Our Big Event!

Hey everybody,

I have now completed my internship and wanted to comment on the amazing event I helped organise along with some photos I took before the event. I've thoroughly enjoyed my internship and I am very sad to say goodbye to everyone in the office, especially those who I have been working alongside with for the last few months!

I had been working very hard on Peep Toe's Spring/Summer Miami launch party for the last few months and it was icing on the cake to see everything come together. The event was on a Wednesday so the company owner, the PR girls and myself went in on the Tuesday to start setting up props and creating a floor and action plan. On arrival at the club "Kit and Kaboodle" in Kings Cross, we were greeted with club's event manager, Kate who went through some of the protocols of the club (what we can and can't do) and we saw all the props that had arrived in time for the Miami themed event (mini palm trees, boat, lifeguard chairs, sponsor products). There was to be a number of things that were going to be hanging throughout the venue so we had to stick on all the wall mounts to give them 24 hours to set.

On the day of the event everybody arrived at the venue at 10am (the event started at 7pm) along with a change of clothes for the night. We started what turned out to be a 13 hour day! To make sure my post doesnt run to long, I will sum up some of the highlights or important tasks I had to do during the day and night;

- allocating where all the props were to be placed (the venue is over two floors so props and other products had to be distributed accordingly).

- Sponsorship: our sponsors were Wow Cow ice cream, Cointreau, Polaroid and the Cupcake Factory. Something we should all keep in mind is that there are certain rules every club has. So for example, we couldn't have a liquor sponsor that wasn't sold at the club (due to the clubs own liquor contracts) and although we wanted to use our Peep Toe water bottles at the event, we weren't able to as the club has a contract with Mt Franklin water. Those are some interesting tid-bits I had never thought of before.

- there were a number of celebrities who attended the event. Peep Toe often giveaway free shoes to entice celebrities to attend. I also found out that the famous DJ Havana Brown (who DJ'd on the night) was paid in money AND shoes!

- There were models for the event who walked around/sat on props throughout the night displaying our new collection of shoes and accessories. One of my tasks included helping look after the models.

- We had a popcorn machine, fairy floss machine and snow cone machine for guests to enjoy some sweet treats (as well as the savoury catering that was passed around through the night).

- There were over 200 goody bags to give out to guests at the end of night.

- Drinks flowed all night for guests.

- Photos from the campaign were displayed around the venue as well as on the stairwell leading into the venue.

- One of the sponsors was Polaroid so I had to go around and take instant photos of guests and give them the photo. We also kept some of the photos to send back to Polaroid.

- We took a number of photos of the models and guests with sponsors products so we can send them photos from the night.

- I also helped downstairs at the door to ensure everything was running smoothly. Luckily there wasn't much chaos and as the event was taking place at a club, we had a lot of help at the front of house from the club staff.

The event ran smoothly and the venue was packed with happy guests. However, we had to ensure in the days following that the event itself would get coverage in the newspapers social sections. We all rejoiced when the Peep Toe event was covered in both the Saturday and Sunday Sydney newspapers!

As this is my last blog post I just wanted to say how thankful I am to the company I have interned at for the past few months. Everyone at the office has been so helpful and patient and have shown me the kind of hard work that goes into creating a successful company and it was great to go to work everyday in a happy and fun work environment. I have learnt so many new things as well as developing on the skills I've already learnt at uni and I have been inspired to do another internship sometime next year, possibly at a PR firm in Malaysia (plans are already in the works).

I will have to leave this post with some photos of the venue and from before the event.
Good luck to everyone else still doing their internship!

Siobhan Finley

PR placement continued

Hey everybody!!! I hope everyone is enjoying their internships.
This is my second update on my internship as I approach the halfway mark! As usual, I’ve had to do a number of magazine and newspaper PR calls based on specific briefs (as explained in my last blog post) to start the day off. I thought I would add a photo of our entrance/reception, the PR ‘area’ and all the products we specifically use for PR purposes and the last few photos are of the showroom where important meetings with clients are held as well as internal meetings.

August has been an immensely busy month (new fashion season; Spring/Summer 10/11). I’ve been really lucky that I’ve come at such a busy time for the company. Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC) is a global charitable initiative and seeks to raise public awareness and funds for breast cancer research; specifically research into breast cancer and younger women. Peep Toe has created four products for this cause, with 40% of profits being donated to the charity. This year the theme is black and white, so Peep Toe have produced for sale, a clutch, pair of heels, flats and a Swarovski bracelet. I helped set up the stand in the store in Paddington store and actually was able to speak with a customer who was buying a pair of the heels who was also a breast cancer survivor. This is the first time Peep Toe has been involved in any kind of ‘corporate social responsibility’ or charitable causes. Starting off with just one employee/owner four years ago into what is now 50 employees, it seems this is the first year that 2010 is the first year the company has been able to give back. I’m looking forward to what else the team comes up with in the future! Here are some photos from the launch event (some of the girls were invited to it and said they had a really great night).

Grazia, the magazine has organised a massive event at ‘the Intersection’ in Paddington, Sydney. ‘The Intersection’ is made up of 18 stores (for example, Sass & Bide, Zimmermann, Camilla and Marc), located on the ‘intersection’ of Glenmore Rd and Oxford Street in Paddington. There is even a blog dedicated solely to this area (http://blog.theintersectionpaddington.com.au/). Our company is one of the select stores in this prestigious part of Paddington and thus, we were included largely included in the event. The premise of the Grazia event was to invite readers to a big shopping event and receive giveaways, store discounts, meet the owners/designers of their favourite boutique stores and have fun with a great atmosphere (almost like a ‘street shopping party’) including accessibility to food, drinks and music. In our store, for example, the company owner and designer, Nikki, was in store (to talk to customers and media) and all customers were allowed a 20% discount and a glass of champagne. There were also designers/owners of Camilla and Marc, Ksubi and Kirrily Johnston to name a few of the designers who were also there in their own stores for the night.


I had to talk to customers, journalists, stylists and other PR practitioners working on the event who came to chat within the store (from Grazia magazine and other publications and company’s such as Sweaty Betty Public Relations). It was great to see everyone in action and overall it was a very successful and smooth running night!




I also wanted to make a quick comment on the girls in the office. The owner, Nikki Hager, has also been there and I’ve been able to chat with her a lot as well. They have all been so helpful and really lovely to me which is great! I really admire their hard work. I’ve never really witnessed an office atmosphere before and it has been really eye-opening. I arrive at 9am and many of the girls are already stuck into work and when I leave at 5:30 they are still intensely typing on their computer and answering calls with many finishing as late as 7pm and going home to do further work (i.e. post things on the Peep Toe Facebook page etc)!

I think that’s all for today!
Until next time!

Siobhan Finley

Peep Toe- First Quarter Update

Hey everybody!
I hope all of your internships are running along smoothly!

I thought I would write a little about my time at the Peep Toe Shoes Head Office in Alexandria Sydney. I live in Sydney now and am doing most of my final units externally through Curtin and Open Universities which has made life extremely stressful! I think I will have to give a bit of background into my company before explaining everything I’ve been doing.

I have been interning at Peep Toe Shoes, which has an almost ‘cult’ following, especially over east. Some loyal customers have upwards of 15 pairs of these shoes. I thought this company would be great to intern for and an excellent company to write my final report on because the owner has basically expanded and succeeded purely through the extremely good use of Public Relations. It’s not just an ordinary Retail store selling shoes. It is an Australian brand that can charge an average of (around) 300 dollars for a pair of heels, yet, the company has never used advertising to sell its brand which I think is just amazing. The owner Nikki was only 26 when she opened her first store in the very trendy suburb of Paddington and now at 30 she has 4 stores, is stocked in David Jones and is soon to be opening yet another store in the CBD.

Peep Toe has really made a name for itself in the fashion retail market. The fact that Peep Toe have never advertised their product emphasises how successful and effective their PR has been. They have certainly built relationships with the media (stylists, events, media releases, sending items for magazines and newspapers) and they also have a big celebrity following.

Anyway, I will get back to my first five days at Peep Toe.
The Peep Toe Head Office has a large conference-like room called a ‘showroom’. This showroom is for important meetings with clients such as:

- Potential wholesale opportunities/clients (Peep Toe has a number of stockist around Australia)
- Current wholesale clients (mainly who come in to look at the new season stock)
- Models (perhaps for a photoshoot or to obtain free shoes)
- Stylists (to borrow product for magazine shoots either on models or done using flat lay photography)
- Celebrities
- Internal meetings between the employees in the office
- Journalists

The room is filled with beautiful cabinets and displays to exhibit various products (jewellery, bags, heels). The other side of the room is where the PR products are. It is basically an area where Peep Toe products (numerous shoes, bags, accessories) are kept purely for Public Relations purposes. I deal with this area a lot.

I complete around 3-5 PR calls every day. The magazine/newspaper or whatever medium it may be (mainly through stylists or stylists assistants) send the brief of what theme they are looking for with some inspirational photos and I have to choose the appropriate product, pack and send off (via courier that same day) for them to borrow. This will then be pictured in (for example) an upcoming magazine. The stylist/company using the product are then meant to send back the product in a reasonable amount of time , however, if it is not sent back, I give them a friendly call and follow up email to let them know the product that is overdue and to ask if they could send the items back as soon as possible. When these items are returned, they can be sent out again to yet another communications medium and the process repeats itself.

After doing a few of these PR calls, I had to print screen all the shots where Peep Toe Shoes (heels, boots and jewellery) appeared in the promo for Australia’s Next Top Model (ANTM) on Fox 8. Peep Toe is featured in the show and other things relating to the show (such as ANTM photoshoots in magazines). From what I gathered from my senior advisor and publicist, Rosie, Peep Toe have built a relationship with the show where by sending them free product to use they will be featured on the show and any other ANTM related media.

Peep Toe receives a lot of coverage throughout all forms of media (from magazines to radio to newspapers) and they like to keep all members of staff aware of this coverage should any customers, clients or celebrities request a certain heel/boot/accessory or bag that has appeared in the media or any upcoming product. This weekly email is sent to everyone within the company to show the products featured and in what magazine/newspaper/publication. This is an example of part of the newsletter I helped with:

Basically we scan every publication featuring our product and circle the product.

Well I can’t believe how long my first post is, I guess there is a lot to talk about in the first quarter of the internship!
I hope everyone else is having an amazing time!
Sincerely,

Siobhan Finley