As the last few days of 2011 tumble by, I giggle as I find myself munching mince pies whilst simultaneously launching a new deprivation-free “have your cake and eat it” diet plan! My best intentions to make the festive period a work-free zone this year have been (happily) scuppered by some amazing new business wins in recent months and I thought I’d use this blog post to reflect on 2011 and look ahead to what’s happening in 2012.
This, the fifth birthday year of LS Media, has seen the business go from strength to strength, with a number of memorable highlights. There have been numerous new clients – long-term projects for luxury brands Swarovski Optik and The Sherwood Hideaway, plus ad-hoc work for long-standing clients Sporty Bump and Talk To The Press. I was re-hired by ParamountZone.com and implemented a ridiculously successful Christmas campaign for their iHelicopter product (reams of print and online coverage, plus a prominent feature on Channel Five’s The Gadget Show). Lawyers4Mumpreneurs, BeerBeauty and EasyWay Bucks all presented me with challenging capsule projects to get my teeth into and DietHeaven is currently giving me my first taste (pardon the pun) of the world of weight-loss PR.
In addition, I’ve been freelancing for the children’s communication charity, I CAN, and I’m delighted that I’ve recently been hired to handle the UK PR for global word-game phenomenon, Bananagrams.
So what’s in store in 2012? Well, I secured a number of press trips for The Sherwood Hideaway this past year, so I’ll be chasing up that coverage in the New Year and also launching their new Rustic-themed lodges, which are currently being built. Bananagrams is already proving to be a thrilling client to work with – 2012 will see me pinning down celebrity endorsements, large-scale sponsorship opportunities, supporting special limited edition versions of the games, pitching the range to TV and a huge blogger-outreach campaign to really get the UK buzzing about the range. In February, I’ll be heading out to the New York Toy Fair to meet the rest of the Bananagrams crew, which is a really exciting opportunity to get under the skin of the brand and further fuel my passion for it (and yes, I’ve already got my kids hooked on the games!).
Sporty Bump is extending its maternity sportswear range this year, so I’ll be implementing a campaign around that and hopefully securing even more celebrity involvement (Sarah Cawood is our latest celebrity fan). Over the next couple of months, I’ll be seeing the results of my work on the DietHeaven launch campaign as our bigger, exclusive features come to fruition. And there will be further work with I CAN as I support them with two of their major programmes this year: The Chatterbox Challenge and the Communication Triathlon.
What’s more, I start studying for my BA in Modern Languages this February with The Open University, so 2012 looks like being an exhilarating year on both the personal and professional front.
Looking forward to sharing the journey with you.
