CANDY WASHINGTON

WRITER | PRODUCER | ACTOR | MANIFESTATION + SELF-LOVE MUSE

The Jean Scene from Net-a-Porter

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Jewelry trends from John Hardy designer Guy Bedarida from Fashion's Night Out

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What Brands Can Learn From Anna Wintour (also published in MediaPost: Marketing Daily)

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By Candy Washington

Think of the fashion industry. Do leggy models and the latest “it” bag come to mind? Consider the business of fashion, and you see that one of its leading icons uses branding principles to engage consumers, expand her portfolio, grow ROI, and most importantly, remain relevant and differentiated in an ever-changing, copycat industry.

This leading fashion icon is Anna Wintour, the British-born editor in chief of American Vogue who has sternly, yet gracefully, transformed the magazine into the industry standard for fashion publications.
What can your brand learn from Wintour? Here are 9 key insights.

Insight No. 1: Execute a clear vision
Wintour forged Vogue as a visionary-led brand. Her vision -- trendsetting, aspirational, sophisticated -- is consistently executed across all touchpoints.
Brand benefit: Wintour implements her vision while retaining the integrity of Vogue’s legacy. The Vogue brand stands on its own.

Insight No. 2: Innovate authentically
Wintour spearheaded the "high-low" trend. Her first cover featured a model wearing a $10,000 jewel-encrusted T-shirt paired with a $50 pair of jeans.
Brand benefit: Vogue reached the aspirational consumer without alienating the magazine’s affluent consumer base.

Insight No. 3: Have purpose
Wintour gives back to the community, and the magazine represents more than how to dress.
Brand benefit: Wintour tied Vogue's brand purpose to a public platform by raising over $50M for charity through her fundraiser and founding Fashion's Night Out in 2009 to stimulate New York City's economy.

Insight No. 4: Define the curve
Wintour uses her position to evangelize emerging designers, playing an integral role in launching the careers of Marc Jacobs and the late Alexander McQueen.
Brand benefit:"New" and "next" are now sought-after brand attributes in an industry that previously heralded convention and tradition.

Insight No. 5: Engage your employees
Wintour establishes working at Vogue as a lifestyle. Employees understand and execute the Vogue culture perfectly.
Brand benefit: Vogue employees are brand ambassadors. They live the company culture, understand the brand, and represent it well.

Insight No. 6: Be transparent
Documenting the production of the largest September issue in Vogue’s history, Wintour made a strategic move in a transparent world.
Brand benefit: Brands must look introspectively -- accountability leads to trust, trust to loyalty, loyalty to brand ambassadors and word-of-mouth marketers.

Insight No. 7: Mind your allies
Wintour's entourage includes some of the most influential people in the business, including André Leon Talley, Zac Posen, and other insiders.
Brand benefit: Strategic alliances and collaborations are essential to a brand’s survival and growth.

Insight No. 8: Create need by adding value
Calling a halt to the supermodel era, Wintour opted instead to feature celebrities on the cover of Vogue.
Brand benefit: Vogue remains relevant within the entertainment industry.

Insight No. 9: Stay relevant and differentiated
Daring to be different, creating an engaged employee culture, and exerting her vision are all aspects of the branding business that Wintour has seamlessly executed.
Brand benefit: Endurance. After more than two decades under Wintour, Vogue is still the industry standard.

Not just smoke and mirrors, these insights lead to tangible and monetary results. Advertising Age named American Vogue the “2011 Magazine of the Year,” beating out The Economist, Time, and Vanity Fair, and giving Vogue a quantifiable result for its branding savvy.

Vogue increased its January-to-October ad pages by more than 9% and propelled its newsstand component by nearly 13% during the first half of 2011. With 584 pages worth of advertising space, its September issue did not disappoint.

Perhaps Wintour took her cues from Coco Chanel, who said, “Fashion passes, style remains.” Varying marketing tactics may pass, but branding etiquette and strategy never go out of style. 

Watch designer Wes Gordon's Spring/Summer 2013 Fashion Week Presentation and Interview

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Diary of an actress #17: Interview with theatre and film maven, Samantha Payne Garland

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Candy Washington: Hi Sam, my readers are dying to know, what was it like studying Film Studies at Columbia University, and how did that prepare for your career as an actress?
Samantha Payne Garland: It was amazing. We had some phenomenal professors – James Schamus, who is CEO of Focus Features, and a writer/producer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Richard Peña, who is the program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. I learned how to analyze films and think critically about them. It gave me a powerful vocabulary for talking to filmmakers about their vision and what they’re trying to achieve. 

CW: You have a mix of theatre and film experience, how do the two mediums differ? And which do you prefer? 
SPG: I love them both equally. Theater is so alive, and performing in front of a live audience is electric. And theater allows for a rehearsal process, where you work with your fellow actors and develop your character and grow relationships together. Film is tricky because the camera is so close and picks up so much, you have to change how you approach the work. But film creates magic, in a completely different way. And it can be discovered over and over again, years after it’s released. Theater is ephemeral ~ like catching lighting in a bottle ~ which makes it precious. Film is a magic trick that lives on.

CW: What’s been your most challenging role and how did you prepare? 
SGP: I self-produced and starred in a production of Neil LaBute’s “The Shape of Things” in 2011. There’s a 6-page monologue at the end of the play. I remember thinking how much monologues scare me, and deciding that was a good reason to do it. I went on vacation a week before we cast the show, before rehearsals even started, and I spent an hour each day memorizing those lines. I would walk the square in this little Mexican town, talking to myself.


CW: What actors do you admire and what is your ideal role?
SGP: Anne Hathaway, because she moves with such ease across media (tv, film, and theater) and across genres (action, romance, period, indie). And she’s always trying something new and challenging. Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep for similar reasons. My ideal role is the passionate, stubborn Jane Austen in “Becoming Jane.”  



CW: What’s the craziest thing that has happened on-set?
SGP: We had a bedroom scene in “The Shape of Things”, but we didn’t have room for a real bed. We had a contraption of sorts; it was 3 pieces of wood precariously propped together. I remember my co-star looking at me with absolute terror, waiting for the whole thing to collapse underneath us, while we pretended to be in love, all sweet and sexy. Thank goddess, the thing held out through the last performance.
 
CW: “Companion” was super cute and funny, do you want to tell us a little about the project and how you got involved?
SGP: The School of Visual Arts in NYC hires actors to work in their students’ classes. I signed up with their casting office, and was featured in a few of their shoots. One of the students there had written this great little script, and offered me the lead. It was a great shoot ~ except for the jogging scene. We ended up shooting in something of a wind tunnel, and we had to keep stopping & resetting because the boom mic picked up nothing but the whooshing sound of the freezing wind whipping by us.

CW: What are some of the most useful resources that you use to further your acting career?


SGP: My flipcam. I think learning to shoot at home is essential to all actors, whether it’s to post online or to self-submit for roles. SendOutCards.com helps me target casting directors and producers I want to work with by sending them colorful updates on my career. Mailchimp.com helps me stay connected with my fans and colleagues.

CW: If you could play any role that’s currently on TV, what would it be and why?
SGP: Maggie from Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO show “The Newsroom.” She’s idealistic and hard-working and bad at relationships but so earnest! Sorkin writes great clumsy, flawed, intelligent women. And his women are fighting for a better world, not just mooning over boys, which I think makes for great role models.

CW: I saw the Actor Intro video on your site, do you want to explain to us what that entails?
SGP: Brad Holbrook, who runs Actor Intro, was a journalist for a number of years. He interviewed me for 20 minutes, and then cut together a highlight reel. He did a fantastic job. You get a real sense of who I am and where I’m coming from, and it’s a nice compliment to the acting reels that show my skill but leave you wondering what I’m like in person.

CW: How should we connect and keep up with you?
SGP: I love using Twitter to stay in touch (@SamPayneGarland). I also send periodic brief little updates by email, and you can sign up for those on my website, at www.SamanthaPayne.net .


Contact:
Twitter: @SamPayneGarland
Email: SamPayne5@hotmail.com
Website: www.SamanthaPayne.net
FB: www.facebook.com/SamanthaPayneGarland
Imdb: www.imdb.me/SamanthaPayneGarland








 
Click here for the last entry: Diary of an actress #16: Interview with the girl version of John Candy: the fabulous Jen Ponton