Fans of analogue photography should check out Lomography’s Diana + Sahara, the latest addition to the range which takes it’s inspiration from the cult 1960’s Diana model.

Stylishly decorated with pyramids, palm trees and camels printed onto white leather it uses 120 film and is perfect for capturing your summer memories and experimenting with multiple exposures

£99

http://www.lomography.com/

Now, we get sent lots of new sites and products to review and it takes something special to catch our eye here at Brand Detective Towers but Echo Designs simple and elegant designs really are quite beautiful.

Modestly priced for the work that is lovingly put into their art, the team at Echo Designs work with hearts, buttons and beautiful vintage keys to create prints, cards and keepsakes that would be a wonderful gift for a friend or partner (or yourself )

They would make a gorgeous gift for a christening, wedding, birthday or anniversary – or ‘just because’

Our personal favourite (and it was a very tough choice ) is the Vintage Key-Limited Edition mounted in a black frame shown below to add a touch of vintage glamour to any room in the house. Visit http://www.echodesigns.co.uk for more information or to commission your own unique piece.

Visit the site for details : http://upperstreet.com/blog/2012/03/win-your-dream-wedding-shoes/

http://upperstreet.com/features/wedding-shoe-design-competition/

Wedding Design
Competition

You decide on every design aspect from the style, heel height, colour of the insole, whether to add a strap, embellishment – the list is endless and ensures you end up with a truly unique shoe. There’s an incredible choice of fabrics, colours, animal prints that will have you feeling like a true pro. Here are some we designed whilst playing, ahem – we mean researching:) the options available…

Stage one – designing the shoe couldn’t have been simpler (apart from choosing from the numerous beautiful styles we’d designed – that was very hard!) Once we’d decide and headed to the checkout we were told that we can expect our piece of art (let’s be honest that’s what these are! ) in six weeks which is perfect as they’re to go with a fab dress for a very posh wedding so should be here in plenty of time.

Prices for the shoes start from £195 for a ballet flat and £230 for a Court shoe (see Price table below) –  not cheap we know, but for a special occasion these really are a great option – you’re guaranteed no-one else will have a pair and they’ll give you a satisfied swagger as you shimmy along in a pair of shoes YOU’VE designed – just be ready for the bucket loads of compliments

These are an amazing idea for a wedding shoe and actually very reasonable when you compare to the bog standard bridal shoes on offer – and as if by magic Upper Street are actually running a competition to win your very own hand designed wedding shoe here: http://upperstreet.com/blog/2012/03/win-your-dream-wedding-shoes/

We’ll be posting images of our exquisite shoes once they arrive with us…can’t wait eek!!!

Let us know what you think? Have you used the service yourself? send us photos of your designs if so …

Guide Prices for Upper Street’s shoe design service

Established brands and businesses with big budgets to throw at Social Media Campaigns might have some luck but even then it’s quite a minefield and there are some brands who stand head and shoulders above the rest by really understanding their consumers and target audience first, and then grasping how social media best works to engage them.

It’s not as simple as gathering as many ‘likes’ or followers and hoping they’ll stick with you and feel emotionally connected to your ‘brand’ – it’s a full-time job to keep them feeling part of your ‘gang’

The  iProspect Engagement Index shows the level to which people interact with brands on Facebook. It not only combines the number of “likes” a brand has but looks at how many people are ‘talking about this’ which was recently introduced to the site to give a clearer picture of who might just be mastering this relatively new and complicated way of brand communication.

PG Tips scored the highest engagement level out of 250 UK brands measured in February. According to iProspect, nearly two out of 10 of its fans actively responded to the brand’s page in a seven-day period, by liking, commenting, posting, responding to polls or sending RSVPs. Many page posts were themed around the TV Creative featuring Johnny Vegas and brand character Monkey.

The posts regularly drew hundreds of likes and comments – the February peak being 1,569 on Valentine’s Day. The concept for that post was a simple ‘like this post for a Valentine’s surprise’, which was an e-card from Monkey

PG Tips was followed by Bang & Olufsen with an engagement level of 12.6%, Jaguar at 12% and Lemsip at 11.4%.

Other brands to make it into the top 10 include Apple, Costa, Google, Adidas, Madame Tussauds and Rolex.

According to iProspect, if these brands’ engagement levels were measured by fans alone they would have scored lower levels, ranging from 1%-5%.

Social media measurement is still very much in the very early stages, with “likes” and “followers” being the most-used metrics – understandably with so many businesses investing heavily in this area with strategic Social Media Campaigns and full time ‘experts’  it’s increasing more important to understand the true value of a ‘like’ to brands – and how to keep it once you’ve got it

Angus Wood, group director for paid social media at iProspect, said brands are coming to recognise that “engagement is as important as fan acquisition.”

He said: “It’s easy to go out and buy ‘fans’ with short-term competitions and other fan-bait, but if those users never return, and never interact with the brand’s content, it’s not an efficient investment.”

Are you suing Social Media effectively? Which brands do you think effectively use Social Media? Get in touch with your thoughts….

With Mothers Day just around the corner (March 18^th if you need a reminder!) here are some ideas from

The Brand Detective to suit all mums and budgets:

Cath Kidston Roberts DAB digital radio

£199.95 http://www.johnlewis.com

For the music loving mum in your life, what about this lovely Roberts DAB digital radio with limited edition Cath Kidson’s Provence Rose print.

Admittedly rather expensive, it’s something she’ll cherish forever and as it uses batteries it can be used outdoors whilst gardening or picnicking as well as in the kitchen for singing along whilst cooking.

Eye Zone Massager

£14.95 – http://www.prezzybox.com

The foam pads inside the Eyezone Massager strategically work on 4 acupressure areas - namely, the eyes, temples, nose and cheekbones to melt away the tension that causes headaches and sinus pain.

An Experience Day

How about treating your mum to an experience she’ll never forget? We love Virgin’s selection http://www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk

Prices start from £25 and include lots of options you can share together such as afternoon tea for two, a champagne cinema evening together, a picnic cruise or for adrenalin mummies a day driving a super car (from £59) or a helicopter ride(from £49)

 The Gardener’s Organiser

£14.95 http://www.smartgiftsolutions.co.uk/

This Garden Organiser is spiral bound for ease of use and includes monthly reminders, what looks good each month, hints and tips, pages for notes and handy seed pockets

Lacura Facial Care Wrinkle Stop

Rrp £4.99 – Available from Aldi

This cheap and cheerful cream has won numerous beauty awards for effectively reducing wrinkles and helping to smooth the skin.

Hailed by some as ‘botox in a tube’ it contains ingredients you’d usually find in creams up to ten times the price.

Other favourites from this range include the Multi intensive serum for £3.49

The laughter Blissful Gift Set http://www.uk.spacenk.com

Was £25 now £12.50

Everybody appreciates laughter in their lives, this gift set will lift mum’s spirits whilst making her feel totally pampered and it’s half price – bonus!

The set includes a Shower Gel, Body Lotion , Soap  and 2 Bath Tablets.

So far Vogue has dipped its gloriously fashionable toe into the world of tablet journalism having published three issues on the iPad since November 2010 and last released issues in December and June 2011.

Last week the ABC figures revealed its average paid-for issue digital edition circulation was 818 copies for the July to December 2011 period.

The move was disclosed this morning by deputy managing director Albert Read to an audience of around 200 advertisers and agency figures gathered for a briefing on the publisher’s digital development which includes a focus on mobile optimisation, at upscale magazine publisher Condé Nast.

‘I’ve entered a free competition @Brand_Detective ,RT this & follow them to win 1 of 3 bebePODS up for grabs’

Then email nikki@thebranddetective.com with your twitter handle so our team can verify, winners will be notified by March 31st to arrange delivery

GOOD LUCK

Winners must be resident in the UK for free postage

The colours available may differ from those pictured

Product info:

The Prince Lionheart Bebepod is approved by Paediatricians and is an essential tool for babies learning to sit. Your baby’s own body weight helps ensure a comfortable and safe seating postion. The soft squidy feel of the Bebepod is durable, non toxic and easy to keep clean. The pommel helps keep baby snuggly in place, and is also removable so that a playtray can be added (available separately) Suitable from 3 to 12 months of age. Available in Mint, Lemon or Aqua.

bébéPOD® – bébéPOD® plus – babyPOD® – babyPOD® plus
Are Registered Trademarks of Prince Lionheart, Inc.

Research firm iSuppli attributes the fall to the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, which it says sold 3.9 million devices in the six weeks leading up to Christmas following its November launch.

The popularity of the $200 Android tablet saw Amazon gain an impressive 14 per cent of the entire tablet market at this very early stage of its lifespan.

The Kindle Fire easily eclipsed the next placed Samsung Galaxy Tab (8 per cent) and the Barnes and Noble Nook (7 per cent).

Not necessarily bad news for Apple

Despite the rise of the Kindle Fire, it appears that it’s a case of more people adopting lower-priced tablets rather than less people buying iPads.

Apple posted record sales figures of 15.4m during Q4 of 2011, so while the Kindle Fire is cutting into its overall share of the market, those ever-rising sales figures are all that will concern Tim Cook for the time being.

Should Amazon launch a larger 10-inch tablet, with a more premium price-point and feature set, then we may get a legitimate competition between Amazon and Apple.

Until that point, both companies seem to be doing just fine within their own markets.

Via: TechCrunch