Having driven 938 miles across the country in our fabulous pink Van, holding 6 event days in 3 cities the #bestfriends tour is complete. The team provided 262 make uppers to gorgeous girls across the country and generated data capture totalling 300, we are delighted with the results of the super sucessful partnership between the worlds biggest coffee chain and the most fabulous cosmetics brand.
Benefit & Starbucks on tour #Bestfriends
Our final day of the #bestfriends tour with Benefit Cosmetics and Starbucks is in Birmingham and we just couldnt resist giving the Birmingham Bene-Bull some #bestfriends love.
Benefit and Starbucks on Tour #BestFriends
Our first day in Edinburgh for the #bestfriends team was a huge sucess far exceeding our KPI's and driving footfall to store and increasing sales. The team are in Edinburgh again today and ready for another great day.
Benefit and Starbucks on Tour #BestFriends
The Benefit Cosmetics #bestfriends pop up beauty parlour is open at Starbucks on Princes St. Edinburgh, drop by to see them for free make upper pampering while enjoying a cuppa overlooking the gorgeous castle.
Benefit and Starbucks on Tour #BestFriends
Following a super sucessful 2 days in Conduit Street, London and a 425 mile drive in our gorgeous Van the #bestfriends Benefit Cosmetics team are in Edinburgh to give our friends in Scotland some #love at Starbucks store Princes Street
Benefit and Starbucks on Tour #BestFriends
In London. Amazing day.
Inspiration Tuesday - Benefit Porefessional Matte Rescue media launch
Today's inspiration comes from our own work with the media launch event for Benefit Cosmetic's Matte Rescue. Part of the Porefessional range, Matte Rescue is a new mattifying primer specifically created to be used as part of your morning routine. With the 'morning routine' and the matt nature of the product as our theme we created the Rise & Prime cafe. A place where the greasy Full English was banished and replaced with a stunning molecular fry up.
our molecular fry up was a huge hit with the beauty media
Guests were greeted outside the Benefit Cosmetics store on Carnaby Street in central London and welcomed by our Rise & Prime breakfast van and offered the greasy-spoon classic, a builders tea. They were then escorted downstairs into the cafe itself where the head of make-up Lisa Potter-Dixon talked with them about the product whilst they were served our molecular breakfast.
My inspiration for Inspiration Tuesday come this week from the very simple transformation of the basement bar of the Carnaby Street store into a cafe with the clever use of a photographic print that wrapped around the interior of the booths with a reverse logo to enhance the feeling that you were looking out of the cafe into the street. I love how a brilliantly simple spark of an idea can completely transform a space!
Porefessional will be available to buy in early 2016
Inspiration Tuesday
Hello Persuaders...
We've been wanting to start using The Persuaders blog on a more regular basis but you know how life just seems to take over and things that seem like simple ideas get shoved into the sidelines...
Well, we thought we'd start with something simple, that's easy for us to do but also a little useful and inspiring for all of us. London is an incredibly diverse city, full of life and ideas and vision - just walking down the street can trigger the spark of an idea, which is why I always have my note pad and trusty iPhone handy so I can record the little things, some of which may come to nothing and other things that may pop back up in a way i'd never originally expected. From a shop window to an art exhibition, from the way a neon light reflects upon the rain-soaked pavement to a torn poster on the tube, we are surrounded by inspiration.
Louis Vuitton Series 3
I may be a little late to the party with this one but so many people i've asked hadn't even heard of this little gem of an exhibition that I thought i'd sing its praises even though it closes on Thursday this week. 'Experiential' is a word that is thrown around our industry with lusty abandon but many people use it as a buzz word without fully understanding what it means or the power it can have when executed well. This exhibition is beautiful and is truly experiential in the most brilliant way.
The exhibition is laid out in a 'maze' style route that takes the visitor on a journey through the brand. It's not a full history exhibition more a little peak into the world of how the LV brand is built. It shows you the handmade quality of the products and allows you to both touch and witness the artisans working. Its both incredibly simply produced whilst also showing a huge amount of detail. There's a lot of tech without actually feeling like its very hi-tech at all, which is extremely clever. It's the kind of exhibit you could walk around in 10 minutes or an hour and still come away having been inspired by some little detail.
Highlights for me are the rear-projected circular room that makes you feel dizzy with detail as well as literally as though the room is spinning. I also loved the white mannequins embedded into walls, they were beautiful. I was of course also impressed in the little details such as the sticker wall at the end of the exhibition where you were encouraged to take home a little piece of Louis Vuitton from the exhibit but also very memorable for me were the exceptionally attractive and stylish staff, all dressed immaculately and perfectly polite which to me makes a huge difference in the overall experience.
The exhibition is free to enter and you don't need to book but they do do an informative guided tour which you have to book a time slot via the exhibition website
I urge you to go and see it today or tomorrow.
QVC UK / H by Halston launch event
working on the launch for a new fashion collection which is a collaboration between QVC UK and Halston and we're down in the uber-cool basement at the Edition Hotel with a 70's style disco dance floor and our sleek mannequins... it's all very #Studio54 in here!
2014...
as 2014 comes to a close i'd like to take this opportunity to thank all our amazing clients... providing us with great briefs and such brilliant inspiration... from prison's in shipping containers... to gardens in skips... converting pubs... cocktail bars in trucks... sofa's in tubes and wine bars where once there were none... and of course fittingly for this time of the year a Santa's Sleigh and a Spice Girl!... Merry Christmas to all!
#PoweringSmiles with Duracell and Barnardos
It's a late night setting up at Blue Water shopping centre for our Duracell Sleigh Ride, Green Screen spectacular...
From a blank space the build has begun... More pictures coming soon.
it's #pimmsoclock... must be time for a skipnic
Britain’s green spaces are being gobbled up by the ever growing concrete jungle. In response, Pimm’s are bringing a new urban leisure concept, Skipnics, to London this summer, so it doesn’t matter if you haven’t got a glorious garden or balmy balcony to enjoy the great British outdoors!
Providing a welcome area of green in an otherwise urban sea of grey, we've created a series of skips with dedicated pop-up picnic areas for two days on Thursday 7th August and Friday 8th August, on the corner of Drury Lane and Great Queen Street in Covent Garden where consumers can enjoy a ‘skipnic’ and a break from the humdrum of the city. Transformed into little green oases, each skip has been designed with a Great British Outdoor theme, from a quintessential country garden to an allotment, complete with its own shed.
Open from 12noon – 6pm daily, you can bring along your own picnic and of course will be treated to a free sample of Pimm’s and a cucumber sandwich from the Pimm’s sampling team, dressed as workmen in high vis jackets.
Gabbis Head
You would quite literally have to have been living under a rock not to know that we're in full blown World Cup fever. All across the globe, whilst men celebrate the Beautiful Game and pubs and sports bars fill with the cheers of a million male voices, the majority of women lament the passing of these next four weeks... Well not any more! Now, thanks to the gorgeous people at Benefit Cosmetics, and of course a little help from us here at The Persuaders, the Beautiful Game is finally for the Beautiful People... Yes ladies, working alongside SLAM PR we have created the ultimate girly pub environment where you can come and watch all the matches in cool and comfortable, Benefit inspired surroundings, learn a thing or two about football, check out some of those gorgeous footballers legs and perhaps get a bit of eyebrow shaping at the same time... What's not to love?
After months of searching for the right venue we finally found the Prince of Wales pub in Drury Lane, Covent Garden. We've painstakingly converted the room on the first floor into a Benefit-pink, female-friendly haven for football lovers... Here's a sneak peek at the pub that opens for the duration of the football World Cup.
Benefit TAR Liner UK tour
Here we are in Glasgow. Day 1 of the mainland UK part of the tour. Our truck is set up and ready for training. Off to Edinburgh and Newcastle later in the week...
TfL #SeeLondonByBike summer of cycling events
This summer we're delighted to announce we're working with Grayling and TfL to produce an interactive mobile event space to promote cycling within London.
Our converted shipping container will travel to all the key cycling events in London including the Tour de France, Prudential Ride London and the Tour of Britain.
These photos are from our first event yesterday at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to celebrate the Fete du Tour
Gordon's Gin | Temperley launch event - update
Our bespoke display plinths and the Gordons bar
Well, the day finally came, after months of hard work, redesigns, what seemed like a billion layout plans and a 'will they/won't they' have a tree in the middle of the store and I think we can all agree the launch event was a resounding success.
the beautiful wisteria tree
The Temperley Bruton Street store looked resplendent in all it's Gordon's refinery including, you'll be glad to hear, a stunning white wisteria tree that sat in the window and stretched its romantically wistful branches over the ceiling of the shop.
Our 10 bespoke mirrored display plinths, hinged to reflect the jewellery box elements of Alice's label designs lined up within the store, leading the guests to our padded and mirrored bar. The detailed props we made for the long-lead launch back in the summer were placed throughout the store and gave the guests some intrigue and discovery as they wound their way into the party.
And what a party!... the lovely DJ Dan Lywood from Playlister created the perfect party vibe whilst the cocktails, designed by the gorgeous Barrie Wilson and whipped up by the divine boys from Drinks Fusion helped lubricate the guests... oh and the guests - as well as dear Alice herself we were graced by the likes of Natalie Dormer, Amelia Fox and Pixie Lott just to name a few.
Alice Temperley and Natalie Dormer
A very colourful and successful night... you can see more coverage and images here on-line at mailonline.com and standard.co.uk
Gordon's Gin | Temperley event
Today we're setting up for the big launch party to celebrate the collaboration between Gordon's Gin and Alice Temperley. Temperley have designed 10 limited edition labels for the bottles that are available in all good supermarkets... this is the second year Gordon's have collaborated with a British design icon to create 10 new labels under their '10 Green Bottles' project.
We worked on the event last year which was a collaboration with Conran and so there's a lot of expectation for this years event...
... as you can see from the pics we're building a tree in the window of the Temperley store on Bruton Street... we've also designed 2 bespoke bars and a set of 10 glorious mirrored plinths to hold each of the bottles... check back here soon for updates and more pics.
celebrating 15 years of creative event production
2012 marks The Persuaders 15th Year as creative event producers... It has been an incredible journey from our beginnings back in 1997 producing fashion shows for such luminaries as Julien Macdonald and Bella Freud and launches for cool brands such as Selfridges and EMAP's 40degrees on to working with some incredibly diverse clients such as Evian | Clotheshow Live | Nintendo | Samsonite | Head & Shoulders | Daz | Rocawear | Budweiser and LG to name but a few...
...and we've had exceptional fun along the way, from the Daz Tour where we were up to our necks in mud in Glasgow with 'The Queen' and Michelle Collins to the incredible Max Factor Launches where we inspired, excited and entertained, to the spectacular London 2012 Bid logo reveal with 5 stuntmen abseiling down the front of the Tate Modern...
We've worked alongside some of the best PR Agencies in the world such as Cohn & Wolfe, Hill + Knowlton, Ketchum, Fleishman Hillard and Shine...
...and who could forget our genius time at Cake where we were doing 'experiential' even before it had a name!
Over the next few months we'll be highlighting some of our best work from the past 15 years here on our blog, including some hilarious memoirs from clients and suppliers as well as some of the wonderful photography and film. We've also invited some special guests to curate the blog for us in some one-off blog posts where they'll highlight their favourite bits of Persuaders magic.
GasTech 2014 Launch Event
To celebrate the host country for the 2014 GasTech event The Persuaders were commissioned by dmg events to create a South Korean themed party. As part of our production remit we were tasked with sourcing and organising the venue, entertainment, food and drink as well as co-ordinating over 1000 international delegates and their movements to and from their exhibition at ExCel and our event at the O2.
Our experience working on a number of South Korean events over the past 15 years proved more than useful in engaging with traditional entertainers and in ensuring any written language used was not only correct but culturally relevant.
Highlights of the event included being the first company in the world to use the Emirates Airline Cable Car for corporate transport as well as working with a team of South Korean traditional percussionists who quite literally blew the lid off the top of the O2!
Gordon's Gin with Conran - 10 Green Bottles launch event
The Persuaders were asked by PR Agency Grayling and drinks giant Diageo to produce the launch of an exciting collaboration between the nation's favourite gin, Gordon's and world famous British design brand Conran. Together, Gordon's and Conran have created a limited edition collection of 10 new label designs and bottle wraps all under the heading of 10 Green Bottles.
Our brief was to bring the theme to life and to showcase each of the 10 designs, highlighting the concept story behind each bottle as well as the collection as a whole. We chose the excellent, newly refurbished Vault at Number One Marylebone as a fitting venue for it's unique exposed brickwork and unusual space and created 10 themed 'rooms' that guests could explore and discover each design in detail.
Working with drinks and food consultancy Drinks Fusion we developed a food and drink menu to suit the launch and enhance the brand's unrivalled quality.
The highlight of the evening was the crucially timed '10' countdown and multiple kabuki drop, revealing the product to the awaiting crowd, which included international drinks and design media, gin experts and celebrities such as Mariella Fostrup, Emilia Fox, Philip Glenister and of course the great man himself, Sir Terrance Conran.
