PR Week

We're in this week's PR Week as one of the case studies for 'using research as part of a PR campaign'. We conducted some research for last year's Alliance & Leciester campaign which helped to launch each celebrity mentor.

Check out the article below...

New Exciting Year

Right now we are touring the country for our new client Brylcreem, check us out at key shopping centres around the country from this Saturday.

We're international with Mates in the UK, Poland and Hungry.

...and we are wrapping up our fab work with A&L, check out our latest mcfly video on YouTube:)

Denise Van Outen announced as A&L's second celebrity mentor!

We recently announced Denise Van Outen as Alliance & Leicester's second celebrity mentor for A&L's 'Inspired Choice' campaign.

We are really excited to have Denise working with us and she joins Danny Cipriani's quest to inspire young adults.

The master class will be taking place on 25th September so check out the Premier 21 website to find out more info http://www.prem21.co.uk/

We will also be announcing our very exciting third and final celebrity mentor later in the year.

Danny Cipriani to host A&L Sport Master Class

The last few months have seen The Lounge working extremely hard with Alliance & Leicester in securing some top talent for this years 'Inspired Choice' campaign.

England and Wasps rugby player, Danny Cipriani has been named as the first celebrity mentor for 2009 and he will be holding a sports master class for 21 lucky account holders in July. It's all very exciting and over the past couple of weeks we have been extremely busy filming his podcast, launching the campaign and talking to lots of media....

We'll be announcing the next celebrity mentor very soon so watch this space.

For more information check out http://www.prem21.co.uk/

Inspired Choices and Great Opporunities

What an amazing day! Once again twenty-one young people prepared themselves for a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet one of their heroes. This time, the impressively talented and completely lovely Ryan Giggs.

They winners of the Alliance & Leicester's Premier 21 Current Account Master Class made their ways to Manchester Piccadilly this weekend where they were picked up and taken to Carrington Training Ground - the official training ground for Manchester United. This was the first time that anyone could remember anything like this ever taking place at the sacred pitches, where so much magic happens on a daily basis.

After settling in they met Ryan, who told them about his life and how he got to where he is today. They got to ask their questions and get them answered by the legend himself - all this before Giggsy put them through their paces.

Now I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest football fan, but even I got excited about walking around the ground and realised how honoured I was to be able to meet these great people and see everything first hand.

After a warm-up and a spot of lunch they were off for some proper training and, of course, a kick about.

There was a great mix of people; some athletes, some pro youth footballers, some sports lovers and some who were just excited to be there - all of them had a great time and got some great advice.

They all walked away feeling that they'd been given a great opportunity - in fact one of them was later approached by Manchester United and may even be up for an assessment - who know's, maybe The Lounge Group could have introduced the next Ryan Giggs to Man U.

Good Luck to him - hopefully he'll remember us when he's rich and famous - or at least remember the tips he got on how to shoot to success.

Cheers,

Paul

When it Works

As a PR or Marketer, we always talk about what great results we get and how much awareness we've raised with our campaigns. We use figures and graphs, tables and stats to indicate our success. Sales have risen so much and research shows that attitudes have changed this much - therefore the campaign has been successful. This of course gives you a sense of pride and achievement.

However I recently experienced something that really made me smile. After a busy radio day with Ryan Giggs, who is working with us on the Alliance & Leicester Premier 21 campaign, I was walking along the road when I bumped into and old friend in a pub. We began chatting and when I explained what I'd been doing in Manchester, the doorman's ears pricked up. "You met Ryan Giggs?" he asked me, almost threateningly.

A little perplexed at the interruption, I turned and answered, "Yeah I'm doing a campaign with him at the minute."

"Oh right," he said nodding,"It's not that Premier 21 training thing he's doing with that bunch of kids?"

Well my jaw hit the floor! Here was someone who we had actually reached, whose awareness had been raised - the campaign was working! I could have kissed him flat on the mouth - but opted to shake his hand instead.

"Thanks mate," I said, "you've made my month!"

All in a day's work.

If you'd like to meet Giggsy too, go to www.prem21.co.uk,

Cheers,

Paulie

I

Gokaliscious

Gokaliscious

It is always a pleasuere to work with Gok Wan - celebrity stylist. For some reason we call him Gokaliscious at the office?!

He is cute, clever, friendly and quite entertaining which is a combination most celebrities don't have (they are usually just pretty and dumb!).

We had a media day with him yesterday and he was lovely to work with, once again. I love his new hairdo and the tan he got from his time out in the sun when presenting the T4 on the Beach program on Sunday. There are still chances for young pups (16-21year olds) to get a space on his celebrity fashion masterclass - click here for more info on how to get invovled. As part of the day, he will be giving his group a styling challenge along Oxford Street which will be exciting! www.prem21.co.uk

Quote from Gokaliscious

“There are lots of options for young people to build a successful career in their industry of choice.” said Wan, “However, if you’re young and starting to make money, it’s a good idea to start thinking about saving for the future. Nobody’s young forever. That’s why I think the work Alliance & Leicester Bank is doing with today’s youth is important to help them start their careers." Gok Wan.

xLS

Gok a liscious

Happy Monday from The Lounge.

The Lounge recently filmed a podcast with Gok for the Prem 21 Campaign, in which he opens up about his life, career, top tips and speaks about his experiences growing up, which he has never really spoken about before. Gok was very down to earth and a really nice guy – he looked every bit the fashionista we know and love! For anyone interested in breaking into the fashion industry or just love Gok you will enjoy the podcast….

The campaign is pretty cool. A&L are offering 21 young people the chance to spend a whole day with Gok at one of London’s most famous fashion haunts, then he will take them for a luxurious lunch and give them a styling challenge on the streets of London! For those that don't get a chance to meet Gok, there are some amazing prizes on offer such as a shopping spree, photo shoot & signed Gok goodies. If you are interested you can find all of the information on www.prem21.com

I will keep the updates coming…

B xx

The Lounge launches today

GOK WAN TO HOST PREMIER 21 FASHION MASTER CLASS PROGRAMME FOR STYLIST WANNA-BE’S

Gok Wan is the first celebrity expert to be named to Alliance & Leicester Bank’s Premier 21 Master Class Programme which launches today. The programme has been created to support 16-21 year olds who have left full time education to kick start their careers.

Research conducted by the Bank showed that almost half (52 per cent) of those questioned about the most desirable career for people in their age bracket, chose jobs for which no degree was necessary. In addition, one of the industries considered a great career path was fashion, a choice Gok, stylist and presenter of How to look good naked, definitely agrees with.

“It’s important that people realise that not having a degree isn’t the end of the world,” said Wan, “There are lots of options for young people to build a successful career in their industry of choice. However, if you’re young and starting to make money, it’s a good idea to start thinking about saving for the future. Nobody’s young forever,” says Gok.

Gok will host a Premier 21 Fashion Careers Master Class Programme in September for young people looking to break into fashion.

Andy Bayes, Head of Current Accounts at Alliance & Leicester said: “Many 16-21 year olds now make the choice to go straight to work rather than university and as a result are very career driven. We think it is important to recognise those who are just starting out in their working life and offer them support, especially in the first stages of their professional lives when they are likely to be making important financial decisions.”

“With this in mind, the Premier 21 Account has been launched to allow this group to maximise the potential of their hard earned cash. The account offers a 10% interest rate, the highest credit interest rate on the high street, to help make their money go further.”

For more information on the Master Class Programme, how to win a spot to meet Gok Wan and the market leading Premier 21 Account visit www.prem21.co.uk..