Only 27 .eu websites have been selected, one for each EU member state “to visually represent the large body of .eu’s on the internet.” I Love Cosmetics website’s home page will now feature alongside key European brands from fellow member states.

Established in 2008, I Love Cosmetics is a relatively young brand however it has witnessed rapid growth, and now is a leading distributor of toiletries to over 28 countries.

James Brown, I Love Cosmetics MD comments: “We have developed a brand packed with personality and a ‘joie de vivre’, and our website is a reflection of our customer focussed outlook. Since launching the website, we have had tremendous feedback and this latest high acclaim is the icing on the cake!”

In its first year of trading the company turned over £425,000, and in just four years this figure has risen to £4.9 million. Key worldwide distributors for the I Love Cosmetics brand now include: Walmart,  Superdrug, The Co-operative, Douglas, Duane Reade and Shoppers Drug Mart. In 2011 I Love Cosmetics sold over 1.2 million bubble baths in the UK alone.

The I Love Cosmetics core range incorporates seven fragrance lines and offers a selection of bath and shower products, body butters, lip balms, body lotions and scented candles in each of the fragrances with new seasonal scents released on a regular basis.

The majority of the I Love Cosmetics products are manufactured in the UK and then distributed from the company’s warehousing facility in Manchester.

Visit: www.ilovecosmetics.eu to find out more about the brand and seasonal new range launches.

The icelolly.com Creative Team Celebrate at the Travel Marketing Awards

Holiday price comparison site icelolly.com has officially netted more monthly visitors than Teletext Holidays since December 2011 – according to Google figures.

Suniel Makh, icelolly.com’s Marketing and Creative Director explains: “For the last few months we have been able to report a 30% increase in ‘like for like’ webtraffic on last year’s figures. We have spent the last few years developing and investing heavily in a brand which now boasts 20 million holidays for ourcustomers to compare, reflecting a vast range of options from fun-filled family sun and ski holidays to high end luxury breaks and cruises. We are in a very strong position indeed.”

This news follows hot on the heels of icelolly.com celebrating a major award win atthe Travel Marketing Awards last week.

The Bradford-based team was presented with the award for ‘Best Budget TV Advertisement’ at the glittering ceremony, held at the Intercontinental London Park Lane Hotel.

Designed to appeal directly to a target audience of woman aged 25-40, the tongue-in-cheek advert features a female heroine relaxing by a pool while surreptitiously ‘checking out’ four male stereotypes, with Hot Chocolate’s You Sexy Thing playing in the background and a voice over from Gavin and Stacey’s Joanna Page.

The advert’s first prime-time airing saw more people visit the icelolly.com’s website in one hour than in an average day, and their You Tube page received more than 8,000 hits in the weeks following the launch.

Suniel comments; “We were thrilled to receive such significant national recognition,and as an award winner featured alongside some of the largest travel brands in the UK.”

But wait.  Look at those social media.  Twitter?  A significant percentage of tweets contain URLs.  URL-shortening services are thriving.  And what do those URLs point at?  Content.  One of Twitter’s prime uses is to draw peoples’ attention to content.  That’s why Twitter is such a great marketing tool – it’s a way to get people’s attention.

Google talks about proactive search, about alerting people to interesting content before they’ve even thought to look for it.

Twitter is there already. Likewise for the other flagships of social media.  Flickr – lots of photos.  Facebook – more photos, plus discussion, apps and suchlike.  Facebook has packaged it all nicely.  It’s added the social graph.  But there’s an awful lot of content there.  Delicious?  A content tagging service. YouTube?  More content.  The list goes on.

So what is going on here?

We’ve moved from an age of content scarcity to one of content abundance.  25 years ago, content was rare.  When we stumbled across something useful, we grabbed it and filed it away.  In big boxes called “filing cabinets”. People called “filing clerks” or “archivists” had fulltime jobs to tend these boxes, practising arcane arts like defining file plans and maintaining index cards.

All in all, we invested heavily in protecting and preserving that rare (but expanding) content.

As content went digital, we realised we could index it digitally too.  Search engines evolved to build and access the indexes.  They became the way to find those rare items of relevant content within the ever-growing corpus.

Now content is everywhere.  The problem isn’t finding content.  It’s filtering out the good content from the stuff that looks plausible enough at the level of keywords and syntax, but which is evidently crap to anyone with any interest in
the domain.  Your valuable stories, product brochures, etc, are lost in a sea of lookalike verbiage.  Search engines can’t help people find it.

Here’s an analogy from biology.  The human body evolved to deal with scarcity of food.  It learnt to store every spare calorie as fat, ready for the famine that was always just around the corner.  Nowadays food is plentiful.  That stored fat has become an obesity problem.  Social media is emerging as a tool to help deal with information obesity.  A fitness regime for our content.

How so?  It’s brought people into the heart of things.  Rather than relying on specialists to assess, classify and tag that rare and valuable content, we’ve “democratised” the content lifecycle.  That is, people on your social graph look out for new content, assess its quality, classify it, etc.  (All the things that archivists used to do.)  And because there are now so many people on the case, there’s some hope they can keep up with the every-growing weight of content that is being produced.  Your social network is filtering out the unfit content, alerting you to the valuable stuff.

Search simply can’t keep up with the volume of content.  It can index a lot of it, at least at the level of keywords and phrases.  It can use proxy measures, such as pagerank, to help filter it a little.  But it can’t understand the content.  And without understanding, there’s no way to truly assess relevance.  This was tolerable when content was rare – you could accept that a percentage of the small number of hits from a well-formed search would turn out to be irrelevant.  When content is abundant (and filled with spam designed by search engine optimisation specialists to defeat the search algorithms), even a small percentage of false hits becomes
overwhelming.

Someday semantic search may solve this problem. But that’s all a long way off.  Why wait, when your social network can do the filtering already?

Search has its place when we’re clear about what we’re looking for.  But it can’t alert us to new content that we don’t even know we’re looking for.  For that, we need people who understand the content and can point us at the good stuff.  And if our social network can’t cover quite the same proportion of the web as Google?  That doesn’t matter: what it does cover contains more than enough content to overwhelm us.  The problem isn’t finding enough content; it’s filtering the huge volume that’s out there.

Social media is changing the way we create, classify, tag and view content.  Adding the social graph has enriched a lot of content that would otherwise be lost.  But content is still right at the centre of things.

Nonetheless, there is some truth to the commentary.  Social media has democratised things.  Content is no longer King.  Content is now President.

www.grahamoakes.co.uk

Fran Halsall receives her new BMW Z4 from Dealer Principal at Blue Bell Crewe, Barry Holt

BMW and MINI dealership, Blue Bell Crewe has presented Olympic qualifier Francesca Halsall with a much coveted BMW Z4.

This is a timely celebration for Cheshire born Fran following her recent qualification for the Women’s 50m Olympic Freestyle event, after completing the 100m Freestyle in a highlyimpressive 53.57 seconds at the British Swimming Championships in March.

Fran will compete in the 50m and 100m Freestyleand 100m Butterfly events at the London 2012 Olympic Games. She will also be part of the freestyle and medley relay team.

Barry Holt, Dealer Principal, comments: “The cutting edge BMW Z4 forms part of Francesca’s sponsorship deal to assist her in meeting transportation needs for training, competitions and events. We are delighted for Francesca, she has trained extremely hard and is now in great shape to go for Gold at the Olympics!”

This is the third car that the dealership has presented Fran with, following her taking delivery of a new MINI Cooper S Convertible on her 21st birthday last year.

The announcement follows the appointment in 2009 of BMW Group as the Official Automotive Partner of the 2012 Games. As well as supplying over 4,000 fuel-efficient vehicles throughoutthe Games, BMW is also actively supporting British athletes, such as Ellie Simmonds and Louis Smith, via the BMW London 2012 Performance Team. Meanwhile,in line with the Performance Team initiative, BMW dealers, such as Blue Bell Crewe are working with local athletes, supporting their endeavours to qualify for Team GB or Paralympics GB.

The New ‘Royal’ range from MadeByZen™

Stylish and chic, the new ‘Royal’ range of scented oils from leading home fragrance brand MadeByZen™ celebrates indulgence and extravagance, with a selection of modern and of-the-moment fragrances which can help to create a truly special ambience in your home. From the sensual ‘Damascus’ fragrance to the deep and intense ‘Petra’ aroma, the new ‘Royal’ range of oils incorporates a collection of scents blending premium absolutes and ingredients. The smooth exotic aromas that immediately entice the senses are elegantly packaged in eye-catching black bottles topped with matt gold lids.

DAMASCUS

Warm, sensual and aromatic, this fragrance creates an air of exoticism and mystery. Vanilla and exotic blooms are blended with anise and a hint of amber, vetiver, musk and sandalwood to create a unique scent that is soothing
and luxurious.

PETRA

Warm and deeply intense amber with a hint of frankincense is softened by vanilla, cedar and labdanum. This opulent scent is rich, dark and mysterious.

FIRENZE

Capturing the essence of elegance and evoking the image of lingering sunshine and sophistication of a Florentine summer, ‘Firenze’ is a sunny, warm and refreshing scent with unisex appeal. Vetiver, citrus and floral blooms of tuberose and jasmine are warmed with sandal and amber.  Hints of leather, artemisia, oakmoss and patchouli lighten the fragrarance.

VERSAILLES

A fresh and feminine fragrance that is suited to a free spirit with a sense of chic, ‘Versailles’ captures the creativity and individuality of contemporary living. The rich combination of powdery peony, freesia, tuberose and hyacinth are lifted by lychee, orris and benzoin.  Rose, amber, sandal and musk bring out pure sensuality and elegance making it the perfect fragrance for any modern home.

Also newly released to celebrate the dawn of spring are two recent additions to MadeByZen™’s best-selling Signature range.

FRESH LINEN

A light and uplifting fragrance suggesting fresh, clean linens, drying in the sun. A refreshing blend of tuberose, lily, orange blossom, oak and fruit, finished with warm amber.

BLACK

An attractive fragrance which is masculine, gentle and irresistible, ‘Black’ incorporates the freshness of mint, lavender and neroli, mixed with subtle spices and cedar, softened by the warmth of vanilla and
sandalwood.

Editor’s Notes:

1. MadeByZen™ is one of the leading home fragrance brands in the UK; best known for their luxury ultrasonic aroma diffusers and unique fragrance oil blends.

2. MadeByZen™ is wholly owned by Europium World (UK) Ltd, established in 2001. Through its portfolio of companies, Europium World has been bringing cutting-edge products to the UK marketplace for ten years.

3.MadeByZen™ is Europium World (UK) Ltd’s home fragrance brand which boasts seven unique styles of aroma diffuser, four reed diffusers and many fragrance oils.

4. The MadeByZen™ ranges of reed diffusers, aroma diffusers and fragrance oils are available across the UK. To locate your nearest stockist

visit: www.madebyzen.com.

The newly refitted Manchester Marble showroom

North West Marble & Granite, parent company of Manchester Marble has commissioned Zeus PR to consolidate its profile amongst consumer and trade audiences.

The move follows a relaunch of Manchester Marble, with recent heavy investment in its factory, new retail showroom (based on the Roundthorn Industrial Estate in South Manchester),  and a new website (www.manchestermarble.co.uk).

Lydia Causer, Marketing Directer of North West Granite & Marble explains: “We design, manufacture and install granite, quartz, marble and corian across a wide customer base – on
the consumer side, working with both high end private residences as well as highly affordable schemes for home owners on a tight budget, and our trade clients range from spas and leisure facilities to restaurants and bars. We were keen to seek out a PR agency which had strong experience across all these sectors and are looking forward to developing the campaign with Zeus PR.”

Anthea Fosti, MD of Zeus PR comments: “Despite its market presence, Manchester Marble can be regarded as somewhat of a ‘best kept secret’. However they are now in a great position to develop their profile further. The firm has recently seen major investment, and holds a significant usp in its bespoke service offering supplying granite in almost any size or shape using the latest CNC machinery to cut, polish, bond and even add personalised text. They work with top international suppliers to source natural stone of the highest quality from around the world, and have now extended their offering to include design and installations of the very latest composite materials.”

The Lord Binning Pub & Kitchen Kelsall: Pancake racing to raise funds for St. Luke's Cheshire Hospice. Picture Lord Mayor Cllr Eleanor Johnson, Chef David Mooney and Paul Newman of The Lord Binning with Charlotte Roach Olympic hopefull Triathlete from Chester and teams Cheshire Ice Cream, Taste Cheshire, Team Downing, Nunsmere Hall, This Lady Loves and The Lord Binning.

Shrove Tuesday at the Lord Binning was an exciting affair, as local businesses and residents competed in a Charity Pancake Race to help raise money for St Luke’s (Cheshire) Hospice.

The Lord Binning Pub and Kitchen in Kelsall hosted an entertaining Charity Pancake Race, attended by The Lord Mayor of Chester, Councillor Eleanor Johnson and Chester’s Olympic triathlon hopeful Charlotte Roach, as well as an army of local businesses and residents including teams from The Hollies Farm Shop, This Lady Loves and Nunsmere Hall.

The evening’s hosts, co-owners of the Lord Binning, North West celebrity chef David Mooney and business partner Paul Newman came up with the idea of an old-fashioned pancake race to raise much-needed funds for the local hospice. To incorporate a modern twist, all the racers high-tailed it around a tailor made ‘agility’ course in the Lord Binning’s scenic grounds with frying pan and lemons in hand!

An evening of fun and frolics was enjoyed by all and the proceeds of the event will be going to St Luke’s (Cheshire) Hospice, an adult hospice that cares for people from Mid and South Cheshire suffering from cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

To add some excitement to the evening, Luke, the London Routemaster Bus which was restored by Bentley for St Luke’s was on-hand for race participants to look around.

The winning team were from Nunsmere Hall, and they received a voucher for an all-expenses-paid meal at the Lord Binning.

Everyone who competed was welcomed into the Lord Binning afterwards and enjoyed some complimentary seasonal hospitality, in the form of delicious local mulled cider and freshly made pancakes.

A percentage of proceeds from the evening’s food sales also went straight to St Luke’s (Cheshire) Hospice.

If you didn’t make it on the night, but would still like to donate to the event, you can visit: www.justgiving.com/lordbinning

Jason Shenton, Sales Director at Blue Bell Wilmslow, enjoys a test drive with customer Mr Singh

With the London 2012 Olympic Games fast approaching, Blue Bell Wilmslow invited customers to get into the winning spirit and attend the dealership’s unique “Ride & Drive” hospitality event to celebrate the launch of the new BMW 3 Series Saloon.

The Olympic occasion took place on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 February at the De Vere Mottram Hall, where guests were offered complimentary test drives across the BMW range, from the 1 Series through to the M Powered BMW. Attendees were also treated to refreshments throughout the day, and invited to enter a free prize draw for a chance to win one of 147 exciting prizes.

With 147 dealerships in the network nationwide, BMW is the Official Automotive Sponsor of London 2012, with Blue Bell Wilmslow supporting local Team GB hockey star, Alastair Brogdon in his preparation for the Olympic Games. With its Olympic giveaway, Blue Bell Wilmslow is offering an exclusive chance to win VIP Olympic Games tickets, along with a selection of BMW M3 Driving Experience Days and a 3 month loan of the new BMW 3 Series Saloon.

The BMW 3 Series Saloon has dominated its class for the last 36 years, and refinements to the model now make it even more spacious and lightweight, delivering even greater performance. With a new selectable ECO PRO mode, the improved 3 Series Saloon range also offers enhanced economy, as well as an impressive high level of standard specification.

Also showcasing on 11 and 12 February at the De Vere Mottram Hall were “the ultimate in performance and efficiency from the BMW range”, including the new BMW 116d EfficientDynamics Sports Hatch, the first BMW emitting under 99g/km of CO₂, through to the new BMW M5 with 560hp, the most powerful road car BMW has ever made.

Jason Shenton, Sales Director at Blue Bell Wilmslow, comments: “With the London 2012 Olympic Games coming up this summer, it is a very exciting time for everyone at BMW, and were delighted with our exclusive launch event for the new 3 Series Saloon. We have had a lot of early interest in the new model, and the “Ride & Drive” weekend at the De Vere Mottram Hall provided a great opportunity for customers to take a closer look, as well as enjoy some of the other high performance and efficiency models our range has to offer.”

For more information call Blue Bell Wilmslow on 01625 446663, go to www.bluebellwilmslowbmw.co.uk, or visit the dealership on Manchester Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 2LE.

Global beauty distributor I Love Cosmetics, based in Trafford Park, Manchester has appointed Zeus PR to promote both its established I Love brand as well as support its ambitious new brand launches over the next year.

Established in 2008 by co-directors James Brown and Mike Basso, I Love Cosmetics turns over just under £5million annually, and has major listings in 28 counties including Superdrug and The Co-operative in the UK, and Walmart, Perfumerie Douglas and Duane Reade internationally. The majority of the I Love Cosmetics products are manufactured the UK and then distributed from the company’s warehousing facility in Manchester.

Working with the senior management team, Zeus PR has been tasked with a multi channel UK based PR and social media campaign for its leading ‘I Love’ brand. This campaign will see the PR agency supporting the I Love core range which incorporates seven fragrance lines, offering a selection of bath and shower products, body butters, lip balms, body lotions and scented candles in each of the fragrances with new seasonal scents released on a regular basis.  In 2011 I Love Cosmetics sold over 1.2 million bubble baths in the UK alone and experienced strong sales with their gifting ranges.

The PR agency has also been tasked with the PR and social media launch / on-going PR of its two new brands, packed with personality, to hit the market this Spring – Balmi and Bubbles & Butters.

Targeted at the youth and sports markets, ‘with a flavour for every occasion’, Balmi as James Brown, I Love Cosmetics co-founder explains: “Is our super cool, super functional, lip balm brand which is packed with protection, natural goodness and amazing flavours. It boasts Vitamin E, smoothing Shea Butter and Jojoba oil to leave lips moisturised, soft and smooth whilst offering SPF 15 level protection. The trendy spherical design can be fixed to zippers and lanyards, perfect for active sports or relaxing with friends.”

Balmi will be going on sale in March 2012 within Decathlon, Snow and Rock, InterSport and John Lewis (SRP £4.99).

Bubbles & Butters which comes in retro ice-cream inspired packaging, is an ultra indulgent, cleansing and moisturising range. James Brown elaborates: “As is very evident with the I Love range, we are inspired by all things flavoursome and indulgent which excite our taste buds, and we know will excite others, and in Bubbles & Butters we have created the most fabulous cleansing and nourishing skin delights with inspirational natural additives to invigorate the bath & beauty market.”

Bubbles & Butters will be launching at selected outlets from May 2012.

James Brown says: “With the substantial NPD this year with the two new brand launches, innovative seasonal ranges, gifting packages and subsequent PR and marketing investment we are gearing up for the busiest and most profitable year to date.”More information on I Love Cosmetics can be found at www.ilovecosmetics.eu

Left to right: The Lord Binning Co-owners David Mooney & Paul Newman

After a huge first quarter success at The Lord Binning has enlisted the services of Zeus PR, to work alongside their team, to heighten their profile and spread the word about the dining experience on offer – as they sights set firmly on two further locations for their new dining brand The New Moon Pub Company.

Zeus PR will be working to the two co-owners behind the concept – Paul Newman and David Mooney.

David Mooney has a glilttering CV including an apprecticeship with Raymond Blanc and a stint as Commis Chef to Marco Pierre White! Previously Chef Patron of the Belle Epoque in Knutsford David is recognisable as a media star, with many appearances on television on radio under his belt. Notably, he was the resident chef on the region’s Granada Tonight programme and made over 200 appearances, as well as hosting the ‘Food Hunter’ in which he travelled throughout the North West cooking up a culinary storm in various locations using locally sourced produce.

Paul Newman is a veteran front-of-house marketer and operator with over 25 years’ experience in the hospitality, fine dining and wine industries. A former Regional Brand Manager for Absolut Vodka UK, Paul was a founder member and shareholder in successful concern Living Ventures Ltd, renowned for setting up The Living Room restaurants and bars, Gusto Restaurants and The Blackhouse Grills. In 2007 Paul opened his own restaurant and cocktail bar, Residence in Nantwich and due to his sustained accomplishments, in 2009 he was named as one of the most influential people in the UK hospitality industry at the Theme Magazine awards.

A full refurbishment and a new conceptual strategy implementation saw the tired former village pub, previously known as The Morris Dancer, transform into an exciting dining venue and bar with a large function suite, which will soon hold a wedding license too.

The considered ethos that the forward thinking business duo has put in place at The Lord Binning is to create a ‘home from home, with a dash of panache’. Fine quality fresh home cooking and carefully sourced wines of distinction have been brought together in informal, relaxed surroundings, creating an ambient drinking and dining experience. When Marco Pierre White, an old friend of David’s, recently popped in for lunch, he was he was impressed by the exciting business plan to roll out their winning combination of honest food and casual, top-quality dining, at other venues in Cheshire.

With a solid marketing strategy and the support of a practiced PR agency, The Lord Binning’s reputation for dining excellence and a welcoming ambience won’t be a secret for much longer.

The Lord Binning pub and kitchen is located at Chester Road, Kelsall, Cheshire. CW6 0RS. To find out more visit: www.lordbinning.co.uk or to book a table tel. 01829 751 441 or email info@lordbinning.com.