E-News Briefs

PR PLAYGROUND
MELBOURNE: PRVille Communications has launched an online venture to aid communication between fashion media and fashion brands. Called iPublicist (www.ipublicist.com.au), the initiative is an online portal in which both brands and media can register, meet and interact. Services include a virtual showroom, comprising high-resolution product images for media to download; a virtual newsroom, where brands can upload their press releases; and ‘iPublicist Postie’ which alerts brands when media access their files. Brands that have signed up for the venture include Midas, Top End, Camilla Welton and Borne Naked. iPublicist is a competitor to fashion web portal Door 121 (www.door121.com) which launched earlier this year.

WHAT THEY DID NEXT
SYDNEY: Westfield’s investment in an online television series looks set to increase traffic of fashion-conscious consumers to its website. The shopping centre giant is screening the new tongue-in-cheek documentary created by British makeover identities Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine, called ‘What they did next’. A new six-minute episode will air on Mondays through Thursdays until July 15 on Westfield’s website (www.westfield.com.au/trinnyandsusannah). It is the fourth collaboration between Westfield and Trinny and Susannah, with the shopping centre previously hosting three national tours for the pair. Westfield.com.au presently receives over 700,000 visits per month, according to Westfield.

ACRS BREAKFAST BRIEFING
NATIONAL: The Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS) is delving deeper into the world of multichannel retailing. The industry association will look at mobile phone marketing, social media networks and the ‘online channel’ from a cross-generational perspective as part of its 2010 Retail Thought Leadership project. The project will kick off with a breakfast briefing in Melbourne on July 13 and Sydney on July 14, with speakers including Myer CEO Bernie Brookes, Red Communication’s Peter James Ryan, Salmat national sales manager Sean McDonnell and ACRS research fellow Dr Sean Sands. Those interested in attending can register online via the ACRS website (www.buseco.monash.edu.au/centres/acrs). In 2009, ‘Retail 2020’ was the first of the ACRS’ annual Retail Thought Leadership projects.