When you first hear the word stylist you may think of someone who works with hair; people who work magic with colors, chemicals, flat irons, scissors and holding spray. The word stylist is defined as a person who designs, creates, or advises, on current styles.
Exceptional stylists know all the tricks of the trade. Not only do they stay on top of current trends but they stay ahead of them and create a few new trends themselves. Stylists of the stars know how to create the WOW factor for their clients. They make beauty look effortless even though hair and makeup alone can take hours to complete. Choosing the perfect ensemble – everything from the clothes to the accessories to the eye candy on their arm – can take months to compile. Especially if the clothes are being tailored made. It is the stylist’s job to make certain that their clients look their absolute best for their red carpet events.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am a marketing stylist.
As a marketing professional, I am charged with the task of creating the WOW factor and if you’re in this business, so are you. We have to know the tricks-of-the-trade, remain on top of the ever-changing trends especially where social media is concerned and be willing disciples of change. We are charged with preparing clients for their red carpet events; Web launches, advertising campaigns and social media introductions.
We take content (or create it), position it, add graphics and add color and now we have a marketing piece that stands a shot of actually being read by the potential customer because we’ve added the WOW factor. This too takes time. Even more time than it takes for America's Got Talent contestant Prince Poppycock to apply his makeup.
As a marketing stylist, engaging in post-production Photoshop shenanigans is unthinkable. Creating illusions that distort the truth is unacceptable. Elle magazine is in the news for allegedly retouching actress Gabourey Sidibe's skin to appear lighter. Take a look and you judge.
As a marketing stylist, I take what is and make it look its absolute best – red carpet ready.
My name is Lisa and I am a marketing stylist.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Does it still matter? Mac or PC?
Time went by and software manufacturers saw an untapped market and money making potential and started developing their programs for the PC. This changed my career forever. The last time I was employed by a company using a Mac was in the 90s. Yes the 90s. From what I can tell, a lot of companies didn't like the Mac price tag and when they came out with QuarkXpress for the PC, corporate and nonprofit purchasing managers rejoiced.
Dan was one of my favorite people to work for. We worked for a nonprofit organization and every-now-and-then I would walk in his office and tell him I need a Mac! His eyes would roll to the back of his head and I would break out in laughter. We both knew that there was no way in the world I was getting a Mac; not unless I got one from McDonald's around the corner. PCs were cheaper and software for Macs were now available to PCs. Case closed. The bottom line meant I worked on a whole lot of PCs in my career and very few Macs.
In the beginning, even though they made design software for PCs it wasn't the same. PCs were clumsy, the processing was laborious and simply put, it wasn't a Mac.
A customer came to my counter recently with a Mac and my eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. I helped him convert a few files and then uploaded them. It was wonderful. Now the operating system is a wee bit different from the OS7 I remember but it was still strangely familiar.
So what's the prevailing argument now?
If you're in the business of creating, does it still matter on what hardware you produce that work?
What selling point, what persuasive argument is there to convince a company - especially in this economy - to buy a Mac in 2010?
I'd love to hear from you!
Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu
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