Leisure meets luxury at the W Hoboken when 70+ summery-clad ladies and gents boarded an endless champagne-gasmic yacht and set sail around the New York Habour. [Read more...]
Butter London: West End Wonderland and The Full Monty [Swatches]
Spruce up your holidays, special occasion or Harry-Potter-Meets-Gryffindor-Princess day with a DIY golden, glitterlicious manicure from Butter London!
I like to call this manicure a few different things — Gryffindor Princess, Gryffindor Gold or Holiday Princess… but at the end of the day it’s this vibrant burst of yellow diamonds in the light gracing your fingers.
I love these polishes.
You can check out one of my tweets, here.
For this manicure (and pedicure, yes, I match) [Read more...]
Global Citizenship: What’s Next for Starwood’s Trendy W Hotels Brand?
With the news that Eva Ziegler is leaving her position as the brand and marketing leader for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide’s W (and Le Meridien) brand, the future of the trendy, lifestyle boutique-styled hotel is buzzing in the communications sphere as many are wondering, what’s next?
Having been with Starwood for six years, Ziegler had become known for helping Starwood launch the trend of boutique-styled hotels amongst big chains and also easily juxtaposing it with fashion, music and entertainment.
But as discussed at the 2011 Reuters Global Luxury and Fashion Summit, in a
“post-recession world, high-end hoteliers’ investments are shifting away from fancy freebies like lotion and soap and toward expert service that reflects a real understanding of the guest’s preferences.”
Laurence Geller, Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc (Four Seasons, Intercontinental etc.), pointed out that these days amenities don’t impress.
In fact, he stressed, [Read more...]
LUXURY MARKETS: Why They Thrive Like Samba in Brasil
Image via Google Images on search
With the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China and most recently South Africa) calling for a non-European to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the new head of the International Monetary Fund on the heels of his sexual-assault scandal, ending what they BRICs (and alike nations) have dubbed as an “obsolete” rule by The West, it’s no surprise that when it comes to the growth in the luxury market, companies have their eyes on a new, never before imagined, future.
Even at the 2011 G20 Summit, Zhou Xiaochuan, who runs China’s central bank, said that it doesn’t matter whether or not the new head of the IMF is French or European, but that the new leadership of the IMF should reflect the growing stature and needs of emerging economies, implying the new leader should be from one of the latter.
It’s a clear shift in the winds of commerce into a New World, where “what once was” is beginning to take a second step into a new, certainly more exotic, way of life.
No one said it better than, Starwood Hotels and Resorts CEO, Fritz Van Paasschen, at the Global Luxury and Fashion Summit 2011
“Thirty years ago, in the Forbes 400, so many people in that group were heirs and had come from money, I think the term ‘nouveau riche’ had a clear disparaging aspect to it. Whereas today, most money is new.”
This, on the heels on his company planning no less than eight new hotels by 2016 (publicly released as of May 2011,) for their contemporary and trendy, luxury brand of W Hotels, in Africa, China and other East Asian nations. In fact, the W St. Petersburg opened in Russia a little over one month ago, on April 20, 2011.
But while a lot of brands are still concentrating on Russia, India and China, with the World Cup in 2014, followed closely by the Summer Olympics in 2016, a lot more companies are focusing their attention on BRAZIL. [Read more...]
Happy 2nd Birthday Little Pink Blog [Giveaway]
Image via WeHeartIt
**WARNING: This post is IMAGE heavy!**
“And, when you want something,
all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
— Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist)
It’s been quite the second year and I’d be telling a fib to say I was expecting it — because I wasn’t.
Sometimes, when one door closes, or more than one door closes, we are lucky and blessed enough to have a few more that open. And it’s like Mr. Coelho said, if you want it bad enough, if you try hard enough — well, I believe him, something has got to give.
Little Pink Blog is a community, and some really wonderful people helped make it happen from friendships, to advice, to being professional pals, study buddies or a shoulder to cry on — make no mistake, I didn’t do this alone — and to them, I am grateful. The simple truth of the matter is that in 3-months we had 6,000 unique visitors, 2-years later I’m humbled and in awe of the 30,000 that appreciate all things LPB! Y’all rock my pink socks 
Regardless, from Miami to New York and back and then there again it’s been an adventure… and while, I would love to share all my photos of my first year in New York City and my blog’s second year on the planet, I had to be economical in this post…mostly… well I tried!
Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday to me!
Happy SECOND Birthday to my Little Pink Blog,
– Happy Birthday to me!
And the story starts here… [but if you're desperate for the giveaway feel free to scroll]
I got the chance to visit Fashion Week in Lincoln Center and guess who I met? [Read more...]
Hidden Impact of Display Advertising: Starwood Hotels
[**Disclosure: Sasha H. Muradali is employed by a WPP-owned company.**]
A recent 2010 study by Dynamic Logic (part of WPP) explored the impact of display advertising on brand perceptions and search intent for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. properties in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore and Australia.
The in-depth study found that display adverts have different impacts on target audiences during the different phases of the brand-consumer relationship.
More importantly, the study brought out information, that while applicable to the Asia-Pacific region, should be highly considered in western markets as well.
It showed that messaging tactics should be [Read more...]
