Recently I have come across 2 specialist fashion stores for the boys in Sydney which I highly recommend if you are in the market for something special.

Firstly, I was in the market for some Bow Ties for an event I am doing very soon and a friend kindly pointed me into the right direction of ‘Le Noeud Papillon Sydney’ a business that specializes in making beautiful silk bow ties. The French call a bow tie ‘Le Noeud Papillon’ which translates to ‘the knot of the butterfly’ and its history is derived originally from Croatian mercenaries during the Prussian wars of the 17th Century, who used a piece of cloth to shut close the collar of their shirts. Traditionally bow ties are made of silks and, in the case of formal wear, the bow tie should match the lapel of the jacket. See here for more info:

www.lenoeudpapillon.com

Secondly, I visited ‘Harrolds’ menswear in the new Westfield in the City and was blown away at how amazing this store is, I felt like I was visiting a store overseas in London or Paris. They not only have a superb range of designer brands for men, the service was exceptional! We received drinks alongside sitting in very plush sofas whilst my fiancé tried shirts on. See here:

www.harrolds.com.au

Lastly, here is a great website which features some great ideas for groom’s in preparation for his wedding - http://www.essentialgroom.com.au/

Hope you have enjoyed my recent secrets for the boys! The photos are my 2 fave bow ties J

Love, Kim xxx

What is the true value of Publicity?

This is a controversial issue and many people have differing opinions, in case you may be interested, here is mine…

For obvious reasons, I am passionate about Public Relations and a strong believer that gaining editorial and product placement for our clients as we do every day here at Magnet PR & Events, is a powerful and creative tool for promoting businesses, brands and concepts…..and obviously there is a great demand for this kind of publicity!

I happened to start my career in Advertising and whilst working for Mojo Partners and Young and Rubican found out that Advertising has its place as well. I worked on corporate campaigns for the launch of Telstra.com and many well-known FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) whereby a clever Advertising strategy is paramount. We all catch ourselves saying “Have you seen that dumb AD on TV at the moment for Toohey’s New, where the guy falls into the bath of ice…” just the fact that you have spoken about this to your friend, makes this expensive advertising campaign work in boosting the brand’s recognition to be top of your mind.

PR is editorial based, therefore the client pays nothing to the media to get their company featured. Once a magazine reader has read a story or the TV viewer has seen a show which appeals to them about a topical issue they relate to featuring our clients, they are more likely to buy that product or book in with that expert is featured – therefore PR is more credible than Advertising as you have the journalists endorsement and finds you fit enough to tell the world about.

For newer brands launching on the market, a clever Public Relations strategy is the way forward to launch and generate awareness of that brand. You see journalists love the next big thing, they are constantly on the lookout for new and exciting products/people and stories they can write about in their pages. It’s a clever publicist’s job to get journalists excited about our clients brands and therefore featured amongst their pages. This not only wins big brownie points with clients as it gets their phones ringing, website hits souring and people talking about them. As the years go by, it never fails to make me happy to watch a client’s excitement as I show them an exciting piece of press we have obtained for them. Their confidence grows more and more when they go through the process of being shot for a story or interviewed for an article…PR becomes a pleasurable drug or an addictive substance…once they have a taste of fame, they want MORE!

Magnet PR & Events has produced awesome PR results for many brands over the years, see here for our client base. We worked managing the PR for 5 years with Planet Cake, Australia’s largest couture cake decorating business as well as obtaining over 25 articles in the press for ISCD over a year. We have launched many popular dining establishments in Sydney such as Firefly Bar and Bacco Wine Bar Pasticceria and also the ever so popular Rambutan.

All in all, what some people don’t understand that there is a creative and extremely strategic method that goes into securing good PR for a brand or business and it does not come easy. Therefore we like to work with clients who actually appreciate and understand how the process of securing press for them is actually a fine art to respect and be grateful for. Once we have secured your name in the media, it is there forever, it is the gift that keeps on giving!

Best wishes from PR land….I will leave you with a few examples of some of my favourite PR placements.

Kim xx