposite from where I am sitting.
If you want to know how to handle an online PR gaff look at the way King of Shaves handled a recent one.
http://mumbrella.com.au/king-of-shaves-rude-and-spammy-31365#comments
You need to read the comments to see how they turned it around.
Incidentally when I retweeted it I got a DM from Will King himself.
This confuses me as I have been told categorically that I could not sure the product images I have until after Sunday, I showed you the email BBB.
What does this mean? Should I release them now then?
"Hey Right hand, meet the Left hand, you're part of the same being"
Revised to say that my email syas they would 'prefer' me not to share images.
I do want to clarify that.
Sam
I think it's nice that they are so transparent. Took me 3 weeks to get through to the Shu Uemura PR team and then another 3 weeks after that they gave me a shitty email saying how I didn't warrant any press releases as I wasn't press.
Illamasqua have always been very friendly in my opinion andhave looked after me. And it seems like it's the same person who works with all bloggers and she's nice sweet and not PR at all
Not impressed with Illamasque at all. To me this is turning their shoulder on the medium that made them. Through various purchases I am personally quite convinced they are not worth the hype, they are the only consistently positively blog reviewed brand that I have been consistently disappointed in. When discussing this with their Illamasque staff recently at a Debenhams they quietly told me that this was all due to the massive investment they made in giving away freebies to bloggers. Does this mean that I think bloggers were influenced by generous freebies? Yes it does,which I hate but cant help, cause quite frankly I'd choose Prestige over this lot any time. Call me a sceptic but this open letter sounds like a reaction to being rightly called out on their rather obvious decision to make a conscious switch to a more commercial advertising option. 'Anarchic at is heart' and 'no conformity as we grow'? Can I say the word 'balls' on your blog BBB? While I think BBB is generous in her praise of he response, to me its blatant and corporate and typical and really disappointing. Ranty? well yes quite frankly!
I love Illamasqua please dont stop blogging about it - its one of the best make up brands out there!!!
i am sorry people but you all sound like little e-divas. why does it matter if you can post the pics now or on monday? You do seem to be stirring things up for no reason. I think the fact that this guy's direct answer defo inflates your blogging ego. Also at which point does this guy turn his back to bloggers? He even takes the time to answer back. The problem with bloggers is this: they do seem to have a very aggressive attitude: supposedly people start their blogs out of love for beauty, only to become hungry for freebies and write low quality content. I am not saying that all mags are great,but then again bloggers are not the voice of the people. to the blogger above re: uemura. well if you had a brand and you were inundated with 109495 request from 2874874 bloggers (it seems that everyone is a blogger now) would you really give out your product like that? doesn't it sound risky to you? not having control over your product at all? or just because you are part of this new movement does this entitle you to demand more and more products ? i don;t really understand here....
Illamasqua have done VERY well for an indie brand, and for my part, this is due to MizzWorthy and her competitions, which spread like wildfire across blogs and YouTube. Before her I had seen the stand in Selfridges but never approached, as they have too many staff there and they POUNCE on you. Going to their counter is a nightmare (well most Selfridges beauty counters are, to be fair) so that's one reason I don't go. The other is that their prices are high end, yet their blog gifts are splashed -which frankly DOES cheapen the brand! I don't blame them if they now retrospectively want to set a premium (let's be honest, a National paper supplement would represent a prestige status symbol to put on their press clippings - more than any blog, even a powerful one such as this - simply because blogs as a medium are comparatively new and easier to establish.)
Their mistake was not to initially chase the papers. Now they inevitably alienate the blogs who set them up. Illamasqua have made thier bed and must lie in it, so your stance implies. I think that is true in that Illamasqua have come across as having no clear gameplan. i.e "It's easier to romance bloggers with free stuff, so let's start with that; oh now let's justify our prestige place by doing the exclusive print spread." Julian does not help smooth the cracks by his badly worded and ramble ridden email, I would have suggested a sleeker PR response that made sense.
Illamasqua, objectively speaking, would actually do well to reign in their blog connections. I was invited to the launch recently which got cancelled last minute and never rescheduled (very unprofessional and dare I say would not have happened were we print media bigwigs) and then people who were not even invited, got sent packages of stuff to blog about, whilst some, like me, never got anything. I don't mind (and possily if I wrote to ask for my free goodies would have got them)but it does make the brand seem confused and drowning in their blog connections. It seems Illamasqua see bloggers as their friends: we can be coaxed but equally we can be dropped, and as friends, we will stick by them. I don't think Illamasqua ever saw blogs as "media" in their hearts.
However on the whole, to reiterate, Illamasqua - however they got there - have done a marvellous job: going international, building a varied range of products, forging a distinctive identity. No one can take that achievement away. All's fair in business, and even if it is laughable to claim to be "anarchic" when you are so clearly a corporate business setting up in any shopping mall that you can, and obviously would be in heaven if you could be the next Lauder...!!! But it's an image, and there is no harm in that. The rock n roll cliche is as bourgeois as they come, afterall. Nothing new there.
I hope Illamasqua work out a professional strategy so they balance their interests wisely. To their immense credit, Illamasqua's website swatches (an idea cultivated by blogger/Youtube requests) shows that they are open to appreciating blogger input. They are a new brand, and the learning curve is a bit too visible, that's their only fault.
I get the feeling this won't be the last post on Illamasqua afterall, BBB. That was easy enough! Try that with a disgruntled magazine editor on the other hand....
I think it's great that you made the effort to post both sides of the "story". It showed professionalism and integrity. I am your fan forevermore.... :-P
Just Kiss and Makeup..Its all about advertising and such things do happen.......
Illamasqua is a good brand and should realise how much footage they get through bloggers and Bloggers must understand Illamasqua's priorities.
Thats getting easier!!
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