Wow, I just have been invited as a guest blogger for the week end. Guim is one of the most active French blogger and he was kind enough to invite me to blog for few hours. I have been emailing, chatting, phoning with Guim for few months now but we did never meet. And now Guim just gave me a complete access to his blog... Another interesting example of the effect of blogging on socialization... I just hope I will be up to the task ;-)
Because time is moving fast, here is a turbo summary of the last week...
Tuesday /// PR2.0 or Everyone is an opinion leader : As we just launched BuzzParadise, I am always interested in other's people insight regarding PR, opinion leaders and word of mouth. This week, I suggest to read 2 interesting thoughts : RP 2.0 from PRland and "Tous leaders d'opinions" from Sébastien Bailly, who just joined Yadès...
Wednesday night /// Luxembourg's, Nico Magazine, new edition launch party at Nude Shop : In luxembourg, Nico is a local creative monthly magazine presenting all the art/fashion/trends/culture & music news. For french people just imagine a mix between Technikart, Nova, Blast and l'Officiel des Spectacles. Last wednesday, I was happy to attempt the new edition launch in one of my favorite Luxembourgish shop "Nude", animated by the trendy owner Ture. The party started with a small fashion show with some pretty models, continued with some of the best local Djs, local beer and animated discussions between the guests. It was nice to meet Brav, a Luxembourgish blogger I did not knew, Aurélio Angius from Tempo or Fred Theisen from Rockhall.
Thursday /// TV Spot shooting : yes you read it right... we are shooting our first TV spot for a major french brand... Our creative director Galienni did really a great job and you should be able to watch it soon on TV. Stay tunned for more info to come soon.
Thursday night /// Paris CEO bloggers' club dinner : with a dozen of enthusiatics entrepreneurs and bloggers such as Rodrigo, JB Plantin, Jacques Froissant, Christophe Ducamp, Marie Hulin, Henri Kaufman, Rmen, Christophe Ducamp, my partner Nicolas Van Beek, a quick visit from Mry,... under the organization of Guillaume du Gardier. I was happy to meet a new member and an old friend : Godefroy Jordan. My first job was indeed in B2L webagency, that was managed at the time by Loïc Lemeur and him. Welcome in the blogosphere Godefroy.
Mini interview of Alexis Juncosa, Chief Redactor of Nico Magazine. Nico is THE trend and culture news zine in Luxembourg. Despite being small, Luxembourg is offering many opportunities for fashion show, music and cultural events. Alexis is a passionated watcher of Luxembourg night and cultural life. This interview just took place during the Marketing and Communication Awards Night in the RockHal Luxmebourg (23/02/06).
Mini Interview of super creative Deborah Causton. Talented marketing and design freelance, creator of the Design Club, Deb represents the dark side of communication in Luxembourg ;-) She just created the buzz during the party by launching Alternative Communication Awards the night before (the Golden Ducks Awards). This interview just took place during the Marketing and Communication Awards Night in the RockHal Luxembourg (23/02/06).
What is it to be a creative freelance expatriated in Luxembourg?
Difficult to crack the bigger market and very little benefits for being a freelancer in this country, the focus seems to be about making money and not having free time. Something the government should address if they are wishing for encourage creative entrepreneurialship or persuade talented people to hang around.
Tell us about the Golden Ducks Awards?
Golden Ducks was organised by Linda Bos (Freelance Designer), & myself, as a Design Club (www.designclub.lu) initiative it was initially a test run for an event to be staged in the summer here in Luxembourg (keep your ear to the ground on that one!).
The Golden Ducks are the Alternative Design & Communication Awards. They are a sarcastic slant on the official 'Communication & Design Awards' (Markcom as they are known here in Luxembourg). Award categories include Best Use of a Semi Clothed Person (The Nudist Award); Most Creative Use
of an Animal Cousin (The Quack Award), The Most Obvious example a Translator was Not Used (The Lost in Translation Award). We are not aiming to make a point and are just highlighting common 'mistakes' in design & communication in a light hearted way and not necessarily being critical of the work.
What is you opinion of Luxembourg Communication and Marketing Market?
It's ok. As a London lass it is difficult to compare the quality of work produced in the UK to here. Obviously more money is spent over there because there is a larger market/audience. Luxembourg does have moments of genius. I think to continue there is a requirement to encourage more
young people to be expressive and bend the rules a little. Look out side the Grand Ducky Box!
How do you see the future?
For the ducks it is all good. Nominations start on 31st March for 2007 (www.goldenducks.com). Linda & myself are looking to be better prepared for the event next year and will be considering some international categories.
Mini interview with Jean Luc Mines, director of Mikado Publicis Luxembourg, one of the leading communication agency in Luxembourg. This interview just took place during the Marketing and Communication Awards Night in the RockHal Luxembourg (23/02/06).
With our buzz and viral marketing agency Culture-Buzz, we have been experimenting and implementing word of mouth strategies and tactics for several years now. After many seeding and blog marketing campaigns for brands such as Nokia, Warner Bros, Canal +, Sony or 20th century Fox we have gather a group of more than 300 buzzers (influents bloggers, online communities managers, websites owners,...).
We our international development (Germany, Switzerland, France, Benelux, Asia) it was now time to climb the next step. I am therefore happy after several weeks of effort to announce the launch of BuzzParadise. This european plateform will help brands to connect with consumers and deploy buzz marketing campaigns. The aim? To generate word of mouth by involving bloggers, influents, and opinion leaders through seeding, PR and vip events invitation actions.
Power To People! Brands beging to understand the power of word of mouth and the power of involving their own customers instead of only marketing to them... I hope BuzzParadise will help to ease and accelerate this trend...
More Info:
- The complete press release (French)
- Buzzparadise wbesite
