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Afternoon Tea on a Friday

For my last weekend in London I absolutely had to experience the most British of luxuries, “Afternoon Tea.” Concetta and Rachel were kind enough to invite me to a spot in Covent Garden Market called Sweetheart Cupcakes. I had a rose and pistachio cupcake, little cookies, a smoked salmon tart, mini finger sandwiches, and a lemon-y green tea. 

I could certainly get used to this.

An unbelievable selection of waistband-shattering goods.

The Queen herself, alerting customers with food allergies. So cute.

I ate so many sugars and carbohydrates that I nearly threw up, but I regret nothing.

“Friends are like sprinkles on the cupcake of life”

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Drawing on the Tube.

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Sky Garden @ The “Walkie-Talkie”

20 Fenchurch Street (known locally as the Walkie-Talkie) was designed in 2004 by Rafael Viñoly. The design is incredibly interesting, given that each of the floors increases in size as the building gets higher. After we went to the Wall Street Journal, a small group of us headed to the Sky Garden at the very top floor of the building. There wasn’t a cover charge or need for reservations which was awfully convenient, so we wanted to check it out. The views were incredible!

It was much more spacious up here than I had imagined, given that you know it has to be an expensive place to run a bar and restaurant.

There were gardens that ascended the staircases leading into their restaurant portion, and little nooks where you could sit down on converted tree trunks and enjoy beverages while taking in the beautiful sunset.

Seen above is an actual $20 USD cocktail that I willingly paid for, just for the experience. I only had one, because it gives me anxiety thinking of spending almost 50 bucks on two drinks. 

JAPANESE BLOSSOM: Nikka Coffey Grain whisky, plum sake, cranberry juice & orange bitters.  

It was delicious!

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Wall Street Journal

I really enjoyed this site visit! This is certainly more along the lines of what I had in mind for the types of places that we’d be visiting on this trip. As a reader of the Wall Street Journal (although not a subscriber, I pay for the NYTimes so these things get to be expensive), I appreciated gaining some perspective in terms of the quality that they strive for and the size of their team. I was expecting their staff to be so much larger! It’s impressive to me that they all wear so many hats, and genuinely seem to be excited to be there.

Extremely nice bathroom, serious work place goals.

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British Museum

Cold brew coffee I purchased the morning of the trip to the British Museum, which I had to get, because it was only £3 and I was in love with the packaging. This same bottle caused me a hassle while going up to the Sky Garden in the Walkie Talkie building because security thought it was alcohol at first glance. Whoops! They sniffed it, we all had a laugh, and I was allowed to enter without any hassle. :) 

On June 7th, 1753, an Act of Parliament established the British Museum. The British Museum was the brainchild of Sir Hans Sloane, who collected 71K+ items over the course of his lifetime and wanted to make sure that they were properly cared for and displayed after his death. Sir Hans Sloane left the collection to King George II in exchange for a sum of money for his heirs, and the museum was eventually opened to the public in 1759. 

The Rosetta Stone (not pictured here because I couldn’t get a proper photo without at least one dozen gawking tourists in the way) is probably the most famous piece that belongs to the museum’s collection. 

I’m excited that we were able to visit the museum during my time here, even though I admittedly didn’t spend as much time exploring as I would have liked. (I was pretty “hangry” after our morning overview at Anglo and the visit to the British Library, and desperately needed food before we had to meet up again for the WSJ visit.) Zach and I plan on visiting London again in the Fall, and I’ve already decided to dedicate a whole day to exploring every nook and cranny. The exhibits that I did see were absolutely fantastic, and I’d have to say that my all-time favorite in any museum that I visit is their section on Egypt.

FYI: The above image is totally not Egyptian. But I liked it anyway.

There’s a dark cloud of controversy surrounding the British Museum (and other museums like it) that seems to be gaining more traction as of late: holding another country’s antiquities. It’s a debate that I haven’t quite been able to definitively choose sides over.

The very purpose of a museum is to collect, preserve, interpret, and display items of significance. Early “museums” were often times just the private collections of the wealthy, and had very limited access for anyone who wasn’t middle to upper class. The modern museum as we know it today seems like a pretty solid step up, allowing admission of common people and the wealthy alike (although still much easier to gain access while economically privileged). 

Maybe in the future, we can come to a universal binding agreement that allows for each major museum around the world to share priceless antiquities on a predetermined rotation, as I know it’s already “a thing” that some already do. I personally wouldn’t have any issue with artifacts from the earliest days of American (USA) heritage being held by an institution in another part of the world, because that means that other people would be able to see it and encourage a dialogue.

I could go on and on about this for days (but I have other posts to finish) since it’s such a complex topic, so I figure I’ll wrap it up by saying: I’m glad the museum is here, and I’m happy that I’m able to visit it.

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The True Crown Jewel = George Michael (RIP)

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Hanging around the lake in beautiful Hyde Park, London with my best friend. Glad I’ll be able to see him again in 8-ish days!

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While wandering around the neighborhood with Rachel and Rebecca after our internships, we came across this wonderful outdoor space. Apparently, it’s only been open for about two weeks. There’s an entire crop of new businesses around Paddington station, with many of the storefronts so new that no one has even moved into them yet. It gave us a bit of a ghost town vibe, but I’m curious as to what it will look like in the coming months.

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CHANEL @ Mindshare

This week I had the pleasure of assisting the Business Director with L’Agence Plus’s media responses for both the L’EAU fragrance and the new fragrance that is being launched in September of this year. I was charged with the task of refining both decks, making sure that all of the contributions from the various divisions within PLUS fit the same template. It was a great task to have, because I was able to get an in-depth look at what everyone else on the team has been working on up to this point. I asked an excess of questions, as well as  Googled (quite often) what things were that I didn’t quite understand. 

New tools that I hadn’t known about before:

Crimson Hexagon helps uncover new insights about a brand’s target audience by tracking how consumers feel about the brand. The nuances of emotion and sentiment in social conversation about the brand are funneled through this social analytics platform to make it easy to identify what motivates customers. Trends that impact the brand, products, and marketplace are also looked at.

Shareablee is a platform that provides data on the following:

- PowerRankings, audience-centric metrics that are more advanced and in-depth than just counting social “likes” and “followers.”

- Competitive Benchmarking, benchmark content, channels and industry competitors across 600+ key metrics and KPIs including video views, impressions, audience engagement, and clicks with historical data back to 2013 to align with business goals across social, linear, and digital channels. You can identify the highest and lowest performing paid and organic social media strategies and know where your social media marketing generates the most actions, impressions, and engagement.

- Affinity, which allows you to analyze actual behaviors (not modeled or predicted) and identify the right media and sponsorship partners that would appeal to customers. Affinity also helps identify actual competitive threats, including disruptors and those that are already established in the industry.

- Influencer Sets, helps identify social influencers that are up and coming and best aligned with the target audience.

- Real-time leaderboards, which ranks the top performing posts by actions from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram from the selected target group over the past 24 hours in real-time. This is neat, because you can measure the velocity of engagement driven by posts across your product category and compare against that of your competitors.

... Overall, it’s pretty wild to know that we’re being watched 24/7 and having all of our actions on the internet translated into dollars and cents. (Or in this case, pounds and pence.)

My nifty desk set-up! (Partially blurred for company privacy, just in case.) Notice the cool Queen Elizabeth II with Bowie lightning bolt on the laptop in front of me. 

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Visit to MONOCLE Magazine

In 2007, Monocle was launched as a magazine briefing on global affairs, business, culture, and design. The magazine was envisioned as a response to the repetitive nature in which most mainstream publications approached content creation and the cheapening of publication quality. According to Andrew Tuck, Editor of Monocle, Monocle sells more than 81,000 copies per issue and has 18,000 subscribers. The magazine charges roughly ‎£6 per issue, and according to Tuck, has “*never given away an issue for free” (*although they 100% gave away an issue during our Q&A session). The publication’s goal is to make their readers feel like they are a part of a club, rather than just media consumers. 

Monocle is a complete media brand with print, audio and online elements – not to mention an expanding retail network and online business. 

We filed into the cafeteria common area for an introduction to the brand from Andrew Tuck, as well as to have a Q&A and pitch editorial content ideas for a future issue. Students from Indiana University were in attendance as well.

Monocle has it’s own book publishing division, and includes travel guides for destinations around the world as well as lifestyle books with such ambitious titles as “The Monocle Guide to Better Living” and “How to Make a Nation: A Monocle Guide.”

Seen above is Megan Gibson, Senior Editor at Monocle, who was kind enough to give us a tour of the office and provide her insights on what it’s like to work for a publication like Monocle.

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The Tower of London

Henry III was gifted three leopards, a lion, and a polar bear to mark his wedding to Eleanor of Provence. The polar bear was from King Haakon IV of Norway.

As a massive Game of Thrones fan (amongst many other things), I’m certainly one to appreciate the stately aesthetic of some thousand year-old architecture. The sordid history of affairs and beheadings, sieges, royal coronations, and its use as a prison makes the Tower of London landmark with quite a rich heritage. 

Something that made me a little sad was thinking about how Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London (AKA: “The Tower of London”, “The White Tower”) was once such a revered fortress, and a symbol of the powerful monarchy and the subsequent oppression of the people over which they reigned. In current day, the White Tower is humbly stifled by modern office buildings and condos. It’s an eery feeling to realize that what we consider to be majestic and irreplaceable in our own time will be equally as dwarfed, both physically and in relevancy. 

Tower Bridge: The best photo I’ve taken on this trip so far.

I came to the Tower of London expecting the torture area to be my favorite, as I have a fascination with all of the cheesy TV specials on all things macabre and historical. Unfortunately, their exhibit left much to be desired. :( It was literally just one room, and it only had informational posters and replicas of about 5 devices. 

The Crown Jewels were truly fantastic. I wish that they would have allowed us to take photographs! Would have loved to share them with those that weren’t able to join me, since I think seeing them side-by-side with real people that you know help to understand just how incredibly gorgeous and intricate they are. A lot of people don’t really appreciate professional images of things these days quite like they used to, since they happen to be over-edited or lack a certain sense of personal touch. From discussing the marketing issues with the representative that met with us before we disbanded, I think that adapting to millennial interests and trends would greatly benefit them. Word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools at an establishment’s disposal, and creating an atmosphere where people are encouraged to share their experiences would generate a sense of “fear of missing out” (FOMO) with those that could potentially spark more visits.

This was a real find in the gift shop:

Actual quote from the book:

“OMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!! I was in the Chapel Royal when I found a note from Crazza saying that Catz has been cheating on me- like for MONTHS. NOOOOOOOOOOOO! I swear I’ll cut of her pretty little head myself!!!!!”

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Street art in Shoreditch, London.

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Adventures in PRIMARK

PRIMARK is an international company and subsidiary of Associated British Foods, headquartered in Dublin. It was founded in 1969, and is a main-staple for penny pinchers and bargain hunters everywhere across the UK.

With that said, I had never heard of it before this trip, and I was completely unprepared for the level of carnage that I experienced at 5:30pm on a Thursday.

From what I can tell, PRIMARK is the European equivalent of Wal-Mart. The only difference is that PRIMARK seems to have a less awful reputation in terms of specific types of people that shop there. I arrived at 5:30-ish pm after my internship, because I was “freezing” and ill-prepared for the prolonged cold snap after the stretch of warm days we had upon arrival. I was going to head to a thrift shop, but couldn’t find any in the area (off of Tottenham court station on the central line) that were still open. The girls at my internship suggested I head to PRIMARK since I’m on a budget.

Actual photos from my visit. Behold the organizational horror.

...This place is nightmare fuel. There’s a coffee shop and four separate levels of clothing, accessories, and home goods. T-shirts for £2, £5 merino wool sweaters, £5 blowdryers and hair straighteners, and shamelessly smeared lipstick and foundation stains on nearly everything that was towards the front of the racks. At some point, I even witnessed a child sitting in the middle of the shoe section just tossing shoes into the air over their head like autumn leaves. The first thing that came to my mind was the documentary on “fast-fashion,” True Cost. Places like PRIMARK and Wal-Mart (and most other retailers, honestly) are desolate wastelands, helping bored consumers pass the time by providing moments of instant gratification. I hate to say it, but even though I recognize it as an issue, I still shop at these places and am 100% a part of the problem. I guess it just becomes more apparent when these types of establishments are in total disarray, as the facade of polish and order are stripped away, and you see people treating items like they’ve already purchased and discarded them without even having left the store yet.

On the bright side though, since one person can’t change the world overnight by ascending their metaphorical soapbox via Tumblr, I bought four incredibly cheap sweaters for £20 and left with all of my limbs (and my wallet) intact.

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CHANEL @ Mindshare

It’s only been a real whirlwind at Mindshare with the L’Agence Plus group. (Time in London has been been flying by and creeping slowly simultaneously.) I’ve been loving it, and the office culture is nothing like back home. People can laugh, gossip, and complete their tasks? What a revelation! It’s been enlightening sharing stories about the differences in our cultures, like the access to healthcare and the lack of people that go bankrupt in the UK by just trying to survive.

My personal project @ L’Agence Plus

I was given a project by the research and planning team, more specifically reviewing the data from their “Beauty Amnesty” audit. This consists of raw video and text correspondence from participants in the study. My job is to review what the team has already compiled and read through transcripts of conversations and videos, looking for patterns and reviewing digital insights. I’m sorting consumers into groups, and taking down notes for details that I find interesting. So far, I’ve noticed that most women at the start of their videos apologize for not wearing makeup. It’s interesting to me being able to see these women in their moments of vulnerability, and I think it’s important that people in the beauty industry consider the effects of their work on people’s sense of self worth. Excited to see how this turns out!

Newsletter & Monthly Competitive Tasks

I put together the newsletter for this week and the monthly competitor compilation deck, which is sent out to the company and to our contacts at CHANEL every Friday.

Articles chosen for weekly newsletter:

- “State of Luxury Advertising” (Luxury Daily)

- “The Fashion Outlaw Dapper Dan” (NYTimes)

- “LVMH Beefs Up Digital Team with SVP of Communications” (WWD)

- “Bella Hadid as Face of New Bulgari Fragrance” (WWD)

- “How the Beauty Industry is (Trying) to Sell to Gen Z” (Fashionista)

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I have a crush on SOHO, London.

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*Current Vibe*

This song always makes me feel some sort of way, and it’s feeling pretty relevant right now.

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Mindshare & CHANEL

This past Tuesday, I began my media internship with Mindshare London on the CHANEL account. 

I’ve never met a more accommodating and patient group of individuals! Abi, my supervisor for the duration of my time there, took the time to book a half an hour session with each division head. So far I have met with strategy, research, planning, the social media team, and operations. I’ve never worked in media planning and buying before, so I was very nervous and eager to at least convey that I was grateful that they were taking time out of their busy days to give me an overview. 

My favorite groups within the media planning and buying team would have to be strategy and research, since I would consider them the backbone of the entire enterprise. Without proper research and strategy, the rest of the team would not be optimizing the placements of CHANEL’s advertising and getting the most bang for their client’s buck. No matter how wonderful an advertisement is, if it’s not reaching the proper audience, it might as well not exist at all. I’ve always been fascinated by the behavioral and environmental factors that come into play with consumerism, so I’m excited to see what my project will be when I return this week. I was told that I would be able to work with R & S on a side project with data collection, so fingers crossed!

BONUS ROUND:

I was invited to participate in a team building exercise with the CHANEL representatives and the media planning & buying team, which takes place every three months. Felt so lucky to be on the team while this was happening! We had to know basic pub trivia, sculpt with play-doh, facts about Gabrielle Chanel and the brand, as well as lip sync and dance. I’m happy to report that my team, “Let’s Get Quizz-a-CHANEL” (not the best name out there, admittedly) won! I received a neat little trophy, as well as free white wine and the exhaustion that accompanied it later in the evening.