The artwork is one of the first commissioned portraits of King Charles III and was initially revealed in The Illustrated Coronation Edition. Artist Alistair Barford had attended a reception at Buckingham Palace on the 17th February, where His Majesty was presented a bracelet by Domingo Peas, an Amazon indigenous leader. The bracelet was included in the portrait and was intended to give the image context and authenticity and a symbol of The Kings advocacy on climate change and sustainability. The portrait of His Majesty was not Barford’s first commissioned by ILN or of a Royal. In 2015 he was asked to paint The Queen, to commemorate Her Majesty becoming the longest-reigning British monarch. You can find a print of this portrait in this link.
The event began with guests being welcomed with a glass of Bollinger Special Cuvée served en Jeroboam and soon after the room was filled with the music of the London Scottish regimental band, which added to the festive Coronation atmosphere. This was followed by speeches from Champagne Bollinger’s UK director Victoria Carfantan, Burlington Arcade’s Trupti Shah and Lisa Barnard Chief Executive of Illustrated London News, who also posed some questions to Alistair Barford. The champagne was accompanied with exquisite delicacies created by a fellow Royal Warrant Holder, patisserie chef Didier Merveilleux.
To commemorate The Coronation, Champagne Bollinger has collaborated with chef Didier Merveilleux, to create a unique Coronation Afternoon Treat menu, to be served exclusively at The Bollinger Burlington Bar from 27th April to 14th May. The menu, paired with a glass of Bollinger Special Cuvée, will be served on beautiful Thomas Goode & Co tableware, another tertiary Royal Warrant holder, making this an unparalleled dining experience. To honour the excellent work of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust, Champagne Bollinger will donate a portion of proceeds from each afternoon tea sold.
Our guests were also amongst the first to admire the magnificent installations at the Burlington Arcade that had been unveiled earlier that day. The arcade has installed 55 flags and 180 metres of carpet all in honour of His Majesty. The instillation design features the four flowers of the nation: the thistle, Scotland’s national flower; the daffodil, the national flower of Wales; the three-leaf shamrock, regarded as the national symbol of Northern Ireland, and finally, the Tudor Rose, the national flower of England which has merged with the official Burlington Arcade rosette.
Lisa Barnard shared her thoughts on the event: “ILN is delighted to have co-hosted this celebration and unveil the stunning portrait of The King, painted by the talented artist Alastair Barford. We are proud to have featured this beautiful portrait on the cover of The Illustrated Coronation Edition. What better way to honour His Majesty than with a glass of Bollinger in hand on the day the splendid Coronation decorations at Burlington Arcade were unveiled?”
We would like to say a tremendous thanks to Champagne Bollinger and the Burlington Arcade for their fantastic work organising and hosting the event!
Illustrated London News is proud to reveal its specially commissioned portrait of His Majesty King Charles III that will feature on the front cover of The Illustrated Coronation Edition. The portrait was painted in oils by the artist Alastair Barford, a former QEST scholar (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust) and is the first portrait to be released since the change of reign and among the first to be commissioned.
The artist had just two weeks to complete the project, and while His Majesty did not sit for the portrait, Alastair was able to study him at work at a Buckingham Palace reception on 17 February held in support of global biodiversity, working from his photographs and sketches of the occasion.
The likeness of The King and his sympathetic expression are striking. Alastair Barford commented: “I wished to capture his warmth and sensitivity, the empathy which came across in his interactions with the people he met. It was important that I captured a sympathetic expression.”
A detail of the portrait includes a bracelet on His Majesty’s wrist, presented to The King by the Amazon indigenous leader, Domingo Peas, at the Palace reception on 17 February. The artist included the bracelet to give the portrait context and authenticity, a symbol of The King’s advocacy on climate change and sustainability.
The portrait of The King was not Barford’s first royal portrait. He was commissioned as an up and coming artist by Illustrated London News in 2015 to paint Her Majesty The Queen in oils to mark her becoming the longest reigning British Monarch. It was Barford’s first formal commission and he studied The Queen at The Order of Garter Ceremony at Windsor Castle.
The portrait was hailed in The Daily Telegraph as “a far better likeness than many more famous artists have achieved from extensive sittings with The Queen” and The Daily Mail deemed it “stunning”. After The Queen‘s death in September 2022, The Daily Telegraph included Barford’s portrait as one of the top 5 portraits of The Queen.
The Illustrated Coronation Edition is the first dedicated Coronation edition to be published in 2023. In addition to the new portrait, it contains rare archive material of the former Prince of Wales and coronations though the ages. It will be in supermarkets including M&S, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Booths, Asda, Morrisons and WH Smith and Barnes & Noble in U.S from 30 March.
Lisa Barnard, Chief Executive of Illustrated London News, commented: “Illustrated London News has had a long tradition, dating back to 1842, of commissioning royal portraits for Coronation and Jubilee editions. So we wished to create a new portrait of King Charles III for our special Illustrated Coronation Edition. It is the first painting of The King where the artist has been able to observe the Monarch first hand. It’s extraordinary that Alastair Barford achieved this result in just a fortnight. He is phenomenally talented, and so modest. He worked around the clock to get the best result and finesse it. We are grateful for the Palace’s support in making this happen.
“Creating this portrait is fitting with His Majesty The King’s support of artistic talent and craftmanship. Alastair Barford was ILN’s first choice as artist because of the dazzling talent he demonstrated with his portrait of Her Majesty The Queen and his connection with QEST. These are now two companion portraits of Queen and King, and mother and son.”
You can buy the magazine by going to britishcoronation.com.
We were delighted this year to again publish the official Programme for The Lord Mayor’s Show which took place on Saturday 12th November 2022. The Show is one of the best-known annual events in London as well as one of the longest established, dating back to the 16th century. With just over two miles of horses, military vehicles, bands, bicycles and camels over 130 floats, it is the largest unrehearsed procession in the world. This year The Rt. Hon Nicholas Lyons, who has worked in the City of London for over 35 years, became the 694th Lord Mayor of London, taking over from Vincent Keaveny.
Edited this year by Caroline Frost, the Programme showcases the best of what the Show and the City has to offer and provides great insight into the role of the Lord Mayor and those that work closely with him. There is also a feature in which this year’s cover artist Brüer Tidman discusses his friendship with the new Lord Mayor and the influence of Leonard Cohen’s lyrics in the cover artwork. With a comprehensive guide to the float holders who participated, a feature on landmark buildings along the route of the procession and an insider’s guide to hidden gems within London’s square mile, the Programme is a must have to accompany the Show.
Finally, a big thank you to the Epsom Air Scouts and those from the 17th Forest Hill group who joined us on the day to help sell Programmes, alongside the ILN team who were also out on the streets of the City.
If you would like to learn more about The Lord Mayor’s Show, you can read an interview with Dominic Reid OBE, the show’s Pageant Master on SPHERE, ILN’s own luxury lifestyle print and digital publication.
As an intern or for work experience at SPHERE magazine https://www.spherelife.com/ you will be a part of the processes of research, copywriting and distributing content on SPHERE digital channels including website, social channels and a weekly email newsletter. You will also have opportunities to research, write and help out on the quarterly print magazine.
SPHERE is an established magazine (print and digital) focused on luxury and mostly London/UK and travel destinations, covering lifestyle, culture, travel, food and drink, fashion, interior design, watches, jewellery, beauty and luxury tech. We are known for the high quality and execution of our content and intelligent outlook on luxury. You can find a couple of recent print magazines here SPHERE 15.2 SPHERE 15.3.
In this role (primarily digital) you will experience and work within all elements of the content lifecycle of SPHERE, including research, content planning, writing, picture research, proofreading, publishing on CMS and social media. You will receive support and training throughout your time at SPHERE and will be involved with the process of making SPHERE a success and will get guidance and direction from the SPHERE editorial team.
You will also be involved with ILN (Illustrated London News Ltd) https://iln.co.uk/, SPHERE’s parent company, a well-established content marketing agency working with high profile brands. You are likely to have admin or office tasks thrown at you, such as database research or helping out on mailings. You may get involved in other projects across the agency, such as our forthcoming Coronation publications or other client work.
SPHERE Website, Social content, Print
Social media
What we look for
Requirements
Terms
Please apply to Louis Crompton, ILN, [email protected] Please send a covering email on why you are suitable, your CV, any examples of work and your availability in 2022 and 2023 with specific dates. Thank you!
Illustrated London News held a reception in Pall Mall’s Reform Club to celebrate the launch of The Illustrated Platinum Jubilee. Hosted by Chief Executive of ILN Lisa Barnard, the dapper invitees raised a glass of Louis Roederer Champagne to the new publication and to the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne.
The auspicious guests also had the opportunity to admire The Reform Club’s forthcoming Platinum Jubilee exhibition. ILN collaborated on the event with the Royal Warrant Holders Association and The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST). A portion of all sales of The Illustrated Platinum Jubilee will be donated to QEST to support the training of craftsmen and women. A Sincere thanks to those who attended and to our generous sponsors, Louis Roederer.
You can view the full brochure here or on the following link: htps://www.iln.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ILN-SCHOOLS-BROCHURE.pdf
This provides the background detail on why these resources are relevant for students aged 11-18 and history departments in particular. Access to the archives is now available to secondary schools at an affordable price on an annual subscription basis, for which schools can access two separate digital archives, totalling 1.3 million pages, and is accompanied by free teaching and studying resources. Until now these two collections have been offered primarily to Further Education institutes, including universities, and museums around the world, and they have never been offered to schools as a package.
Lisa Barnard, Chief Executive of Illustrated London News Ltd, said: “We have had a lot of feedback from teachers that they would love to be able to access to relevant resources to replace the over-used standard ones, especially from textbooks and exam papers. Given the COVID-19 situation, we wanted to make this happen right away and we were able to do so. We are fortunate that our collections are image-led – that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ is still the case today. We hope to inspire and create a new generation of history and cultural detectives, unearthing fascinating and exciting material.
“The ILN became the television of its day and allowed the public for the first time not just to be able to read about British and world events, but to ‘see’ them. This method of employing ‘Special Artists’ who were sent to produce finished illustrations was a concept which changed the concept of journalism. This was not art for art’s sake. This was art for news’ sake.”
Chronicling the changing world throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the publications in these fascinating pictorial archives are the most well-known, varied and visual in British periodical publishing history. Originally under the umbrella of The Illustrated London News, there are 10 titles in total in these combined collections, all considered to be among the foremost popular journals of their respective periods. The archives will be an invaluable tool across the curriculum, bringing a wealth of material to lessons, especially history, but also relevant to other subjects such as English Literature, science, art, media and drama.
Through our two educational publishing partners Cengage/Gale and ProQuest, you can choose to subscribe to a single archive, The Illustrated London News, the world’s first illustrated newspaper spanning 1842-2003, or the 9 sister titles, or both. In light of the COVID-19 situation and the increased need for schools to offer remote teaching and promote online studying, we are also providing free teaching and study resources, including adaptable PowerPoints, videos and webinars. These have been designed for conventional classroom use as well as remote online teaching.
For further information and more images available in high-res please contact Lisa Barnard – [email protected]
Please send your CV with covering letter to [email protected] with the subject line ‘Business Development Executive application‘.
Please note that due to the volume of applications only successful candidates will be contacted. We welcome all applications irrespective of race, gender, gender reassignment, age, religion or belief, relationship status, pregnancy/maternity, sexual orientation or disability.
It’s a tough act being a newspaper these days. With television, the internet and social media platforms gearing up for the Big Day months ahead, this was one of the most orchestrated media events the world has ever seen. So how do you compete with live coverage when you have an 18-hour delay before you land on the breakfast table? How do you write original, compelling content, rather than regurgitate what has been said during several hours of live TV coverage and in millions of #royalwedding tweets? Newspaper reporters need to cut it both ways these days – swim with the internet giants and run with the press hounds.
The privileged access offered to newspapers by the Palace is not what it used to be. Take our own paper (no longer published), The Illustrated London News, legendary in its heyday for its coverage of royal events. The editor was automatically allocated a prime seat “in the Abbey” so he could soak up the atmosphere and produce the authoritative eye witness account of the occasion for which the ILN was renowned – be it a Coronation, royal wedding or state funeral.
Not so with the Harry and Meghan’s wedding. Kensington Palace, we gather, initially decreed that no print reporters would be allowed into the Chapel; only TV cameras were offered this privilege. After vigorous lobbying, eventually one Press Association journalist was allowed into the inner sanctum on behalf of all. The rest of the pack were ensconced in a makeshift press room, watching the service on a screen along with 2 billion others around the world, with the variable sound quality and internet connection you would expect in a medieval castle.
Despite these challenges, the royal wedding newspaper coverage demonstrated that newspaper journalism is far from being in the doldrums, thanks to two great factors that set it part. First, the less talked about skill of the picture desk. A picture says a thousand words, but when faced with an instant choice of a thousand pictures, one picture creates a thousand memories. Video may have killed the radio star but it didn’t kill the photo editor. Second, the voices that individually and collectively create a narrative that is rich, memorable and–on the whole–well crafted. There was a sharp contrast between the off-the-cuff commentary of television and Twitter and the considered curation and scrutiny of newspaper journalism. This was most evident in coverage of Bishop Curry’s now legendary sermon. The broadcasters did not know what to make of the sermon, and were either flummoxed or dismissive, no doubt influenced by a few raised eyebrows and ill-judged smirks in the Chapel. By the time the newspapers had paused for thought, digested and published, the sermon was hailed as the single defining factor which set this royal wedding apart from all that have come before.
Nor is it a coincidence that the top newspaper journalists are wheeled in on telly as the experts, with a line up including The Daily Mail‘s Robert Hardman, You Magazine’s Jo Elvin and The Sunday Times’ Roya Nikkhah. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
But we shouldn’t feel sorry for newspapers. They make it harder for themselves by the self-imposed rivalry between the Sunday and daily editions. A royal wedding inevitably falls on a Saturday, making the job of the royal correspondent on a daily doubly hard. They need to conjure up something meaningful and fresh 48 hours after the event, when the street parties have packed up and everyone is back at work. Newspapers have had to slash their cost base in recent years, so I find it astonishing that the Chinese walls which exist between the Sundays and dailies under the same brand and ownership have not yet been knocked down. If you were starting a news business today in whatever channel, only lunatics would create a business model with a separate team that is dedicated to a single edition one day a week. If I were in charge of a newspaper, I would get my best team on it every day of the week. What’s for sure there are some top teams out there.
The Illustrated Royal Weddings is available from princeharryroyalwedding.co.uk and retailers including Waitrose, W H Smith in UK and Barnes & Noble in US
“It certainly blew the cobwebs off a thousand years of history and showed that at the heart of the establishment, at the very core of our ancient traditions and most hallowed beliefs, there has at last been an acknowledgment that Britain is a changed country and that diversity and inclusion are here to stay.”
Valentine Low, The Times
“The most important thing is the Queen wore sunglasses.”
Stuart Heritage, The Times
“This was The Royal Wedding: the Reality Show, in which everyone was either a star or an extra.”
Camilla Long, The Sunday Times
“It may be too much and too unfair to expect the rejoicing around this latest royal wedding to lighten the weight of two burdens: that of the memory of the Diana-tragedy, and that of the anxieties of a nation headed for an exit without any clear sense of destination.”
Simon Schama, Financial Times
“The candle in front of [Bishop Curry] swayed dangerously in the tornadic gusts of his enthusiasm. A new kind of candle in the wind.”
Allison Pearson, The Sunday Telegraph
“The Duchess of Cornwall turned up in a gigantic pink feathered hat, which seemed to be her personal F… You to every flamingo in the world.”
Caitlin Moran, The Times Magazine
“If a list of hot 61-year olds exists she [Doria Raglan] just zoomed to the top of it.”
Robert Crampton, The Times
“The euphemism for her dual heritage is ‘modern.’ Somehow, in a country that is riven with discord about who should and should not be here, blackness gets reconfigured as modernity, rather than being recognized as part of our history. “
Suzanne Moore, The Guardian
“The sun shone, a choir sang Stand by Me and small flower girls and pageboys behaved perfectly while giggling (the Haribo quota must have been bang on).”
Claudia Winkleman, The Sunday Times
“In truth, two institutions, monarchy and the press, are walking hand in hand towards their doom after 400 years of interdependence.”
Roy Greenslade, The Guardian
“There was a national sigh of relief that the bothersome question of the last decade—just who will marry Harry?—had finally been answered. And how.”
Sarah Oliver, Mail on Sunday
The talk was introduced by Pearlfinders’ MD Anthony Cooper and then moved on to a panel discussion hosted by Rainmaker’s Gareth Dixon with questions aimed at Mike Thorne—Pearlfinders’ Deputy MD and Stefano Debolini, an associate solicitor at Sheridans law firm, who specializes in Data Protection, Intellectual Property and Technology.
There are plenty of detailed guidelines on the topic of GDPR, but two key topics interested me the most.
1. Legitimate interest
2. What to do if you haven’t implemented any GDPR measures yet?
Firstly, ‘legitimate interest’. I got the impression during the session that ‘legitimate interest’ was a subjective term, and wondered if businesses could define this themselves. I spoke to Stefano after the session and followed up with a few emails discussing the matter. He agreed that while it is a subjective phrase, he thought it would take a little time before the industry gets a firm grasp on when it would or wouldn’t be applicable.
Stefano went on to tell me that “while there isn’t a concrete, exhaustive definition of ‘legitimate interest’ in GDPR, we do know there are specific situations where it may apply, such as for marketing, fraud prevention, IT security and similar, because they are specifically mentioned in the regulation”.
While that doesn’t mean we can sit around a table and arbitrarily decide what constitutes legitimate interest, businesses are advised to carry out the following process to define this:
Having completed these steps, it should then become clear whether the data used is proportionate, has a minimal privacy impact, and the people involved would not be surprised or likely to object to its use, in which case we are unlikely to fall foul of the law.
It’s worthwhile bearing in mind that legitimate interests are only one of the lawful grounds for processing personal data. Every business processes personal data in a number of ways such as in marketing, employee data, information about clients and suppliers etc.
Legitimate interests apply some of the time, but often you need to consider whether a different lawful basis for processing is relevant. For example, where you need to process personal data to perform your obligations under a contract, or certain circumstances where you will need to ask for consent.
The second topic raised was what to do if you haven’t implemented any GDPR measures yet?
As the law comes in to play on 25th May 2018, at the time of writing there’s less than one month to go. I got my answer from the panel that summarised things very nicely for me at the end of the session
As part of getting ready for GDPR, you will need to update some of your contracts, policies and privacy notices. Occasionally, you might need to tweak the way you do things. The best starting point is to get “the big picture” and find out what personal data you use, and why. The rest will flow from there.
With thanks to:
The team at Pearlfinders for hosting the event: www.home.pearlfinders.com
Stefano Debolini at Sheridans: [email protected]
The full article can be found here but Lisa’s views have been reposted below:
What do you most like about your job?
ILN is a content marketing agency specializing in global luxury brands.
I love seeing client activity evolve from what might be a loose idea into a fully formed brief into a beautiful piece of work, which achieves the desired results.
In the luxury sector, we have the luxury of being able to push the boundaries of engagement, as well as to finesse the final creative output appropriately for the audience.
We’re a boutique agency, so senior staff are hands-on and able to add value to major projects.
I like the fact that all members of our team genuinely care about the work we do, and take pride in the end result. It’s all about the people.
What is the biggest challenge in your job?
Being perfectly honest, it’s nothing to do with luxury.
As a smaller agency the ebb and flow of business and timings, in an unpredictable marketing environment, is the biggest challenge.
If a client doesn’t pay on time, or a project we were counting on doesn’t materialize or is postponed for whatever reason, we have to adapt and leap frog over a possible black hole, elegantly, of course.
I’m a mother of three daughters, the oldest just stopped being a teenager and the youngest is about to become one, so I know all about challenges.
But having 20-plus mouths to feed at work each month is what keeps me awake at night.
What is your work priority for 2017?
We launched the Luxury Content Network last summer and my priority is to expand it in 2017.
We have created a series of online magazines and content partnerships with global luxury brands, including Aston Martin, Sotheby’s, Raffles and Godiva Chocolatier.
Our big idea is to join up these audiences to allow access to a combined 3 million-plus affluent consumers per month and create opportunities for native advertising for third-party brands.
We believe that launching a network of luxury brand publishers is a media first.
What is your proudest achievement in luxury?
My proudest achievement is undertaking a management buy-out [MBO] of Illustrated London News (ILN) in 2007 and developing it into an agency that specializes in luxury and works with world-class brands.
I am proud of the work we create and that we punch above our weight – for our clients and for ourselves.
For example, we have just been reappointed by Aston Martin to publish their brand magazine in a competitive tender against some major companies – it’s a brand all agencies covet and we’re proud to have been retained.
We have been through one major recession, then things got better and now the climate in the U.K. post-Brexit is uncertain.
When my friends ask me what I have achieved since the MBO, I say survival.
How do you see luxury evolving in 2017?
Luxury was slow to embrace digital. Now luxury embraces digital wholeheartedly. That development has meant an extraordinary content revolution.
Content is ILN’s specialty, so we feel we are in a good space for the future.
The next biggest evolution for luxury brands will be the integration of data with content.
The luxury sector has been slow to leverage the full potential of Big Data analytics, but is perfectly poised to take advantage of it now. That will result in reducing complexity and increasing focus and effectiveness.
In recent months, we’ve seen BBC2’s Sold! Inside the World’s Biggest Auction House, in which Christie’s allowed cameras behind the scenes of one of the world’s leading auction houses as it reached its 250th anniversary. For Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue, also on BBC2, the film-makers were given unprecedented access for the nine months leading up to the magazine’s centenary. Viewers followed designers, models and creatives, as well as enigmatic editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman, who has incidentally just announced she is standing down after more than 25 years, as they crafted their monthly fashion bible. And Channel 4’s The MiIlion Pound Necklace: Inside Boodles followed the British jeweller’s Greenfire emerald necklace from design to launch.
Once upon a time, a brand’s relationship with customers was one-way: it told its story and customers bought into it or didn’t, but the brand remained in control. Now, with the advent of the internet, mobile technology and social networking, consumers have a right of reply through review sites such as TrustPilot and TripAdvisor, with a voice that’s very loud. If your customers don’t trust you, you’ll soon know, and so will everyone else.
Brand management now requires a new approach with brands increasingly releasing their message and trusting their customers to spread the word. When done well, this approach can result in improved products and customer services, as well as strengthening customer loyalty.
What better way to engage your customers than opening your previously closed doors and allow them to look inside? It’s an approach recently adopted by an ILN client, Godiva. As the celebrated Belgian chocolatier turned 90 last year, it allowed ILN’s luxury brand documentary filmmakers, Inside Luxury, exclusive access to their inner sanctum.
Soon, First Class airline passengers will be able to enjoy a new 30-minute documentary, The World of Chocolate: The Inside Story of Godiva Chocolates. Opening the doors to the Godiva kitchens, Inside Luxury will explore the brand’s heritage and reveal the unique stories behind the making of its creations from source to consumer through the people who know and love it best. Where better for the brand to tell its story than in such a high-flying environment?
Following the success of the beautiful brand book ILN made for luxury chocolatier Godiva, we are excited to introduce the next phrase in our ongoing partnership; Chocolate Notes, Godiva’s new online magazine. Each digital issue will be bursting with inspiring features on art, design, lifestyle, travel and all things chocolate – watch this space!
Here at Illustrated London News, we are proud to present the brand new digital platform for Aston Martin’s AM Magazine. Created to reflect the same slick, sophisticated feel as AM’s print title, the online version is is full of compelling features on travel, luxury, lifestyle and the world’s most beautiful sports cars.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the exotic lure of Brazil: wind your way through the jungle, along the Iguassa River to see the infamous Iguassa Falls – one of the world’s “Seven Natural Wonders.” Or discover the local secrets and spectacular flavours of Rio’s budding gourmet scene. Food lovers will also enjoy our trip to Mallorca to indulge in the island’s rich cuisine.
Alternatively, jump aboard and discover the inspiration and techniques behind cult film director Wes Anderson’s films – and his love of train travel. Elsewhere, we take a behind-the-scenes look at the art of haute couture embroidery, reveal the young Irish creatives taking the world by storm, and uncover the effects of climate change on wine. All this, plus the latest news from Belmond hotels.
In celebration of being James Bond’s sports car of choice for more than half a century, the winter edition of AM Magazine features an exclusive cover image of Daniel Craig and the car which was specially built for him to drive in Spectre, the Aston Martin DB10.
There aren’t many who can boast such a special relationship with the British secret agent as Aston Martin –the stream of beautiful Bond girls certainly can’t. So what is it about the luxury car brand that keeps Bond coming back for more? Find out in this winter issue. Plus discover the man behind the character of Bond, in an interview with Craig on how he approached his fourth Bond mission, what he has brought to the role during his time as 007 and his experience with the DB10 on the set of Spectre.
Packed with enough action to be worthy of a Bond film, we also have a behind-the-scenes report from filming of the fast-paced car chase through the streets of Rome with the DB10 pursued by a SMERSH hitman, as well as an exciting track day with the Aston Martin Vulcan, the new track-only supercar, at the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France.
For a change of scene and pace, make a beeline to our story on the humble honeybee, as we investigate the insect’s pivotal role in the production of almonds in California and we also have a beautiful picture-led feature from inside the world’s most famous libraries. As ever, the magazine carries all our regular features including the latest news from the Aston Martin family around the world, art, travel and design and a selection of perfect gifts for the festive season.
The publication hit the streets during Saturday’s procession, where ILN’s programme sellers lined the parade route and met the crowds.
The show itself was accompanied by strong emotions, opening with a two-minute silence to mark the terrorist attack in Paris the evening before. Spectators and participants turned out in force on the day, in a show of support for public life and civic celebration.
Beginning in 1215, the Lord Mayor’s Show is perhaps the greatest unbroken tradition in Britain. Through the Black Death in 1348, the Great Fire of London of 1666 and the Blitz in 1940, the Lord Mayor’s Show has continuously and spectacularly paid tribute to the livery companies and the City of London while celebrating the newly elected Lord Mayor.
Illustrated London News shares a long history with the show, dating from the world-famous newspaper’s first issue. Launched in 1842, the paper’s iconic masthead featured the River Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day with the river procession passing by St Paul’s Cathedral. Throughout the 19th century, it brought the Lord Mayor’s Show to the rest of the world and in the 1970s briefly took over production of the show’s programmes. This year saw a fitting return to tradition with ILN producing the programme once again, in this special 800th anniversary year.
For this year’s commemorative cover, Sir Peter Blake of Sgt Pepper fame designed a visual tapestry of the procession through time, using historic and modern imagery, including visuals from ILN’s historic archive. “We went to the archives to look up the sort of things that happened in the parade centuries ago,” said Sir Peter, “the people and the creatures — and then magazines such as the Illustrated London News, which always had drawings of it.”
The cover also showcases the historic Doves typeface – which was lost to the Thames in a printers’ dispute more than a century ago and recovered this year.
Inside, the programme features an introduction by Melvyn Bragg reflecting on the show’s history, as well as interviews with the new Lord Mayor Jeffery Mountevans, his Sherrifs Charles Bowman and Christine Rigden, and other key people behind the scenes.
This beautiful, comprehensive programme, compiled by the team at ILN, provides a thoughtful historical commentary on special aspects of the show’s past and is a worthy memento of this great anniversary.
Souvenir copies of the programme can be ordered from the ILN online shop.
Perhaps one of the greatest events in British royal history will happen on Wednesday 9 September at exactly 4.18pm, when Queen Elizabeth II will become Great Britain’s longest reigning monarch. The Queen will overtake her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, who became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch in 1896 and ruled until 1901 after 23,336 days on the throne. Just as in Victoria’s day, there will be no official celebration, but that won’t stop the nation from expressing their jubilation. Colourful events will be held around the UK to celebrate the Queen’s “record reign”, including a flotilla of historic vessels, leisure cruisers and passenger boats along the Thames and a projection display at the Tower of London.
To mark this momentous occasion, Illustrated London News announced the release of a special limited edition book, entitled The Record Reign of Her Majesty The Queen. The publication draws on previously unseen footage from ILN’s archive and features a foreword from Prime Minister, David Cameron, as well as a brand new exclusive portrait of The Queen in her Garter Robes, painted in oils by Alastair Barford. It is a truly glorious recollection of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, celebrating her life and developments in Britain over the last 63 years.
This commemorative publication is part of a 118 year old company tradition. The Illustrated London News previously published A Record Number for a Record Reign in 1897, which paid tribute to Queen Victoria and her era-defining monarchy. A reproduction of this special publication has been included in ILN’s latest release alongside The Record Reign of Her Majesty The Queen – collectively entitled The Record Reign: Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II.
“These are two remarkable Queens, who have reigned over periods of extraordinary change. Our aim is to present the two reigns side by side in order to compare, contrast and commemorate”.
“These are two remarkable Queens, who have reigned over periods of extraordinary change,” says ILN’s Chief Executive Lisa Barnard. “Our aim is to present the two reigns side by side in order to compare, contrast and commemorate. The ILN, as the world’s first pictorial newspaper, has vividly chronicled both periods and both monarchs since our inception in 1842, thus we are best placed to do this. It has been a publishing feat to recreate the 1897 publication and we have gone to enormous lengths to remain faithful to the original.”
ILN is also publishing a softback ‘bookazine’, The Illustrated Record Reign, which will provide a popular account of The Queen’s reign, with image led features and entertaining vignettes. The ‘bookazine’ follows the success of ILN’s 2012 publication, The Illustrated Diamond Jubilee.
The limited edition book set and bookazine will be released on 3 September. The former is priced at £295 for both volumes, with a print run of just 1000 copies, while the bookazine is available for £6.99. To find out more about these publications and to reserve your copies visit the dedicated website www.recordreign.com.
A virtual magazine (or blog), carefully curated around points of sale, offers a bridge between commerce and content. It not only allows customers an insightful, unique and enjoyable way to shop, but also becomes a destination in its own right.
Net-A-Porter, Matches, Farfetch, My Wardrobe and Excelsior Milano are just some of the e-commerce sites offering innovative editorial to their shoppers. Re-imagining the print magazines that have influenced consumers since the start of the 19th century, the brands capture and inspire their audience through regular features, such as Q&A interviews, celebrity style pages and travel guides as well as cutting-edge video and design, with seamless shopping links throughout. This encourages customers to buy into the brand’s voice, identity and, ultimately, lifestyle.
Two iconic British brands, Anya Hindmarch and Paul Smith, have both created lifestyle blogs. Anya’s World and Paul Smith World provide “backstage” insights into their brands, bringing a sense of personalisation and aspiration associated with the products they sell. Combined with social media marketing, they aim to connect their customer to their story and, later, their product.
It has been estimated that Net-A-Porter’s site received an average of six million global visitors per month last year. It is no coincidence that the brand’s editorial content goes from strength to strength in the form of a digital magazine, The Edit, and the recent hardback launch, Porter. Featuring high profile covers, with Lara Stone, Gisele Bündchen and Lady Gaga, and a slick selection of feature stories, Porter rivals, if not triumphs, many of the newsstand glossies. And it’s no surprise with Lucy Yeomans, ex-Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s Bazaar, at the helm. She tells Business of Fashion that “a magazine is entertainment. You have to remember to entertain and inspire, as well as provide solutions.”
As a designer at ILN, one of the things I love most about my job is the power of colour. It plays a huge part in every aspect of my work. This year, several magazines have devoted whole issues to a single colour and I loved looking at their different takes on this subject
Aston Martin Magazine, published by ILN, has been devoting its style features to a single shade that is a special Aston Martin paint colour, with Sunshine Yellow accessories featured in the next issue.
In the world of fashion, colour has enormous influence, reflecting not just seasonal trends, but also a designer’s personal feelings. Tomas Maier, creative director at Bottega Veneta, was using mood lifting colours (red, pink and orange) to brighten up autumn days in his 2016 pre-summer collection (below).
We associate brighter colours with the sunnier summer days, with cooler colours for winter. Burberry, for example, has very colourful accessories for spring/summer 2015, in contrast to its traditional, more neutral colour palette.
Trend forecasting organisations, such as WGSN and Style.com, predict forthcoming styles in fashion, as well as the colours that will be popular. When it comes to marketing products, most logos and branding communicate meaning through their colour. Research has shown that some of the world’s most powerful brands tend to lean towards either green/blue or red/orange tones. According to technology blogger Eric Dye: “Blue generally receives a cool, calm, trustworthy, knowledgeable response. The colour red, in contrast, is exciting, eye-catching, fast acting and powerful.”
A survey carried out by Dulux Paints found that blue was the world’s favourite colour, and yellow the least favourite with only 5% of people. The survey also found that men and women increasingly disliked the colour orange as they get older ! And blue continues to be favourite with Dulux expecting its tropical blue to be one of its most popular colours in 2015.
Pantone is known across the world as a colour authority. Each year, it selects what it considers to be the colour of the year. This year, Marsala was the winner. When I first saw this colour, I was not immediately impressed, but when I imagine it used for luxury leather or silk textures, I can see how appealing this beautiful, deep Sicilian wine colour is – it is the perfect autumn colour.
According to Leatrice Eiseman, executive director, Pantone Color Institute®: “This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors. Marsala is a subtly seductive shade, one that draws us in to its embracing warmth.” Magazines such as InStyle (below) have certainly embraced the colour.
Pantone’s annual colour choices in previous years have ranged from tangerine tango to turquoise.
We all, of course, have favourite colours. Some just like the sheer beauty of their chosen favourites, while others believe they have a spiritual meaning. For example, in China red symbolises good fortune.
Last year, I attended a spiritual wedding during which the bride and groom celebrated with a ribbon ceremony. This is a beautiful way for a couple to make promises and vows to each other by binding their hands together with different coloured ribbons.
Each colour represents a part of the wedding vows: Green: symbolises earth, representing the physical and material Yellow: symbolises air, representing mental and intellectual Red: symbolises fire, representing passion Blue: symbolises water, representing emotion and love White: symbolises spirit, representing the spiritual and philosophical
Colours can give such a feel-good feeling that whole events are organised around them, such as the Holi One colour festival, where thousands of people dressed in white come together to enjoy music, dance, performance art – and being doused in brightly coloured powders. Originating in India, this memorable event now takes place across the world, from New Zealand to Casablanca.
And my own particular favourite colour? It is blue. I’m drawn to earthy colours like blue and green – it reminds me of the sea, the sky and the earth in general.
Brian, at the age of 15, found his first job at The Illustrated London News through his father, John Lionel Williams, a “jobber” employed to bundle up magazines and do various other odd jobs. “I thought, Dad’s there, he’ll find something,” recalls Brian. “Sure enough, he did. He got me a job by chatting to his friends in the pub! That’s how it worked back then.”
Brian began working for The Illustrated London News as an errand boy, running messages, sweeping the floors, buying meat for the guys he worked with and, on one occasion, was sent to Scotland Yard to have an image for the magazine approved. He left a year later to begin an apprenticeship with Lascelles, the company that printed The Illustrated London News and its sister titles (known as the Great Eight publications).
As we talk, he transports himself back to the small printing factory on London’s Essex Street more than 60 years ago and recalls the constant and tremendous smell of vinegar and the scolding heat of the burners: “The images were burnt into copper plates with the help of Bunsen burners, ready to be transferred to that week’s edition of The Illustrated London News. They’d be cut on a guillotine to fit the pictures, and when finished with were washed in an acid bath ready to be printed again… You go back to Essex Street now and you wouldn’t believe that a factory was once there with this going on!”
Brian worked side by side with a team of specialists to ensure that The Illustrated London Newsand Great Eight publications were filled with magnificent etchings and photographs on a weekly basis. There were dozens of jobs at Lascelles and the factory roared with the mad rush of glass cleaners, camera operators, metal printers and managers.
Brian also met a few celebrities while he was at Lascelles: “One day, they were making a film there – they liked the building’s doors, which were lovely. The guy being filmed was Dana Andrews, the famous 1940s actor. A while before that, I also met the actor Sam Kydd, who was a legend in his day.”
After years of working with Lascelles, Brian was called up for his National Service and served in Libya for more than a year: “I went into the Army and they told me I might be good as a guardsman. But I ended up in the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC), which was the unit responsible for keeping the British Army supplied with all its provisions. We called it the ‘Run Away Someone’s Coming’ army!”
In 1958, Brian finished his time in the Army and left Lascelles a little while after that, finding employment at a different printing company. Although he loved his time with The Illustrated London News and Lascelles, he felt he had learned all he could and that it was time to move on. He got married in the same year he left Lascelles, has had several children and grandchildren, and will be celebrating his 80th birthday this month.
Hot off the press, the spring issue of Sphere has landed in the office, including a bespoke cover shot exclusively for copies distributed at Baselworld, the annual international watch and jewellery fair in Switzerland.
Click here to flick through the digital page-turner and see the dedicated “Pulse” (watch and jewellery) section of the magazine, along with the latest trends in luxury travel and lifestyle from around the world.
I discovered a lovely shop in Shoreditch, House of Hackney. This luxury interiors store specialises in British-made prints and products steeped in tradition, but with a modern twist. It sells everything from cushions to clothing in a range of fabulous floral prints.
Its print collections are inspired by the natural world and include everything from garden birds to sumptuous English roses.
Well worth a visit if you like flowers.
I must have been about nine years old and, as I stood next to a large advertising hording, I could see that the image was made from dots, lots of them arranged in a specific pattern to create a picture. This totally fascinated me and still does today. Little did I know then what a major role dots would play in my working life.
For the past 20 years, I have been working in the print industry, working alongside repro and printing companies in an effort to control and improve the simple dot on a page, to recreate amazing photography or stunning works of art.
In the late 19th century, when offset litho printing was in its infancy, the artist Georges Seurat was using dots and small patterns in his paintings to create stunning pictures. This method of painting became known as Divisionism or Chromoluminarism and was based on the theory that small patterns or dots arranged in a specific order would create a larger colour gamut than the traditional method of mixing different coloured pigments. Up close, his paintings were just a series of random dots of varying colours and sizes, but when viewed from a distance they transformed into beautiful neo-impressionist paintings.
One of Seurat’s paintings that illustrates this technique best is A Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grand Jatte (below). When viewed from a distance, the woman’s skirt appears to be purple, but under closer inspection you can see that it is made from many different colours and hues.
Many years later, in 1962, young artist Chuck Close graduated from the University of Washington in the US and embarked on a career creating what would become his signature style: photo-realism. This style uses a process he came to describe as “knitting”, where he created large canvases from Polaroids taken of models.
This method allowed Close to create intimate images, replicating the smallest details in the models’ faces (see Mark and Mark Unfinished, below). From a distance, these images were almost photographic, blurring the distinction between photography and art. It has been said that this style of placing ink on a canvas paved the way for the development of the inkjet printer.
A dot on it’s own is just that, but when combined with others, in a specific (or even random) order, they can combine to become a thing of absolute beauty, which can inspire, excite and even bring a tear to the eye. This strength in numbers not only works on a visible level, but can also be applied to our everyday lives. There’s something about that I like.
As the first true generation to grow up with the internet, Generation Z is defined as those typically born from early 1995 to 2001. This generation is the first to be completely submerged in the internet and have never known a time without it. They are very tech savvy – and are likely to have never picked up an encyclopedia.
It’s important that marketers take note of this generation as it will inevitably lead and shape patterns in purchasing products, services and interactions online. Business and media will have to listen to the needs of this generation and potentially mould themselves accordingly.
“This generation is growing up fast and the length of “innocence” is steadily decreasing with the knowledge accessible at its fingertips.”
This generation is growing up fast and the length of “innocence” is steadily decreasing with the knowledge accessible at its fingertips. Having grown up amid major innovation and social change, Zs are inquisitive and globally aware. They understand news as it happens and the myriad ways of transmitting and communicating it.
These budding entrepreneurs, professionals and decision makers are likely to lead companies and conduct business in a different way from their parents or even Generation Y (the young adults, aged 21-35ish that came before them).
According to Mashable
Research by agency Sparks & Honey found that Generation Z makes up the largest population demographic and as Generation Z’s influence inevitably grows, marketers will be forced to adapt to engage this audience in new ways. For instance, those who are 19 and younger prefer social networks like Snapchat, Secret and Whisper, as, according to the research, a quarter of 13- to 17-year-olds have left Facebook since 2011.
Marketers who are innovative and forward thinking are adapting already by increased usage of social media, learning apps and online shopping capabilities. For example, last year Paramount Pictures used secret-sharing site Whisper to promote its film Men, Women and Children.
“As we watch our younger family and friends play with their tablets, its clear to see they are more savvy and adaptable to technology than we ever were.”
As we watch our younger family and friends play with their tablets, its clear to see they are more savvy and adaptable to technology than we ever were. It will be important for businesses to expand their methodologies. They will need to continue to respond to the different behaviour and speed of information that the next generation is exposed to.
This was the case until the internet boomed. In 1994, HotWired, an online companion to Wired magazine, made online banner ads mainstream by selling en masse to AT&T and other companies, heralding a new era of online advertising. The rest is certainly not history – it is developing rapidly, with online advertising now being targeted to our own personal tastes and behaviour (see the view of Michael Smith, Chief Digital Officer at Forbes Media, below).
It is estimated that we spend, on average, 23 hours a week online, be it on a PC or mobile. Our connected experiences during this time are decorated with advertising magically promoting things we are interested in, popping up on websites that might not be related to the product or business that is being marketed, but how is that possible?
It’s thanks to cookies. Like the Cookie Monster, they are now a familiar part of our diet. When you visit almost any website there will be a pop-up warning that they use cookies and by using the site you give your consent to them being used (as detailed in their privacy policy which no one has the time to read). A cookie, in the digital sense, is a small piece of data which is sent from the site domain that you are visiting and stored on your web browser. When you re-visit the website, your browser will send the cookie back to the site domain to inform them of your previous activity on the site, such as saving a shopping cart or presenting you with content or products you might be interested in based on your previous movements.
Cookies are an incredibly effective way for websites to deliver a more personal experience to their visitors. Variants of cookies can also be used to not only track your activity on a single website, but also your browsing history and overall online behaviour.
Tracking cookies and third-party cookies are used to compile long-term records of your personal online activity. This information is what third party ad-serving companies will use to target their clients’ promotions to you, based on your presumed personal interests, and even advertise them at a time when your online behaviour is deemed to be “ripe for a sale”. Although this targeted way of promoting products can be effective (it has prompted me to follow up on a product or two in the past), it can feel quite Orwellian in its nature.
The pre-internet equivalent of this targeted advertising activity (with tracking or third-party cookies) would have involved someone placing you under constant surveillance while you shopped and record the products you looked at, then follow you around with adverts related to your presumed interests and at times when you were most likely to make a purchase. Would this type of advertising strategy have been seen as acceptable? I don’t think so, but advertisers are able to achieve the same effect online without becoming overtly intrusive on our personal lives.
In 2011, a program was launched by the Digital Advertising Alliance called AdChoices to give people the option to opt out of advertising companies using their online behaviour to present personalised promotions. You may well have seen the AdChoices blue triangular icon in the corner of many banners, but most consumers are not aware of its function or purpose – market research by Parks Associates shows that awareness of AdChoices only grew from 5% in 2011 to 6% in 2013.
So, our online activity is being monitored (to some degree). On the plus side, we are now seeing more relevant promotions while third-party advertising supports free content on many sites. Also, there is a setting on your browser (not too easy to find for some) in which you can block third-party cookies, so we do have a choice. But I wonder where all this tracking activity will lead us and if there will come a point where the “Cookie Monsters” will have overstepped the mark in terms of personal privacy. Who knows what the next 20 years will bring?
People can end up spending more time online than in real life, which leads to some funny situations. It is the place to be, the place to meet. It’s also how consumers talk to brands and where the brand can talk to us. And that’s where it becomes challenging, but also very interesting.
At a time when everyone is over-connected, many brands don’t necessarily understand the role they can play on social media and the necessity to engage with it. The time when brands only had an information-only website is over. People now want a site that has everything they are looking for, allows them to express themselves and to have that feeling of being special. They may have a question or a comment, they may want to receive regular updates in a format that is more convenient for them and they may want to be informed about exclusive offers or get the news before everyone else. Social media is an ideal medium for this.
Many brands think you simply have to create a Facebook page or a Twitter account. But brands need to consider why they are doing this (raising awareness, creating an online community, encouraging people to buy?) and what are the best platforms to achieve their objectives. Marketeers need to be innovative in order to be noticed, to adapt to a new audience (mostly younger) with a bespoke tone of voice and to consider the fact that a social media campaign should be part of their communication strategy.
The time when a brand could simply post on Facebook and see their fan base grow is over. Facebook is making it more and more difficult to reach out to people, even when they like a page. Each user has an average of 338 friends on Facebook and likes an average of 89 pages. A brand’s post can easily be lost in the middle of the newsfeeds, especially since Facebook’s algorithm favours friends’ posts rather than those from brands. In 2014, organic impressions on Facebook (as opposed to paid media) declined by 32%, encouraging brands to adopt a pay-to-play system of advertising.
If this has now prompted brands to have a media budget for social media, it has also given them enormous analytical power. Indeed, with all the tools that exist, a brand can target people by region, age, gender, language, interest, behaviour, and so on, and measure with precision how many people actually saw their post, clicked on it and engaged with it. Eventually, a brand can tell how many sales it generated. What PR campaign is capable of doing that?
“Brands can have access to so much data because everything that a person does online is traced.”
Brands can have access to so much data because everything that a person does online is traced, from searched keywords and visited websites and pages to information given on social platforms. The Internet has become an enormous database that any marketeer is now eager to use although, according to IBM, 90% of the world’s data has been generated only in the past two years, and less than 1% of that data has so far been analysed.
Brands such as Walmart and Amazon already understand that the challenge over the next few years is how to maximise all the pieces of information given by their consumers on any given digital platform and support (website, newsletter, social media), how to collect them, store them, analyse them and use them in the best possible way. The objective will be to understand what motivates the customer to visit a website and purchase a product. Theoretically, it’s a goldmine of data for brands… And as a result, we can expect some fascinating projects and offers over the next few years!
“One thing needs to be kept in mind, though: consumers have started to realise that free digital platforms are supporting themselves by using users’ data and that personalised offers have a cost.”
One thing needs to be kept in mind, though: consumers have started to realise that free digital platforms are supporting themselves by using users’ data and that personalised offers have a cost. Some platforms have started to see the number of their subscribers decrease as people don’t want to give private details to be used by marketeers.
On both the brands’ and the consumers’ sides, nothing seems to really be free online anymore…
Looking through the paper’s fascinating archives, owned and managed by ILN, you find that then, as now, newspapers and magazines were always on the lookout for ways to attract and retain readers.
Ingram’s initiatives included adding a campaigning voice to his newspaper, supporting popular campaigns for reform by such figures as Charles Dickens. He also managed several editorial scoops that saw sales increase, one of which was to print the designs for the Crystal Palace before they had even been seen by the royal family.
Ingram also sought ways to attract subscribers. Readers subscribing to the newspaper for at least six months were promised that “a copy of the splendid Colosseum Print of London will be presented” – an early free gift that proved extremely popular. He realised that adding value to his product, whether through free gifts, campaigns or scoops, would increase his paper’s popularity; at its peak The Illustrated London News was selling 200,000 copies a week.
The Colosseum Print, given free to subscribers of The Illustrated London News in 1843
Today, magazines and newspapers can only dream of such sales, but the need to add value has not diminished. It is no longer enough to offer a free gift: modern publications need to be much more of a multi-media experience for their readers and publishers look at all sorts of new ways to offer their audiences an enhanced experience across print and digital.
Almost every print publication has a web presence, with varying degrees of success. Although completely different in content and format, the Guardian and Daily Mail newspaper websites, for example, are among the most popular in the world, offering readers free and unlimited access to news, features and comment.
But a web presence is just the tip of the modern iceberg and publications must look to other innovations to add value for readers and retain their custom. For example, magazines such as Elle and Red offer “shoppable” content, to enable readers to become buyers in a simple swipe, while others, such as Men’s Health, offer free apps to help readers achieve their fitness goals.
Left: News Corp’s The Daily iPad app closed after two years in 2012. Right: Men’s Health offers added value with a host of extras, including its Fitness Trainer app.
Video, too, offers publishers – and advertisers – a range of possibilities. In a recent interview Grant Bremner, head of Future TV at Future publishing group, said: “We are a media company competing with likeminded media companies. Our competitors are now broadcasters, TV production companies and also the rising stars of YouTube.”
But the dash to digital can be fraught with difficulty. News Corporation put plenty of money and effort into making this publishing platform work with its The Daily iPad app, but it closed after just two years of operation after being unable to break even.
Whatever the innovation, quality is paramount, with media-savvy readers no longer fooled by, for example, tablet versions that are a sloppy and expensive afterthought, offering no added value. Back in the 1850s, Ingram made sure every part of his offering was a quality product, right down to the paper. He was so dissatisfied with that used to print The Illustrated London News that he started his own paper mill to produce the quality of paper he required.
Without having to go to such extremes, today’s publishers can still learn from Ingram’s innovative spirit.
The results have led to a shift in the way businesses, particularly in marketing, print and ad agencies, approach their clients with their digital offerings.
Here are some of the hottest digital developments in 2014 and how they may impact on the digital landscape this year.
The rise of User Experience
The User Experience (UX) is rather a new field in the digital industry, but is becoming more defined and increasingly important. Most clients that approach ILN already have online platforms such as brochure websites, e-commerce platforms and social media channels. These platforms are often complex, interconnected pathways that sometimes confuse users and clients are becoming aware of this.
Clients now frequently ask for a consistent experience. What this actually means is that, on top of traditional design, they are asking for an easy-to-use interface. User Experience (UX) specialists are now employed at early stages of a project to help define these experiences. They carry out user research, content strategy, sitemaps, user journeys, wireframes and prototypes. If agencies fail to adopt a more UX-led approach, they may end up falling behind their competitors.
The Product Manager
This is fundamentally a discipline born out of start-ups. In an agency such as ILN we have project managers who oversee multiple projects on behalf of our clients. A product manager manages one product that a client is trying to sell.
Moving from a project-based approach to a product-based approach has some compelling advantages. The latter approach is something that can be defined in-house — from the design, the timelines, the features, the price, the goals, the audience and the research. A project lifecycle is usually set by the client and has a limited life span. More agencies are looking to develop their own products to sell. ILN is utilising its extensive magazine archive to produce its own range of products through the ILN shop.
The Tools
In digital, the technology keeps moving and so do the tools. Traditional agencies use Adobe creative suites for their design work. These tools weren’t intended to build interactive applications when they were conceived. Digital designers who use only Photoshop often fail to convey basic digital concepts such as mouse-hover effects, click events, user journeys, CSS effects and clickable prototypes.
This has led to new, efficient and often cheaper alternatives to the traditional Adobe suite of software. Examples include Sketch for design work, Axure for prototyping and wire framing and Invision for sharing clickable, high fidelity “mock-ups”. This is only a small list: the once dominant force of the Adobe creative suite of software is being challenged by a range of more efficient and useful software. Furthermore, they are considerably cheaper.
The year ahead
We are likely to see more UX professionals becoming important in companies that offer digital services. Agencies that formerly were client based will start to create their own products and the tools that we once held in high regard will start to become augmented with newer, cheaper tools that are better suited for a digital world.
The first speaker was Nick Cochrane, Mobile Solutions Specialist at Barclays, whose topic was mobile payments. Despite the proliferation of smart phones and tablets in modern society, and now being able to receive a 4G connection on top of Everest, mobile payment systems by and large provide an unsatisfactory experience.
Nick cited reasons such as overly complex input methods and security trust issues. To tackle such issues, the industry requires optimised payment options and a global acceptance of digital tickets and receipts. Putting these elements together should show an exponential growth in mobile commerce.
Next up was Michael Wrigley, Chief Marketing Officer of EngageSciences. He immediately got the audience’s attention with the bold statement that the popularity of social channels for marketing is falling rapidly with more emphasis on company-generated sites and apps featuring user-generated content with campaigns across multiple social platforms.
The simple fact is that consumers trust other consumers more than marketing information put forward by a brand. This calls for greater administration of user review sites such as trip advisor, where some less reputable users are brandishing the threat of bad reviews to get concessions from restaurants and hotels. It’s a despicable practice that needs to be stamped out.
Rob Thurner, a managing partner at digital agency Burn the Sky, then explained how many forward-thinking companies are now focusing on a mobile-first marketing strategy. Taxi companies Uber and Hailo have focused their business models on attracting all their custom through their mobile apps.
Another company employing a very successful mobile campaign is Starbucks. Through it’s pay-by-mobile app, you can scan to pay while earning stars in the My Starbucks Rewards programme. In the United States, Starbucks is currently enjoying 14% revenue from mobile alone.
In the next presentation, Lisa Barnard, ILN’s Chief Executive, talked about the importance of content and the communications experience in igniting purchase intention. She described how this content can manifest itself in different ways and at different stages of the purchasing cycle, which is why having a content marketing strategy in place is so important.
Power imagery, video and brand storytelling were also discussed as well as opportunities for the co-creation of content through partnerships – demonstrated by ILN’s client Maille and its collaboration with Historic Royal Palaces, River Cottage and Taste of London.
We then heard from Sophie Rayers, Director of Marketing at Brightcove, a digital marketing company utilising the power of video, that the average attention span of an adult viewing a typical text-based webpage is 8%. Providing video content on a page equates to a 75% increase in conversion rates.
The key points raised by the guest speakers were as follows:
• An emphasis on the user experience on mobile
• Ease of use
• User Generated Content is more trusted than curated content and brands
• An emphasis on rich content such as video to capture and hold user attention
• Analysis shows a move away from social channels for marketing purposes back towards company-driven websites and apps
• Websites will benefit hugely from a greater focus on the UX (User Experience) and UGC, which lends authenticity to content
• User engagement needs to be maintained past the point of sale.
The guest speakers then answered questions from a rapt audience and elaborated on their presentations.
Some of the questions included:
• What is the difference in the suggested approach to mobile content as opposed to desktop content?
• What is the best way to handle brand heritage alongside engagement of new clients?
• How do small companies and start-ups mitigate the cost of expensive media such as video?
• How do you handle the management of dispersed content?
• How do you ensure you avoid creating content for content sake?
Concluding the masterclass was Antony Robbins, Head of Communications at the Museum of London. He revealed how the museum has used both web and mobile technology to engage with the youth of today, to provide a richer user experience for its visitors and to create its fantastic Augmented Reality app that brings history to life on the streets of London.
This was an enthralling presentation and a wonderful conclusion to a stimulating session.
The market research company Mintel predicts that nearly 13 per cent of all retail sales this Christmas will be online, with a quarter of British consumers admitting they will be present-hunting online more this year than last. Brands are also preparing their online Christmas social media campaigns as they know the online surge in buying reduces dramatically a week before December 25 with shoppers worrying about delivery and heading for the shopping centres. During this particularly busy time for online retail, brands are also striving to maintain their reputations, revenue and customers by safeguarding against counterfeit goods and fake websites. Consumers need to be wary, too.
Fraud is believed to cost the UK economy an estimated £36 billion a year, with 9 million adults per year affected by cyber crime. The attacks include stealing customers’ bank details, raiding online accounts, infecting computers and devices with viruses and stealing business information. More than 90% of the attacks begin with phishing emails targeting employees or individuals. These emails look convincing and are from a seemingly trusted source. File attachments include regularly used ones such as .pdf, .doc or .xls. Fraudsters are also starting to use Zip files as they are very hard to detect by anti-virus programmes. Once one of these files is opened, they can infect your computer immediately or deposit a .exe file on your computer. This file can lay dormant for weeks or months until the fraudster needs to use it to hack your computer. Once hacked, they can re-direct you to false websites, obtain your logins, passwords and personal details and send out emails from your account.
Phishing is a commonly known phrase, but have you heard of vishing or smishing? Vishing is when a fraudster calls up impersonating your bank or other organisation with the aim of obtaining information about you, your banking security codes, and so on. Smishing is similar to vishing but using texts instead. A lot of these attacks are launched by sending out millions of emails and seeing who opens them or tempting you into following a link to a malicious website. Other attacks are more targeted and will focus on relevant employees in an organisation. To ensure these attacks are effective, more information about you is required. This can be obtained by the old method of sifting through your bins at home and work. Other techniques include looking at Post-its notes stuck around your desk (a common way for people to remember important info) or go online and check your online persona via social media, company profile or any other information, which is freely available online.
The ease with which personal information can be obtained by a determined fraudster is quite scary. Check out Amazing Dave:
Other money-grabbing frauds include:
Credit and debit card: cloning cards, fake cash machines, and so on.
Invoice and supplier: details changed to a fraudulent bank account or changed post submission.
Employees: collusion between two parties in a company.
Cheques: changing details on a cheque issued, stealing cheques, forging signatures, and so on.
Handy tips to combat fraud The key to combat fraud is to be vigilant and to follow best practices (both in your business and personal life). Some simple tips from RBS include:
Emails: if in doubt, kick it out!
Passwords: longer is stronger
Phones salls: ask before giving information
Social media: care what you share.
And as Nick Ross used to say on the BBC’s Crimewatch: “Don’t have nightmares, do sleep well.”
On Tuesday we hosted a viewing of the artworks archive of The Illustrated London News for a handful of auctioneers. The archive is not as complete as it once was, but still includes illustrations and paintings by high-profile artists including Terence Cuneo, Bryan de Grineau,Fortunino Matania and Stephen Ward
The auctioneers included 25 Blythe Rd, Christie’s, Bonhams and Sotheby’s, who valued the items and advised on the best way to sell them. Chris Beetles of the Chris Beetles Gallery also came along to give us the benefit of his vast experience in 18th-, 19th– and 20th-century watercolours and illustrations.
It was apparent from the start that what we had unwrapped with anticipation the previous day was a unique collection.
The Fortunino Matania reportage illustrations of World War I and World War II, and of early 20th century royals, are historically accurate and technically excellent. To imagine that many of these were initially sketched out in the front-line trenches or live at the coronation of King George V is extraordinary.
Undoubtedly the most exciting moment was when the very knowledgeable Grazia, our in-house historian, while attempting to answer my questions about a pencil sketch of the “Hampstead Parliament” noticed at the end of her pointed finger, the signature of Terence Cuneo, the official artist for the Coronation of Elizabeth II, immortalised on his death in 1996 by a statue at Waterloo station. This sketch was tucked away among the “unknown artists” pile and could very easily have been missed.
It was pleasing to see Richard Slocombe, senior curator from the Imperial War Museum, spend two hours forensically inspecting some of the works. He pointed out a fascinating drawing of Mussolini, surrounded by fans presenting the Nazi salute on his visit to London in 1910 and who’s recognisable, flawed arrogance Matania captures with obvious ease. There were many more pieces every bit as interesting.
It’s unlikely that these works will be seen together again as they will be sold at auction over the coming months, and it was apparent that these highly experienced specialists, who will have seen a great deal of artworks in their time, felt the same sense of privilege and of “touching” history as we at ILN did.
These balloons are something of a brand in action: they are owned by L’Occitane, the Provençal beauty house founded by Olivier Baussan, who lives close by.
We enjoy Champagne ballooning breakfasts whenever the balloons land nearby during the summer.
Feature image on blog homepage taken from http://blog.unique-provence.com/2013/07/summer-in-provence-2013.html
The Hovis “Bike Ride” ad of 1973, directed by Ridley Scott, is a classic lesson in how well this works: dripping in nostalgia, it tells a story of Hovis as a wholesome, honest food that has been part of your home for as long as you can remember. “As good for you today as it’s always been”, as the tagline went. The story has been replicated countless times in advertising by Fairy, Colgate and others, as well as by luxury brands such as Chanel, which uses its heritage codes to convey prestige and quality.
This has proved so successful, in fact, that most brands now have a “heritage story”. Every company that is more than 10 years old has a heritage section on its website. Sometimes the heritage story isn’t even real: Baileys “Original Irish Cream” was dreamed up (complete with fictional founder R.A. Bailey) in 1983 overlooking the Bailey’s Hotel in London. Other companies, such as the Cambridge Satchel Company (est. 2008) and American behemoth Anthropologie (1993), evoke heritage and nostalgia through their names, products and marketing. It’s not hard to see why: it’s a valuable way of creating an emotional connection, of establishing trust and reputation for your business. But what happens when everyone is doing the same thing?
“There has always been a tension between the backward-looking approach of heritage and the need to innovate and change to remain exciting.”
Heritage brands are finding nostalgia marketing less successful these days. It’s not simply because it is being over-used. There has always been a tension between the backward-looking approach of heritage and the need to innovate and change to remain exciting.
In a recent interview in Marketing Week, Sally Abbott, global marketing director at Weetabix, said: “We could look backwards and celebrate the fact we’ve been around for so long, but that would soon become tiresome for the consumer… We’re very lucky to have that heritage and I feel the weight of responsibility that’s been passed on to me from my predecessors, but our role is to keep the brand relevant for consumers today.”
It brings us to a problem at the heart of heritage branding: there are only so many times you can capture people’s attention by reminding them how long they’ve known you. After a while, you stop looking timeless and start looking old. So what should heritage brands do if they want to continue to engage their audience – how do you solve the Hovis problem?
Last week, I attended a conference on retail history, held at the Centre for the History of Retail and Distribution in Wolverhampton, which was packed with new insights about retail and marketing in Britain. A paper on Heal’s, the furniture company, particularly caught my interest. We learned how, at the turn of the 20th century, Heal’s transformed itself from a relatively humble furniture retailer into a market-leading design brand.
Founded in 1810, by the 1890s Heal’s already had a considerable history under its belt when designer Ambrose Heal joined the company in 1893. He merged its retail and production expertise with the aesthetics of the burgeoning Arts and Crafts movement, led by such figures as William Morris and John Ruskin, that took inspiration from the simple, artisan craftwork of Britain’s pre-industrial past.
With this new aesthetic in its furniture design, Heal’s created a logo and aesthetic identity to match: a perfect marriage of innovative creation built on heritage values. Heal’s didn’t stop there: at the top of its shop on Tottenham Court Road, it established the Mansard Gallery, displaying the most exciting artists of the day – Pablo Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani – alongside Heal’s modern furniture designs. The gallery established the company as an authoritative, exciting brand for consumers.
Bacardi (est. 1862) offers an up-to-date example of heritage brand creativity that engages customers. Last week, it unveiled a graphic novella in partnership with prominent artists Warren Ellis and Michael Allred. It’s a memorable experience for their audience, telling the story of Emilio Bacardi and the turmoil of Cuban independence at the end of the 19th century, and is well worth a read as a piece of graphic art. What’s most interesting is that it isn’t a story about how Bacardi has been around for a long time, but about why it holds certain values, and what those values might really mean. It’s called “The Spirit of Bacardi”.
A creative approach to heritage doesn’t have to mean engaging with the latest developments in art and digital design (although this is clearly a valuable approach). In its simplest form, it means brands thinking seriously about where they came from and working out how human stories from the past connect to human stories today.
The French brand Maille is set to do exactly this in its new Autumn campaign. It has drawn inspiration from royal banquets, and Maille’s long connection with the French court to create new flavours and a richer sense of luxury for its audience. Again, the focus is on the new, exciting creation that Maille is able to offer – precisely because of its centuries of experience of beautiful food.
“Focusing on sheer longevity, and relying on a nostalgic emotional connection, is no longer enough to stand out in a market full of Hovis stories.”
Focusing on sheer longevity, and relying on a nostalgic emotional connection, is no longer enough to stand out in a market full of Hovis stories. A good story doesn’t just say what happened, it brings out new ideas and new meaning for its audience.
The best use of heritage is what it can tell you, and your customers, about why your company has worked for so long: what are the characteristics that have made it special, and using that to create something new and exciting. In other words, heritage and creative innovation, done well, can mean the same thing.
According to a survey conducted last year by Churchill home insurance, a third of us cannot recognise our next-door neighbours with 36 per cent of residents unable to pick their immediate neighbours out in a line-up or if they met them in the street. Moreover, 51 per cent of people cannot recall the first name of their neighbour and seven in 10 are unaware of their full names. Perhaps because of this, digital media is now being used to forge a new sense of community in a variety of ways.
Websites such as Streetlife have been creating “Social Local Networks”, raising local issues and connecting nearby residents, groups, organisations and businesses, in the belief that better connected neighbours build stronger communities. Organisations such as the Media Trust are supporting initiatives to help communities utilise digital media.
Some communities have even created their own local currencies. Bristol’s Pound is a local currency scheme that has been running since 2012, building on such pioneers as Totnes (2007) and Brixton (2009). For the creators of the Brixton Pound: “A local currency reinforces shopping at independent businesses, which are more likely to source local supplies, use nearby services, and employ local people. It’s money that sticks to Brixton, and makes it a better place to live and shop.”
Success in Brixton has encouraged other cities across Europe and the United States to adopt local currencies. Since July 2014, hundreds of businesses in Brixton have become part of the first real-world network for mobile payments and a pay-by-text service. Success in Brixton has encouraged other cities across Europe and the US to adopt local currencies.
And when brands are thinking about the global market, they too are thinking at a more local level, adapting their products and services to the culture in which they are sold and reaching a specific audience through digital media. “Think global, act local” has become the mantra for companies with global aspirations.
So where once digital media was seen as isolating ourselves, it’s now providing a real opportunity to foster a sense of belonging where we live, and experience again the joys of thinking glocal!
With the growth of e-commerce in recent years, impulsive shopping on the high street is slowly becoming a thing of the past; today’s consumer is seen as the “well-informed shopper”, one who typically spends around 10 hours researching online and visiting two to three websites before buying from a website.
And these informed shoppers don’t stop once the purchase has been made. They continue to monitor the product they have just bought to ensure they got the best deal.
Today’s consumers have the tools – literally at their fingertips – to immerse themselves in a retailer’s brand and also to express their feelings on blogs or social media if the product is broken, the online shopping experience disappoints, or a purchase costs more than if it had bought from another website. According to PwC’s latest Global Total Retail Survey of online shoppers, 55% provided positive or negative comments about their experiences with a product or brand on social media.
“A brand can’t survive in today’s online world simply with a website as a digital presence.”
With the rise of the informed shopper, having an integrated, multi-channel, total retail marketing strategy is essential to boost engagement and ultimately improve the bottom line. A brand can’t survive in today’s online world simply with a website as a digital presence.
Today’s consumers now expect a multichannel shopping experience. Physical stores, a website capable of handling purchases, a mobile site or app and a presence on social channels such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube and google+ are viewed as essentials to maintain a healthy relationship with a consumer.
A brand’s first encounter with a potential buyer starts with the “Zero moment of Truth” when the prospect (or shopper) has first heard about the brand and knows nothing about it. The shopper starts by searching the brand on Google and will continue to research while switching between different channels to immerse in the brand. To get an overview, an informed shopper will start with a brand’s own claims to know what the brand has promised to deliver, then check on social channels to find out how the brand is actually delivering, what efforts are being made to keep the customer happy, what latest technologies have been adopted by the brand and, finally, if all goes well, making a purchase. This is Phase 1 of the Customer Life Cycle.
Phase 2 determines the customers’ life-time value, which depends upon their experience with the brand. If they are happy with their first purchase, they are likely to follow the brand, engage with it via social channels and provide productive comments about their experience, which will not only help their friends, but also the brand.
This doesn’t end here. Most important is to maintain this relationship with the customer. It is so easy to distract your customer in today’s online world, where your competitors are trying their best to steal your customer away by offering them low prices, free vouchers, free shipping, easy payment options, personalised emails and many other inducements.
Phase 3 involves building trust. A 2013 survey by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten revealed that trust is key to competing beyond price online. The survey found that while consumers love nothing better than a bargain (61%), almost half of global shoppers (49%) surveyed consider the reliability of the retailer to be paramount when making purchase decisions online.
Retailer trust was most valued in the East, where countries such as Indonesia (69%) and Thailand (65%) ranked reliability as the number one feature when shopping online. In the US, reliability came second only to price, with 75% of Americans citing price as an essential purchase driver.
Contrary to the popular belief that shipping and payment options are of high importance to consumers, research also revealed that less than a third (29%) of shoppers surveyed globally saw shipping options as a key factor in their purchase decision. This average falls to around a quarter (26%) in Europe and 33% in the US. Meanwhile, payment options were even less significant, accounting for just 20% of responses globally. Notably, this fell to just 6% for British shoppers and 9% for Americans.
So for a brand to succeed in this new market of informed shoppers and pro-active competitors, the key is a multi-channel consumer-focused approach.
As a recent history graduate I was thrilled to be employed in a role that could utilise my historical knowledge to exploit the company’s vast archive, which holds the entire collections of The Illustrated London News and the other illustrated magazines known as the “Great Eight” publications.
I admit I was initially unsure how this would ultimately benefit a marketing and publishing company with a specialty in luxury premium brands. However, I soon learnt the value that the archive holds with modern-day companies, particularly high-ends brands and retailers. Indeed, a brand with an archive has significant advantages over its competitors.
One of the most important rewards a company can expect from effectively managing its archive is through increasing brand knowledge and awareness. This year, Godiva commissioned Illustrated London News Ltd to create a book that captures the luxury chocolatier’s rich history and tells the story of its development as a company over the past 88 years. This has involved historians uncovering fascinating material in its archive that best conveys Godiva’s heritage to its customers and the public
Archives also have direct commercial value as a source of product innovation. Ideas that have been lost and forgotten can be re-discovered and re-packaged for today’s market. This is particularly valuable for the fashion industry with decades-old styles constantly coming back into fashion. The Savile Row tailor Gieves and Hawkes hired archivists to help dig up old designs to be used in their “capsule collection”. Archival material helped with campaigns based around its long-standing reputation as a royal tailor as well as pieces written about its history as a designer for the Royal Navy going as far back as the Napoleonic wars.
Differentiation, closely linked with brand knowledge, is also an important incentive for luxury brands to manage their archives. Every company has a unique story to tell, one that incorporates its achievements, company culture, product, people and reputation. Telling your story can create the kind of loyalty that gives a brand a real competitive advantage in particularly tough markets.
A striking example of storytelling in the world of luxury brands is Valentino Garavani’s online 3D museum. Using images and information from over 5,000 documents, the Italian fashion house has pieced together an interactive history of Valentino’s work that shows the impact he and his brand have had on the world.
An archive also acts as the memory of the business. It can be used as evidence against trademark infringement or an assault on reputation. It can also be employed to strengthen the standing of a company amongst its employees and in the business community at large. An archive can also show how a brand has adapted amid economic uncertainties and technological change and continues to evolve.
For a company, an archive is the most fantastic resource. Those with a long history can utilise their historical material for today. For newer brands, adopt an efficient archiving process now so you can reap the benefits in the future.
Experiential luxury is not a new concept—in fact, we’ve been seeing it gain momentum since before the onset of the recession. However, it is something that is becoming more and more relevant as our attitudes towards luxury evolve.
What sparked this shift? There are several factors, but essentially the luxury consumer wants more. In the 1980s and 1990s, a logo-heavy handbag/jacket/watch was a direct indication of social status, but now, partly due to a more pared-back, post-recession mindset and partly due to a been-there-done-that attitude, there is less of an emphasis on material goods and more attention being paid to self-enrichment. Don’t get me wrong: this is not to say that the desire for luxury goods has been completely replaced with the desire for lavish experiences, it just means that it has become equally important.
“Today there is less of an emphasis on material goods and more attention being paid to self-enrichment.”
Another factor is the rise of emerging economies such as China and Africa. People in countries where travel was very limited are now extremely interested in experiencing destinations in terms of Michelin-starred restaurants, yacht excursions, safaris and luxury spas. A report released by The Boston Consulting Group in 2012 (mid-recession, mind you) found that $980 billion (roughly £583 billion) was spent on experiential luxury, while luxury goods (cars, apparel, watches, jewellery, and so on) totalled only $830 billion (£494 billion) combined.
We shouldn’t underestimate the effect of counterfeit goods on the experiential sector. They have undermined the luxury industry not just with handbags, but with fine wines, clothing, technology, and so on. Experiences are much harder to fake and so people still feel that they are investing in something exclusive.
Perhaps even more relevant has been the democratisation of luxury, which has in turn attracted a younger consumer. It has happened across a number of sectors: think designer collaborations with retailers like H&M and GAP, Gucci partnering with mid-range car maker Fiat and the very marker of an elite lifestyle, champagne. Many brands are now touting it as a drink suitable for everyday consumption, no longer reserved for celebrating special occasions.
And of course, the meteoric growth of social media has had a major impact. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram – these outlets allow a consumer to share luxury differently, making knowledge and self-betterment a new status symbol and, in turn, sharing these experiences online.
There has been a positive side to this swing in public consciousness – it has directly benefited the luxury travel industry. Five-star hotels, luxury spas, yachting companies, private jets – all have seen a marked growth in interest. It has also encouraged brands that were only known for their designer clothing or jewellery to diversify. Think Roberto Cavalli wines, the new Ferragamo hotel and even Land Rover has recently partnered with luxury travel specialists Abercrombie & Kent to offer driving holidays.
Luckily for editors of luxury publications like myself, this shift has carried over to the way we are introduced to new launches, whether it be a new spa, hotel, or in the case of Dom Pérignon Champagne, the release of its latest vintage. Brands understand that not only will we communicate to our readers differently having truly experienced a product, but we will also want to share it with friends, family and our followers on social media. Not because we have to, but because we want to.
“Brands understand that not only will we communicate to our readers differently having truly experienced a product, but we will also want to share it with friends, family and our followers on social media.”
The perfect example is a few weeks ago, when I accompanied Dom Pérignon to Iceland for Sphere magazine, where we were awed by the incredible effort made to allow us to experience the release of Dom Pérignon P2-1998. As the company said: “P2, the Second Plénitude of Dom Pérignon, is an intense, precise and vibrant facet of the wine, like the landscapes of Iceland. The experience revealed Dom Pérignon’s Second Plénitude around four magical places in Iceland: Seljalandsfoss waterfall, Gígjökull glacier, Dyrhólaeyjarviti lighthouse, and a private party in a secret place.”
As we travelled between the otherworldly lava fields, majestic waterfalls, dramatic cliffs overlooking black beaches, historic lighthouses, active volcanoes and melting glaciers, we drew parallels between the layered complexity of the Champagne and that of the country’s spectacular landscape. Much like this island of only 300,000 people, the opening of a bottle of P2 is like embarking on a journey thorough a new universe. No longer is a glass of wine just a glass of wine or a holiday just a holiday – these are journeys to be experienced and shared. With that in mind, here is a peak inside our Iceland adventure.
Increasingly, we seek the “authentic” as an alternative and this is where a brand can truly excel. If it can offer an experience that is impeccably curated, leaves nothing to chance and appears effortless while at the same time introduces an authentic story, a craft, or an absolute sense of place and belonging, then that brand has struck gold.
Image: Tom Jenner of Whitfield & Paxton, which offers more than 190 varieties of cheese
I was fortunate enough to participate in one such experience recently—a tour of the finest retailers in London’s St James’s organised by Food Lover London. We enjoyed a behind-the scenes appreciation of cheese shop Paxton & Whitfield, La Maison Maille mustard boutique, wine merchants Berry Bros. & Rudd and Fortnum & Mason with afternoon tea. I came away with enduring memories, not simply of the delicacies on offer, but also of the stories told by the hosts in each establishment.
image: Ciara at Fortnum & Mason and Harry at La Maison Maille mustard boutique offered warm welcomes and informed chat
The food and drink was delicious, but as those sensory memories fade, I am left with a desire to hear more stories: about the great British cheesemakers, who struggled through adversity to deliver a truly unique product; about today’s best-selling liquors that were concocted for special, discerning customers 150 years ago; and the driving passion of artisan creators to make each and every product the best it can possibly be.
image: Fascinating history from Francis Huicq, store manager at Berry Brod. & Rudd
It reminded me that often the most authentic and memorable of exceptional experiences only happen as a result of having the right people there at the right time, be they hosts, concierges, shop assistants, drivers, chefs, chambermaids or whoever. Thank you to Harry, Tom, Francis and Ciara for sharing your stories with us.
He is one of the “Most Influential New Names” according to Bloomberg, a regular contributor at Wired magazine and the author of such bestsellers as The Honest Truth About Dishonesty and Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions. For anyone interested in behavioural sciences, Dan Ariely’s books and essays are a must.
Some see his field of behavourial economics as being able to provide insights into how consumers make buying decisions and why they don’t behave in line with their stated brand or price preferences. “Our irrational behaviours are neither random nor senseless – they are systematic,” writes Ariely, who says we can become more aware of the patterns governing our decisions.
He started his talk with a simple question to get us in the right mindset: what is more painful, to pay with cash or a credit card? The audience’s answer was unanimous: cash. Behavioural economists call this the “pain of paying”; it feels “cheaper” to pay with the card because it’s not as tangible as paying by cash.
Now, imagine that you are going on a cruise to the Caribbean. How would you pay for it if you could choose? In advance or just after the trip has ended? The likely answer would be to pay just after you’ve arrived home from your trip, so you’re not paying for something in advance. But how would you feel about your cruise on the last day? Most likely, you wouldn’t be able to concentrate on enjoying it because you would only be thinking of the pending payment when you left the ship.
Therefore, a good exercise to increase the pain of paying and educate yourself to be a better, more self-aware consumer is to use cash and receive notification whenever money is spent. On the other hand, when you’d rather enjoy yourself and don’t want to think about paying, you should use your credit cards and ideally prepay before consumption.
This chimes with the findings of a study in the Journal of Marketing Research a few years ago about buying in a relaxed environment. Having shown hard-sell videos and more calming sales approaches to consumers, researchers at Columbia University found that their more relaxed subjects would pay about 15% more for a variety of goods and services than less-relaxed subjects.
Good customer engagement is all about creating that comfortable space between a brand and its customers. It’s about engaging with the consumer without dominating the conversation. As Ariely writes in Predictably Irrational: “Without constant suspicion, we can get more out of our exchanges with others while spending less time making sure that others will fulfil their promise to us.”
Our anxieties about technology haven’t waned – just listen to Damon Albarn’s latest album, Everyday Robots, or watch Johnny Depp’s new sci-fi thriller, Transcendence. Perhaps more than ever, we’re nervous about what rather than who will replace us. Now it’s the turn of journalists to have beads of sweat on their brows.
Last month, the Los Angeles Times became the first newspaper to break a story generated by a computer. Using an algorithm called Quakebot that extracts data from trusted online sources such as the US Geological Survey, it produced and posted a very basic but readable short report about a local earthquake in three minutes.
Other organisations have also been developing complex algorithms to mine masses of data and shape them into structured stories. Steven Levy has reported for Wired magazine on US companies such as Narrative Science and Automated Insights, which are computer-generating everything from financial reports to robotic social media postings and tweets, and have attracted clients and partners such as Forbes, Reuters, Bloomberg and Yahoo.
Does this robotic approach spell the end of traditional journalism? Perhaps it will for statistic-heavy sports reporting or number-crunching financial news, but how about when it comes to telling an engaging story that has readers coming back for more?
Luxury market analysts note that, in straitened times, people are only prepared to pay more for a brand that is perceived as special, truly luxurious or exudes quality. The same now probably applies to journalism. As online journalist Paul Bradshaw speculated several years ago, publishers will want to distinguish themselves from free papers by “converting the newspaper from tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapping to a luxury product, where you are buying access to an exclusive club as much as the content itself”.
ILN knows, whether it’s producing Aston Martin Magazine or multi-media content for Maille, every brand has a story to tell. Well-written and well-subbed content is a vital part of that storytelling – it’s a reflection of the brand itself. And companies are realising the value of traditional journalism, hiring experienced magazine and newspaper writers to apply their inquisitive nature, investigative skills, strong prose and an eye for new ideas to produce compelling material that in turn enhances a brand’s reputation. As readers (and Google) will tell you, no-one likes rehashed content.
This new style of “brand journalism”, believes marketing strategist David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR, is a potentially more effective tool than direct marketing techniques and PR-driven publicity. As he told Canada’s The Globe and Mail: “I’m convinced that those with the traditional skills of marketing, public relations and copywriting are not the right people to create brand journalism content. Instead you need the skills of a journalist.”
Major companies have now established their own news sites, including, HSBC’s Global Connections, Intel’s Free Press and Adobe’s CMO. Last October, Ashley Brown, Coca-Cola’s director of digital communications and social media, shared some of the key lessons the company has learned since it relaunched its corporate website in 2012 as a digital magazine,Coca-Cola Journey, with its own in-house team of journalists.
With each story, Coca-Cola asks such questions as:
Do you care enough about that story to tell your mum or best friend?
Does it surprise you?
Does it have universal appeal?
Does it generate interest for your business?
Can a story generated by a computer be as compelling and share-worthy, one that shows an enquiring mind or shares a personal experience, offering something that makes it distinctive? At the moment there isn’t a software robot with the depth and personality of a George Monbiot or Caitlin Moran. So when it comes to content and customer engagement, we shouldn’t be a slave to the algorithm. We still need “operating systems” with a pulse and a mortgage. We still need that human touch.
There was a real sense of expectation as, over a cup of coffee, we listened to an informative talk from John Muirhead, Brand Communications Manager at Aston Martin Lagonda Limited, about the heritage of Aston Martin. It was the name of Aston Hill, near Tring, that Lionel Martin decided to join with his own name when he first thought about building an individual car.
John spoke about 2013 being a landmark year as the company celebrated its centenary, which was covered in Aston Martin Magazine and a special centenary book, both produced by ILN. I attended one of the centenary events in Kensington Gardens last July, featuring the country’s largest gathering of the marque’s iconic British sports cars. It was a blistering hot day and a real treat to witness such an historic event.
After John’s introductory talk, the fun on the track began. Clients were taken in a selection of Aston Martins to experience various driving experiences that Millbrook has to offer on its 700-acre site, including its 4.5-mile high-speed Bowl, hill routes and passenger laps.
I was lucky enough to be taken out by Richard Hope, an extremely knowledgeable and experienced driving instructor, and was thrilled to drive the Aston Martin DB9 Carbon Edition Coupe around the Bowl. I was suitably impressed by the way the six-speed automatic gearbox and adaptive suspension helped to balance out the imperfections on the road.
I then experienced one of the most exhilarating moments of my life: neutral steer. I was told to accelerate to 75 mph in the third lane and then, with my hands on my knees, I continued to accelerate until I was going over 100mph in the fourth lane. Breathtaking!
Our clients had an equally thrilling time courtesy of ILN and Aston Martin. “Such a pleasure and a privilege to be able to drive Aston Martins for the day,” emailed Mike Bonner, Silversea Cruises’General Manager for the UK, Ireland and Middle East. “The highlight of the day had to be reaching 165mph on a mile-long track driving the Vantage S V12—simply awe- inspiring. A legendary brand creating such a memorable day.”
For Jo Smith, Head of PR and Advertising at Daks, it was a “fabulously unusual and exciting day out” with her instructor literally getting her up to speed. “It was exhilarating, the Vanquish Coupe was fabulous and surprisingly very easy and uncomplicated to drive. I did a top speed of 170 mph—something I have never done before and may never do again.”
As I arrived home, I was greeted by my excited 10-year-old son, who thought I was allowed to drive the DB9 home. Imagine his disappointment when he looked out the window to see our VW Golf sitting there!
At a recent press conference, Boris Johnson declared London to be “the tech capital of the world”. From Silicon Roundabout start-ups to global brands such a Facebook choosing to relocate, London has a profusion of tech talent and innovation, which is flooding into the well-established media industry of the city. The arrival and continued influence of adaptable websites, tailored apps and digitally targeted advertising make digital media a force to be reckoned with.
Hugely powerful smartphones are the ubiquitous accessory for modern life with, according to Forbes magazine, more than seven in 10 of us owning one while new ways to use them keep popping up every day. And from geocaching to google maps, technology is altering the way we interact with our physical surroundings while digital products themselves collect accurate data on how we interact with them and respond accordingly. No wonder print products and advertising are having to become more targeted and specific, particularly in the fast-paced realm of the luxury market.
“Print and digital are not at war—to create the best products for advertisers and readerships, a more holistic approach is needed”
Print and digital are not at war—to create the best products for advertisers and readerships, a more holistic approach is needed, combining the targeting capabilities and ubiquity of smartphones with the quality, longevity and emotional potency of print. Converging the physical and the digital is an idea that has been seized upon by games companies such as Xbox and Disney and publishing is beginning to cotton on.
Interactive print, or augmented reality, is a hybrid technology that harnesses the benefits of both screen-based and print technologies. It bridges the gap between digital and print media, giving us an immersive, engaging product that delivers statistics and data feedback and, in turn, can be used to update products to keep them fresh.
Interactive print has been embraced by magazine publishers such as BBC Magazines and Condé Nast, and by brands from Nissan to Heinz. No longer limited to scanning QR codes, using a standard printing process and an app downloaded to your smartphone you can interact with printed matter to display exclusive content, videos, games, 3D and dynamic experiences, social media options, mapping and ways to buy.
The interactive pages use image recognition, so there is no need for any watermarking or QR codes that might interfere with the look of a page. As well as the added editorial intrigue, interactive print has more perceived value and increased reader engagement, so are beneficial to advertisers, too.
Key to interactive print is making additional digital offerings accessible enough for a reader to activate them, and compelling enough to keep the reader interacting with the product. Currently there are only specific apps for accessing specific content, but this hasn’t stopped many brands utilising the technology to great effect. Shoppers at IKEA can use their catalogue and app to digitally impose furniture into their homes to see if it suits.
“Adding an interactive element instantly makes the product more engaging and more sharable, giving an edge in a competitive market.”
Radio Times readers can see covers spring to life and create 3D environments through their phones. Waving your smartphone over a Heinz ketchup bottle transforms it into a cookbook for you to digitally peruse. Adding this interactive element instantly makes the product more engaging and more sharable, giving an edge in a competitive market.
The challenge for interactive editorial content is to ensure that it is interesting and relevant enough, while not incurring too much additional cost. The up-take of this technology is still in its infancy but, according to hi-tech analysts Juniper Research, the number of augmented reality app users could approach 200 million by 2018. I believe it would be a great move for print to embrace it.
With the centenary of WW1 in 2014, I’ve spent the past few weeks immersed in the ILN archives. In doing so, I’ve discovered that the Illustrated London News and her sister publications are, perhaps, the source of the most complete journalistic, photographic and illustrative WW1 news archives in the world.
The reason for this is simple: when the war started in 1914, the ILN published a collection of eight titles that appealed to such a broad demographic that just about all groups were represented.
“I was surprised as I flicked through these wartime issues by the amount of advertising, which seemed somehow out of place with so much war news.”
I was surprised as I flicked through these wartime issues by the amount of advertising, which seemed somehow out of place with so much war news. But as I looked closer, I realised that many of the ads were directed at the families of soldiers serving in the trenches. Thinking about it, I suppose it was not so odd because, by 1918, 74% of our national resource was diverted to the war effort and almost everyone had a family member serving in the armed forces. Then, as now, if you wanted commercial success, you had to target your audience carefully and appeal to your readership’s needs and desires.
In 1917, Fortnum and Mason were offering “Christmas Cheer” hampers for delivery to troops in the trenches of Passchendaele, in northern France. Meanwhile, the intended recipients were enduring terrifying artillery bombardments that turned the fields into apocalyptic cratered landscapes eight miles wide. The craters filled with mud so deep that it was not uncommon for soldiers (and their horses) to lose their footing and sink beneath the mud, never to be seen again.
I can imagine that a soldier receiving such a treat would share the goodies with his mates and between them, for a short time at least, escape the horrors that surrounded them. However, I find it incongruous to think of these splendid hampers being delivered to such a wasteland on Christmas Day—but only if ordered by 14 December. It’s curious to think that that last date for dispatch would be much the same today if you wanted to send a Christmas hamper to northern France.
But advertising to the families of combatants was not just about providing a distraction, it also enabled them to overcome their sense of impotence and to provide some assistance to their young men in the line of fire.
As a child I imagined that if I went to war I’d wear a bullet-proof jacket to protect me, so it was to my great surprise that I discovered an advert from The Wilkinson Sword Co selling their bullet-proof jacket which they claimed would “resist a 455 Government revolver bullet. No longer an experiment, but of proved effectiveness and utility. They constitute a precaution that should be taken by every officer.”
As a junior officer in the Great War you were required not simply to order your men “over the top” from behind, but to lead them from the front. With their son’s life expectancy at around six weeks, families would do anything they could to extend that. These jackets were fitted with pockets into which were set small square steel plates. In reality, subalterns seldom came up against 455 rounds from a revolver at 20 yards, but stepped up into a maelstrom of shrapnel and machine-gun fire at 400 rounds per minute.
Some adverts for war-related products might seem a little strange when viewed from a 21st-century perspective: after the armistice, a Sanatogen advert—with the tagline “Nerves won the War”— appeared, apparently directed at sufferers of what would now be referred to as “post-traumatic stress disorder”.
Others were rather cuter: the ad for the Decca Portable Gramophone, which was probably aimed at fiancées and sweethearts, asks the question, “Can you think of a more delightful gift to send to your soldier friend?” and features images of men in the trenches enjoying a tune or two, no doubt while the maelstrom continued unabated overhead. It seems that commercialism thrives in wartime as in peace, and that there is a degree of truth in the saying “Wars are good for business”.
For licensing of London Illustrated News archive images please visit: http://www.maryevans.com/iln
The feature focuses on the high-end advertisers that placed bookings in the magazine, with the likes of Clive Christian and Ulysse Nardin taking the first double-page spreads. It goes on to list the other clients who booked pages throughout the magazine, as well as showcasing a selection of the editorial content, emphasising its lifestyle credentials.
As you would expect in this digital age, there is a video of editorial assistant Erin O’Shea in the Luxury Daily offices flicking through a copy of the magazine’s new creative and content. Highlights include the special centenary section, which puts Aston Martin’s history into the context of the past 100 years, and the interview with Sir Stirling Moss, by current Aston Martin race driver Darren Turner.
Luxury Daily certainly like the fresh design and feel of AM Magazine and its impressive list of high-end lifestyle advertising clients.
Luxury Daily styles itself as the world’s leading trade publication covering luxury marketing across all mediums, targeting brands, retailers, ad agencies, publishers and service providers via a daily newsletter and website.
AM Magazine is will also soon be available as an iPad app to download for the first time from Apple iTunes.
The second issue of the magazine is out in mid-June and includes an artistic cover story showcasing paint schemes available under Aston Martin’s bespoke Q range, a visit to Brazil in search of the world’s finest coffee, a fashion shoot with Argentine polo star Eduardo Novillo Astrada and a look at the history of sports cars and Hollywood movies.
BBC Two’s upcoming drama series Pan Am, which is set to hit our screens in November, promises to transport us back to the glamorous era of luxury air travel before fractious air hostesses wearing blue polyester aprons were forced to peddle scratch cards, anaemic hot dogs and polybags of gin to earn a living wage.
While strict airport security and cheap flights may have dampened the innate glamour of flying, there’s certainly no shortage of glitz at airports. As Michele Norsa, CEO at Salvatore Ferragamo, noted at the recent opening conference of the annual TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes: “I believe airports are the new shopping cathedrals. The atmosphere you can breathe at London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 is very impressive.”
Indeed, the Tax Free World Association’s exhibition certainly proved that glamour is alive and well in the travel retail industry. From the opening cocktail, held at Palm Beach, where 1,380 delegates watched a spectacular sunset followed by an impressive fireworks display, to the Premium evening, during which guests were treated to a live performance by James Blunt, it was an exhibition packed with pizzazz.
Yet the industry cannot afford to rest on its laurels, as Norsa admitted: “It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to take a lot of effort. Consumers will ask to be impressed—they will want to see the history of brands and the diversification of products.” It indicates that customer engagement is the key to future success.
TFWA president Erik Juul-Mortensen echoed Norsa’s message, highlighting the importance of digital communications, particularly social media, in a year when global sales of smartphones are expected to overtake sales of PCs. “It used to be about the three Ps—product, price and promotion,” he said. “Today, social media has changed the rules of engagement. It’s about gaining advocacy and getting customers to shout and do marketing for you.”
Luckily, ILN is perfectly placed to deliver on both fronts. To find out how we can help reach your customers, call Tony Long, on +44 (0)20 7426 1012.