Buzflikr Blogs: Debra’s Interviews

Premium sport denim brand Pantz on Fire recently expanded into the midwest by partnering with Harley Davidson during Ohio Bike Week - and caused a hometown hoopla for its founding CEO Cynthia Canter to boot!

By bringing her famous patent pending denim collection to her native Sandunsky, Canter, a lifelong sporting enthusiast, was able to share her patriotism and passion for charitable causes with hometown friends and family.  Canter offered two bestselling styles exclusively thru regional Harley shops during Bike Week and of course donated a portion of sales to her favorite partner charities.

Canter’s story made headline news at the Sandunsky Register and featured the dynamic company spokes model wearing her “American Flag” jeanz at the Roeder Harley Davidson store.

All Pantz on Fire lifestyle products are proudly Made in America, constructed from quality Cone Mills denim and produced by the same artisans behind the West Coast’s most famous designer jeans brands.  These premium denim jeanz are manufactured with couture quality style and rigorous attention to detail.  The company targets fashion-conscious sports enthusiasts who express their team spirit with style.

Read more about this buzzworthy brand right here at Buzzflikr.

Buzzflikr’s Debra Stevenson will be presenting color and trend forecast seminars on behalf of color leader Pantone at the World Shoe Association next week.  If you’re a member of the media community or a Buzzflikr colonist, contact us immediately to reserve a spot.  These seminars offer rich trend insight normally available only thru subscription and sell out fast, so make your plans today!

Seminars take place as follows:

Pantone Color Trends for Spring/Summer ’09 and Beyond

2:30–3:30 p.m. on Monday, July 28, will be in Room N-259.Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall

Speaker: Debra Stevenson, Trend Analyst, Pantone Color

Time: 2:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m.

Location: Las Vegas Convention Center, Room N-259

Fee: $50

Pantone Fall 2009/Winter 2010: Materials at WSA Workshop for Designers

Speaker: Debra Stevenson, Trend Analyst, Pantone Color

Time: 9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.

Location: Las Vegas Convention Center, Room N101

What you will learn: This premier color trend company will demonstrate Fall 2009 / Winter 2010 trend forecasting. Find out how color influences human thought processes, emotions and physical reactions in order to help utilize color more effectively.

Fee: $50

Great news, Buzzflikr Pollinators! (that means all of us buzz-building bees here on the hive): Our affiliate, Fashion Business Inc. is featured in today’s Apparel News in a story about Samsung’s recent visit to Los Angeles. The Korean multinational giant sent two executives to explore West Coast business opportunities for its numerous fashion brands and participate in private training with FBI’s industry experts. Read the senior editor Deborah Belgum’s well-researched piece here. How can Buzzflikr help tell your compelling brand story and gain important placement in the media? Let’s talk!

Our favourite WeHo pop-up shop, SHOE BLISS, graces the front page of LA.com in the Style & Beauty section this weekend. For the best in designer footwear at factory-direct pricing run don’t walk to this stylish outpost.

As the CEO of Buzzflikr, I’ll be using this space to blog about the business of style. Watch for interviews with our very creative entrepreneurs and be the first to learn how they’re growing the buzzworthy brands of tomorrow - today! If you’ve got an insider story to share, please email me. Thanks for visiting our hive, Debra

This is exciting: Buzzflikr has been live for barely 30 days and already our iconic name produces over 215 results on Google. Our unique media outreach platform enables our colonists to reach new media channels, the traditional print world and consumer sites from one very buzzyworthy hive. Follow our progress here on our blogs as we generate buzz for our emerging fashion and lifestyle brands.

We are committed to taking the sting out of PR!

Part two of Buzzflikr’s conversation with Sigrin from Dick and Jayne apparel:

Let’s talk a little about how you’ve built market awareness of the Dick and Jayne brand. Any lightbulb moments along the way?
By reading and targeting certain magazines that align with our brand, we learn when and where product fits best. We slowly built a phone and email list of editors who know and love our line’s fresh, sometimes retro feel.

How do new customers find you?
Soon they’ll find us on the web. We always participate in tradeshows, gift bags, mailers, postcards. Mailing list from a tradeshow and conduct a huge blast. Do you go after celebrity placement, gifting suites or movie stylists? We’ve been worn by Terry Hatcher on Desperate Housewives. This happened thru a stylist we know.

What are the key ingredients of a successful marketing campaign?
Photo shoots with live models have given our lookbooks a stronger identity. Its well worth the cost. Working with live models and merchandising the collection with Jayne’s vision enables us to express the brand POV beautifully!

What are your secrets to keeping marketing costs down?
Doing Photoshop inhouse, creating our own lookbooks. As our line gets cleaner, it’s easier for us to accomplish ourselves. Also, working out rates with a photographer we really liked – we really shopped around.

What advise could you share with DIYs who want to do their own PR?
After taking the “Do your own PR Likes the Pros” class with Buzzflikr’s Debra Stevenson at Fashion Business Inc., we realized we needed a coaching session. And by actually applying these insights – like creating new text for our product tags, including flyers in our shipping boxes – we are already excited about the results.

Why did you decide to join the Buzzflikr hive?
Having learned how the whole PR process works and done it on our own, we realized we needed more help in this area. We value Buzzflikr’s online presence and knowing our whole collection is searchable by color, items and trend. This is exactly how editors search for key items and develop new stories.

What can Buzzflikr help you achieve?
Understanding our brand message better and knowing more about what editors like from our collection. Celebrity endorsements and product placement is an untouched area we’d like to explore. Also feature stories about our company’s unique message. Jayne’s story is really buzzworthy – she’s so hip, so unique and a great role model for young women starting out in the business.

What’s new for Spring 09?
Right now we love fabrics with a little sheen, still feeling very clean and crisp. Sophisticated styling is our passion. Which retailer showcases your collection best? Koi in South Pasadena has been a longtime supporter of our line.

Dick and Jayne is a bustling apparel brand located in a stylish loft right in the heart of LA’s theatre district. Sigrid works with her mother Jayne, the company’s namesake and creative force. Buzzflikr dropped in for a quick chat:

Name, title and ranking, please:
Sigrin Torres-Aulenta. I’m the company’s well-rounded generalist

Randon tidbit:
I perfected my Spanish accent and learned bilingual slang as a foreign student in Spain. My 2yr old daughter, Dylan, used to come to work before she started school…..a big perk working in a family business!

How long has Dick n Jayne been a fashion brand?
D&J is 12 yrs old and I joined the company about 10 yrs ago. Has it been that long?!!

Describe the company’s brand profile and target market?
After 9-11 we really changed the line and were determined to go in an new direction. You have to follow the styling you love. The line became more contemporary. Targeting stylish baby boomers from age 40-60, we deliver well-made clothes that are hip, current and contemporary. Our customer knows she’s not a teenager and doesn’t raid her daughter’s closet but she’s very aware of style. Our proportion, detailing and silhouettes are all tweaked from current trends. Real woman love Dick and Jayne. “I love the unique sensibility. My mom has a distinctive look that’s trend right and I always feel comfortable and sophisticated in her clothes.” Women of any age can merchandise and select _mix it up - this collection to suit their styles and tastes.

Which celeb embodies the Dick n Jayne style?
Katherine Hepburn meets Audrey Hepburn with a funky edge. We often name styles in our line after these two lovely ladies. As a Gen Xer, how do you influence the brand’s overall strategy and product mix? I weigh in on product design, help Jayne track trends, stay abreast of the market, we collaborate all day. She’s the one with technical expertise and industry knowledge. I’m the sounding board. When we both agree, we know it’s going to be good. What do you love/hate about a family-operated business? We love to start the day with a friendly hug or kiss. Trust is a huge part of our office culture. We care about this business as our own. But there are those times everyone wants to get away from their family. But fortunately there’s a lot of love here and we can say that!

Tell us how you sustain the buzzzzz about your company?
My role is to communicate with editors, trying to build the name, get our key items in print. I’ve been responsible for creating images, postcards, lookbooks to send out. Learning photoshop and illustrator at Fashion Business Inc. has been really invaluable. That saves us a bundle.

How did you land all those magazine covers and “what’s hot” pages?
I was taught how to contact editors by a publicist. She took the mystery out of it. I look in magazines, decide what editors to target and send them our lookbooks, make the follow up calls and stay on top of it. Editors are busy so tenacity is key.

Last week, we caught up with Apparel News editors to discuss this redhot West Coast phenom. Here’s what they said in today’s Retail Report: Pop-up shops continued to make a big splash in the past year. Seemingly every retailer, including Target, JC Penney and fashion lines—and even record labels and liquor companies— sought sales and media exposure with these short-term stores, which are typically based in temporarily vacant storefronts. These flashy blitzes of retail are a good way of creating a high profile without paying a heavy price or making a deep investment, according to retail analyst Mercedes Gonzalez, director of the New York–based Global Purchasing Cos. Link to the full story here and read Buzzflikr’s report on designer pop-up shop Shoe Bliss, just opened in West Hollywood.

Pop up shops are LA’s hot new retail trend. From gallery-like shopping spaces with art exhibitions to mobile units offering limited edition merchandise, these temporary retail concepts are best-kept secrets for style setters and celebrities alike. As the concept takes off, LA leads with some of the best creating bigtime buzz around the world. Of course here at Buzzflikr we’ve got the inside scoop on this trend, including the recent opening of Shoe Bliss in West Hollywood, a buzzworthy destination for designer footwear at factory-direct prices. Here you’ll find the latest in Spring/Summer 2008 womens shoes from runway in a stylish lounge setting. So head over to Le Pain Quotidien for a creamy latte, look for the chic Shoe Bliss banners and scoop up your fave summer slides, sexy platforms and patent pumps at a steal!