There are some elements of my job that I adore and as I've said time and again on here, would willingly do for free. But as no voyage of discovery is entirely without obstacles, so the media is no exception; it would be naive to think that every assignment is a gem in a sea of rough. Sometimes though, you can be forgiven for forgetting that simple fact, and when you do, Saint Frances de Sales, the patron Saint of journalists steps in with a graphic reminder in the form of a launch party. Now don't get me wrong, they're not all bad and besides, you're probably wondering how free Champagne and a 'guest list only' admission policy can ever be termed as 'hard'. But of if you're asking the question, you've obviously been lucky. Sure, you get the odd one within media circles that proves the exception to the rule, but most of them are a liggers' paradise, filled with freeloaders and friends of the organiser, with the odd Z-list celebrity in attendance attempting to prop up a terminaly flagging career. Lame doesn't even come close. Lame is a good word to describe last night's launch party for Hot Cow, at The Penthouse in Leicester Square (although I still think of that particular club as Home) to which both myself and 20six's own JoJo had been invited. We both had meetings in town yesterday - Jo with a potential new client in Docklands, me with Tom Mahon of English Cut in Saville Row. So we met up afterwards at Virgin Records in Picadilly and headed off together to AllBarOne in Leicester Square first for a drink. It was great to catch up, and we had an interesting chat about blogging and the vagaries of our respective careers. Homeworking is a lonely occupation at times, so it's always nice to meet up with fellow journos to swap notes, and generally talk over ideas. Although Jo and I have kept in contact, I hadn't seen her for over two years, so we had a lot to catch up on. And if I'm honest, neither of us was eager to cross the square to the launch party; the line on the invite that said, "mingle with over 250 people from the elite circles of media/marketing/fashion and film' told us all we needed to know. I mean, how elite could it have been - we were invited! Still, you never know, and we weren't going to write it off without trying. Besides, the 'Diamond Champagne reception' ("everyone will get a diamond in their Champagne; however only one person will have the REAL diamond a diamond specialist from our sponsors Gassan Diamonds will be on hand to tell us who the lucky winner is") intrigued us. And who says you don't need cheap gimmicks to make a launch party successful?! Hot Cow describe their idea as "creating a “buzz” around your brand, to a targeted audience, through the medium of fashion". They call it 'People Advertising'. I call it Pants. They claim that "the concept is developed to inspire creativity in brand advertising, add a new dimension to direct marketing, and to boost awareness and sales in a crowded consumer marketplace". Now there's a sentence that can only have been born out of a PR's mind. We tried something remotely similar when I had the magazine three years ago; in pursuance of our zero-budget advertising strategy, our regular models, Sam, Kelly and Karen would ambush car and motorcycle commuters stuck in gridlocked London traffic on Friday evenings to promote the magazine. The ethos of Hot Cow revolves around the idea of what they term "trendy urbanites, dressed in custom made striking outfits, with the client's logo splashed over it (sic) and generally themed around the company’s image and marketing concepts. These people walk around designated high impact areas, where the brand's target audience can talk about what they have seen, creating a “hype” around the product or brand." So, if you find yourself assailed by strangely dressed men and women on your tube journey to work one morning, don't say you haven't been warned. We were both handed a glass of Champagne when we entered the club and initial impressions were favourable; there was a huge ice-sculpture of a cow on display, a good mix of people, and a definite buzz in the air. As numbers increased though, we felt like we were the only normally dressed people at a fancy-dress party. You can spot journalists a mile off, and none of our fellow partygoers looked anything remotely connected to the media. A few bizarrely dressed women, the odd PR, and no shortage of fashion-world liggers for sure, but that was about all. The promised fashion show that was supposed to show us 'Hot Cow in action' would have worked so much better if everyone had been able to see - and if the organisers had utilised some real clients instead of 'near beer' subsitutes, such as Vella Hair, Starbox Coffee etc. And my smile quickly faded when I went to the bar to get Jo and I some more drinks. There was a strict 'two drinks' policy in operation after which you had to pay - a most unusual strategy for a launch party. So I ordered two Vodkas with cranberry juice and took out a £10 note. I thought I'd misheard when the barman said, "That'll be £17.25, please" and he'd mistook me for a foreigner, quoting the price in pesos or something. But no. I heard correctly. £17.25 for two vodkas. And he still handed me my change on a silver plate, as if in expectation of a tip. Like, that was going to happen! Food was scarce, although we were befriended by the waiters who came to us first everytime they left the kitchen with plates of skewered jumbo prawns in noodles, spring roll pancakes and the like, but there wasn't enough to do more than tease our appetites. So we left and headed back to AllBarOne. Venue and function aside, it was a good night; nice to see Jo again and catch up, nice to do something different. We bid one another farewell at Leicester Square station - Jo to head south, me to head north - and I made Kings Cross in time for the obligatory late night Burger King and the 23:36 drunk train home, which was a little more subdued than usual (or maybe it was because I was lost in my iPod). Surprisingly, there was no drunk Kat Slater looky-likey causing trouble this time. Shame. Oh, and I haven't been away - just busy working and devoid of motivation for blogging. I have a busy week ahead of me, and I'm back into London later today with mate Nick for a piano concerto at the Barbican to celebrate Mozart's 250th birthday. That should be followed by some martinis at my favourite London bar and a curry in Brick Lane to finish - a perfect night out. Enjoy your weekends, and expect to see me blogging again from next week.
PENTHOUSE and PAVEMENT
27.1.06 13:04
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pixeldiva / Website (27.1.06 13:54) About bloody time you started writing again 
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(27.1.06 14:42) PixelDiva: Thanks, it's nice to be back! And I was getting withdrawal symptoms ;-) |
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(27.1.06 21:37) That photo looked so much better when I was drunk. ;o) |
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(27.1.06 23:26) is that the kind of event i can look forward to when i finally qualify as a bona fide hack this year? something tells me i might be sweating my arse off in a regional newsroom for quite a while before i get invited anywhere that charges 17 quid for two vodkas... nice catching up with the old blog  sorry it's been a while!pu xx |
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(28.1.06 14:47) JoJo: Everything looks better when we're drunk! |
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(28.1.06 14:49) Pooella: Lovely to see you back...are you back for good? Can't believe you'll qualify this year, that's great news! Has it really been that long? Hope things are all good for you, and thanks for stopping by xx |
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(28.1.06 17:39) I wonder if the fact that it's January has anything to do with a lack of motivation for blogging? I'm feeling a little the same. But anyway, good to see you back, and I hope you have a very lovely time tonight. I'm very jealous that you'll be going to the Barbican. I've only been there the once, but I saw Paul Scofield narrating to Babar the Elephant and loved it! |
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(28.1.06 19:20) Welshchick: I guess it must be something to do with this time of year - my blog entries for the past three Januarys have all been sporadic and uninspired. And thanks for the kind comment; I had a lovely time last night, which I'll blog about next week - got some pictures, too. The Barbican was great - concerto was brodcast live on BBC Radio 3 and it was early, so we were in the West End by 19:00, with plenty of time for the serious stuff, like drinking! And Babar the Elephant at the Barbican, narrated by Paul Scofield? You couldn't make it up! x |
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(28.1.06 19:43) Ohh, I've just realised that your entry was posted yesterday, not today! Oops! This month is just speeding by, I've completely lost track of the date. Glad you enjoyed the concert. Which piano concerto was it? And yes, it really was Babar the Elephant. |
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(28.1.06 20:36) The "meanz beanz" costume would have never looked good, however. |
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GrrlScientist / Website (29.1.06 03:02) wow, it's good to see you back in the blogosphere, i really missed you! yes, please do tell us more about that piano concerto .. i love mozart. |
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(29.1.06 13:35) Welshchick: The recital we attended was at St Giles', Cripplegate, Barbican and included Mozart's Sonata in B flat, K281 and his Fantasy in D minor, K589. The pianist was one of the most outstanding classical pianists of his generation, Llyr Williams (more information about the day's events is available here. |
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(29.1.06 13:37) JoJo: Fair point; there are some things out of reach of even alcohol's beneficent lens and a brewery worth of booze wouldn't have aided with the Meanz Beanz costume! You couldn't have paid me enough to wear that one ;-) |
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(29.1.06 13:39) GrrlScientist: Thanks honey - like the new blog, by the way, looking good! Check out the link in my reply to welshchick above for more info on the day's events for Mozart's 250th birthday celebrations. |
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(29.1.06 17:13) Let's see if I've got this right. Hot Cow have just updated the sandwich board concept, or those poor sods with the Golf Sale signs? Innovative? New?
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(29.1.06 18:54) Exactly. Ronald McDonald eat your heart out. |
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(29.1.06 23:47) i'm just hovering around - i've made a few entries over the last couple of months but it's just not like it used to be i still keep coming back to catch up on what everyone else is doing though. i can't believe i'll qualify this year either - it's terrifying! off on some work placements at some regional papers over the next couple of months - not really what i see myself doing long term but it's compulsory, unfortunately... x |
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(30.1.06 04:40) Those girls in your pics must've been absolutely FREEZING! I nearly had a heart attack when I went to some club called Heaven today and they said it was 15 pounds for two drinks... 7.50 each! What a rip. And it was two pounds for a tiny bottle of water... I definately didn't leave a tip! London prices are terrible aren't they... |
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(30.1.06 09:45) cha0tic: As JoJo said. Right on the money there; and I bet the sandwich board owners didn't throw a hugely expensive launch party, either! |
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(30.1.06 09:50) JoJo: I've never quite understood McDonalds' success over the years, which must have happened in spite of, not because of, selecting one of the world's scariest clowns as its face. I don't know who's worse - the Creative who pitched the idea at the first storyboard meeting, or the McDonalds exec who thought "Yeah; a freaky looking clown that'll immediately turn off at least half our potential audience. Now that's gotta work!" You can only wonder at how much more successful they'd have been if they'd adopted a decent marketing strategy over the years. The mind boggles! Oh, and Ronald McDonald eating his heart out? Now that's something I'd pay to see! |
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(30.1.06 09:51) Pooella: It's got to be useful experience, too. Regional newspapers are the backbone of this country's media and have broken some massive stories over the years. Think positive; get this out the way, and you can go where you want. Best of luck, and if I can help in any way, just ask. x |
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(30.1.06 10:03) Rawr: Freezing? They were perfectly dressed for the weather. That image was one from a shoot I did on a sunny afternoon, one Friday in August 2002. It was one of the summer's hottest days, the mercury was still nudging 80 degrees in late afternoon and we were all dog-tired as we'd been on the go since first light. This image probably gives a better idea of the temperature - the colours are a lot warmer here:  And I love Heaven; it's one of the few London clubs that's run like a thread through the years. It was Heaven when I first went there aged 17 in 1985, it was Heaven when I used to go there in the early 90s, and it's still Heaven now; sounds like the prices are more akin to what you'd expect to pay in a Mayfair hotel bar, though! Good night out? ;-) x |
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Megan / Website (30.1.06 15:15) He lives! The party may have been a bust, but at least it gave you something to write about. I'm of the opinion that there's nothing new in the world; it's the same thing over and over, repackaged to suit the times. I can't say it's a completely awful idea. How could you help but look at someone dressed like a billboard. But this means that there's almost no place to go to escape the iron claw of advertising. Soon they'll be piping ads to you in your sleep. |
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(30.1.06 17:58) Oh excuse my mistake about the photos, I was really tipsy yesterday when I made my comment so I must've completely missed the gist! I never knew Heaven was open since 1985... wow, I thought it was a new place. I had a brilliant night, the strobe lights were amazing but they did begin to give me a bit of a headache, fortunately that ceased after a couple of drinks. :D |
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Lisa / Website (8.2.06 00:17) maybe we should call them "holy cow" instead, for their poor party-throwing strategies and their way high prices. |
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guest (8.2.06 22:03) Thank goodness for your account of the HC shindig. I was at the same do and agree with everything you've said. Me and my friend felt like it was the Emperor's New Clothes - when everybody was whooping and cheering during the fashion show, it seemed like we were the only ones unimpressed. At one point we wondered if it was all a spoof/hidden camera jobbie to see how daft people can be. And to cap it all, one of the waiters told me the canapes were vegetarian, resulting in me chomping down on my 1st bite of chicken in 20 years. poor show indeed. |
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