You may think Crisis Management PR is only relevant to publicists who represent celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, politicians like Elliot Spitzer and models like Kate Moss (our favorite who always comes out on top). Well, think again! Beauty publicists need to be schooled in Crisis Management PR too, right alongside Paris Hilton’s peeps.

Not sure who was hanging out on YouTube last Saturday night at 10pm, but I can tell you who was…me!

Purple Lab ran into a bit of a PR crisis two week ago after posting what we thought to be a successful Dayton, Ohio news segment featuring Huge Lips Skinny Hips.

The segment was a publicist’s dream – five minutes, brand exclusivity, visuals galore, and all positive reviews from credible sources. (Now if only the Today Show would catch on!)

Because the segment only aired locally, we decided to share it with a larger audience by posting it on our social media outlets, one of them being YouTube.

Immediately, multiple viewers watched. An hour later, hundreds. By evening, thousands. P.S. with all of our fun, crazy antics – burlesque, pole dancing, runway lessons – THIS is the one that caught on! I mean… sumo… come on… our bloggess friend Michelle Joni Lapidos took to the mat in hot pink Jimmy Choos!

Check out her “Sumo Choos”!

As the viewership continued to grow, so did the comments – and they weren’t all positive. The Dayton Ohio ABC News decided to feature Huge Lips Skinny Hips after coming across a video review from the popular – and absolutely adorable - beauty guru, JuicyStar07 (a.k.a. Blair), who also happens to a friend of Purple Lab’s.

We saw her channel a few months ago and fell in love with her – her in that all-pink bedroom in Tennessee. She did the most amazing video. We never asked her to do it. It was totally organic; she didn’t HAVE make a vid just because we sent her a gloss. A million brands send her (and online influencers) products in the hopes that they’re cover it, no different than journalist/beauty editors/fashion editors, really.

Anyway, her seven minute video on us was just about the best thing I have ever seen!

Karen and I reached out to her to say thank you – how could we not show our appreciation? And when she mentioned she’d be in NYC soon, we offered to take her for a mani pedi (we met her mom and sister, Elle, too… they couldn’t be lovelier).

JuicyStar07 has become insanely popular over the past few months, which has caused some controversy amongst the YouTube community. Just like any celebrity, the more popular you become, the more people want to know about you. Think about it – no one cared who Kim Kardashian was until she was photographed all over the place with celebutante Paris Hilton.

Now, she has her own reality show and her career is booming. So are the tabloids over her on-again off-again relationship with Reggie Bush, her curves and the debate of whether she really dyed her hair platinum for that short stint over the summer (I totally think it was a wig).

So, as Blair’s career grew at full force, her fans wanted to know more about her. And everyone has opinions… no different than celebrities you read about in US. Fact is, she is smart and savvy and already making a career for herself. It’s sad that there are nay-sayers out there, but they’re out there all the time, so it’s part of life… and the media.

That is where crisis management comes in.

As mentioned earlier, the comments began to roll in, in large amounts and our YouTube page became an open forum for JuicyStar07 haters, which is so not the place because A) Purple Lab has a great relationship with her and we don’t want anyone bashing our friends and B) No brand wants to see negative comments on their page.

As the backlash grew, the comments grew deeper and I have to say meaner! Comments about Huge Lips Skinny Hips and our relationship with JuicyStar07 were expressed, and they weren’t pretty. People wanted to know, “Did we send her product for free,” “Why are we promoting weight loss,” “Do we bribe the media…” The list goes on…

1. We did send her a gloss

2. We did not pay or bribe her

3. We met her in person and took her for mani pedi

4. There was all sorts of comments about whether we did or did not buy her a Coach bag because she received one as a gift when we met… we did NOT purchase a Coach bag for her

About our brand:

1. We are NOT promoting weight loss or defining skinny

2. We are being fun and cheeky

3. Huge Lips Skinny Hips is meant to be a reminder – because of the Hoodia ingredient – to be healthy and mindful; appetite is often about the head, not the stomach (i.e. I’m eating now and I am full from lunch)

How did we handle the situation?

First of all, this is what I looked like:

We replied to everyone. We expressed our perspective to clear up the confusion. And we never deleted a comment – it’s not natural for everyone to only have glowing things to say and we’re so passionate about what we do here that we don’t feel like we should manipulate anything.

That said, I want to outline the Do’s and Don’t of Crisis Management PR so you can learn how we handled the situation and what you can do if you find your brand (even if your brand is YOU) in a similar one.

• Do have an open dialogue. When someone posts a comment, whether positive or negative, respond to them. If the comment is positive, thank them for their support and make sure to personalize the comment each time, you don’t want it to come off like an automated response. If the comment is negative, again thank them for visiting your site (even though you don’t want to!) and attempt to clear the air – maybe they were misinformed about your brand, the situation, etc. A simple explanation could turn them into a supporter. Also, encourage them to learn more about your brand by visiting your website, Facebook page, etc. this way they will become well versed and educated about your brand and hopefully debunk any other rumors that are out their amongst consumers. Turn these people into brand advocates.

• Don’t erase comments. This is a BIG don’t. By erasing comments, you quickly will lose credibility. As long as you follow the instructions above, it is ok for consumers to speak negatively about your product, because if you respond properly, you may change their opinion. In addition to losing credibility, consumers will become less trustworthy of your brand. They will know when comments are erased and will most likely call you out on it, which lets face it, is embarrassing!

• Don’t let consumers bully you. Although you still want to be polite and treat each and every consumer with respect, stand up for your brand and your philosophy. But don’t engage in so much back and forth if what you’re saying is not putting someone at ease – sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do. But showing consumers how much you believe in what you’re about could encourage them to learn more about you and the brand, hopefully evoking an emotional connection.

• Don’t get defensive. As I mentioned earlier, don’t let consumers bully you, but don’t bully them either! Remember these are the people who evidently control your brand’s destiny (and sales). The last thing you want to do is leave a bad taste in their mouth. Do not respond to consumers with an attitude and do not ever tell them they are wrong. To avoid coming off as defensive, be selective with your wording (i.e. don’t reply when you’re all worked up!). For example, instead of, “You are wrong,” respond with, “I am afraid you may be misinformed.”

• Don’t change your story. And if you’re telling the truth, you won’t have to change your story (unless you’re a dirty politician – they put a whole new spin on things). Lay out the entire story from the beginning. Don’t leave anything out because most likely, those tiny, unmentioned details will surface eventually and that will only provoke more questions from consumers.

• Do craft a statement. As mentioned above, once you have your response, share it with consumers! After our fiasco, Karen filmed a video response that viewers could watch to get the story straight. Keep it short and sweet. The longer you speak the guiltier you may seem!

• Do act in a timely manner. Stay on top of the negative comments and respond as quickly as possibly. It may not always be at the most convenient time (i.e. Saturday night at 10am – did I mention I was at my Grandfather’s 90^th birthday?) but it is so important. Don’t let more than an hour or so go by because the longer you let consumers rant and rave, the more gossip will appear. The last thing you want is supporters of your brand to read negative comments ignored by the brand, because they may start believing them! The sooner you address the negatives comments, the sooner you will clear up the misconceptions.

In case you are wondering, our crisis has, at the moment, been averted. But, if you have any Crisis PR situations of our own and need advice, please email me at Sharon@PurpleLabNYC.com

Mwah!

Sharon

Communications Queen

 Are you watching that show Shark Tank?

Watching it is like a mirror image of my life – presenting a company to big wigs who can help make or break it. This is my own little version of it – without Barbara Corcoran!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

Wanna know how products get in the hands of celebrities (if you’re not personal friends with them)? No writing – let’s get straight to it!

Watch and learn!

See you soon, J.Lo! I’m comin’ for you!

P.S. One thing to note – if a celebrity has a deal with a competing brand in the category you are in, you can NEVER use their names… not unless you want a lawyer on you!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

I nurtured this baby for way longer than nine months. I felt it kicking to get out, had morning/afternoon/evening sickness the whole way through, but one early morning, the last week of April, I finally gave birth.

Purple Lab’s Huge Lips Skinny Hips shipped to stores!

It was the greatest feeling I could ever imagine – seeing our babies come to life.

Todd and I were proud parents. And here is the tale… consider this blog the birth certificate.

Follow our family album baby grow up – and get some sisters!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

After the hell of having 30,000 damaged components – and going through weeks upon weeks of debate with the manufacturer to replace them… missing shipping dates… losing the UK opportunity to star in 62 windows (and receiving a 13,000 pound bill for the screw up)… a whole lot of crying… an enormous dose of fear… thoughts of giving up… we had… finally… a moment of success!

In case you missed it, this picture shows you the kind of damage we had when we attempted to fill the components we didn’t know were cracked until we – well – tried to fill them!

Look closely and you will see a fracture in the component that caused the leaking!

Here it is again! Can you imagine?

This is the story of a bit of our bright light – see my vlog below!

 
 

Stay tuned for more purple action!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

At a later date, I must come back to Space.NK – it’s a loooong story, sort of like dating the guy you always, always had a crush on only to find out he’s a terrible kisser!

But now we’re back on the press kit. I was finally able to nip, tuck, finish.

PR 101: Editors, writers, journalists, media types, bloggers… they get hundreds of press kits and product samples every week. When you’re in their position, everyone wants you to cover them so they drench you in product.

I still have 37 hand creams, 46 conditioners, 7 eye creams, 18 toners, 3 foot creams, and an entire shelf of SPF and self tanner left over from the good ‘ole days of my swag-a-licious life as a reporter (and that was about five years ago so imagine what I had back then! It was mayhem, I tell you. Mayhem. My friends constantly came over to pilfer my stash).

The Purple Lab press kit folder. Chic right? Worth the $5!

The problem when you get so much loot? You get jaded. The more you see, the more discerning you become, the harder it is for brands to stand out. 90% of the products I received went to interns, my housekeeper, friends, the cab driver on the way home from an event. Brands need to cut through the clutter. They must stand out at every touch point.

A strong visual impact for our press kit was vital. No product of mine was to be relegated to the trash bin, i.e. no plain white folders, please!

JD showed me a rendering of a custom $5 folder, about 6×10″, in a gradient purple with fuchsia metallic hot stamping (the official color – Crown 750 foil). I melted. I would need 1,000. Yes, that is 5k on folders.

Todd raised his eyebrow in suspicion. “You’re spending how much…???”

“Baby, we need it. We’re new. We need to pop,” I explained, some how convincing him. It was not an option for me to go any other way. I’m kind of stubborn when it comes to design and imaging.

The first thing you see when you open the folder - this sexy mouth! So Marilyn Minter!

To fill the folder, we used super duper cardstock – printed on both sides, one with info, the other with repeated logo graphics and lip print marks a la Murakami/Louis Vuitton (dare I compare myself!). The point was that as we had new press releases and info to send out, we could just send cards and everyone would have the folders and just insert them. It was actually saving money in the long run, I justified to myself.

Side note: the other self justification I love when buying something beyond my price range – I divide the number of times I’ll wear it by the price and then convince myself that that is really the price! Works every time.

In went a cover page – a Marilyn Minter (my fave photographer – Tom Ford collects her work which is very sexy and raw) inspired close up of a mouth with the Huge Lips Skinny Hips logo inside.

It was followed by the press release, about Purple Lab, my bio, the product sheet about star ingredients, a page for each color and its inspiration, and lastly, a contact page for PR.

The inserts I'm talking about. Fab!

When all was said and done, it was a $15 press kit. Doesn’t sound like it’s that bad when you look at the price for one. But need I remind you that there were 1,000?

Remember that savings I was dipping into? It was near gone.

I didn’t even mention that there was the little issue of what these things would be in when they’re sent.  God forbid, a brown paper bag with a label on it. The bags I really wanted were out of our price range – and Todd put his foot down, rightfully so! But they were pretty amazing – glossy white. Instead of string handles, the handles were cut out in a triangle shape at the top of the bag.

Alas, I could not have them. So we customzied white bags and hot stamped them with our logo and what would become our signature lip print mark (Mwah!) in the crown 750 foil we used on our box and component. Consistency is key. Then we added tissue paper of a hot pink shade to match. See below.

Cute bags, no?

All of this culminates into the business plan and money. We needed both and the real stuff hadn’t even begun yet.  The topic for next week. Catch up then!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

I was saying earlier that my other goal – after Scoop – was to be in Space.NK. In the UK – the prestige chain originated in London – it is “the” place to go for beauty. Sophisticated, Calvin Klein-esque, gleaming, modern, the store is a jewel box of faceted brands – and only about 60 well-edited ones.

The store was making a play for the US and opened two NYC stores and two outside of the city. Then there was their store-within-a-store deal with Bloomie’s. A friend of mine knew the founder, a very inspiring woman whose initials are (go figure) NK, and introduced us in an email.

I heard back from team NK. They asked to meet… in London.

As luck would have it, Todd and I were going on vacay across the pond. We booked the trip the year before to see an artist’s friend opening in a Soho gallery. We hadn’t been on a trip since our honeymoon and desperately needed the getaway, even if our accountant didn’t agree!

I didn’t have a formal presentation to show. With Scoop, it was okay because I knew the girls there well. But for Space, I needed to impress. I called JD (my designer) in a panic. “Can’t schlep it in a Bendel’s shopping bag!” But I was leaving in a three days. No time to design.

I scoured my closet and came across an amazing evening bag that came in a hard, quilted white box, fortuitously just larger than the room for five glosses – and the box – with the addition of purple tissue paper. To the top of the box, I glued my business card which happened to be thick white with purple metallic writing. Note: I had no Purple Lab cards, so it was my personal one. There were so many aspects of the company that we still needed to create and I was realizing that more and more every day.

Though jet lagged on my first day in the UK, I donned a purple Lanvin dress for the big meeting (I could write that off, right?). The buyers, who were quite sweet, seemed into it! “We don’t have anything like this,” they said. It was true. Their merch was very luxe but very safe. Our product was definitely out of the box.

This would be a departure from the store, who seems to carry all things white. It was purple. It stood out. It was humorous. I wanted to bring in a pole for store events to give a nod to the shade Kitty Poledancer (I know that scared the hell out of them).

They told me IF they took us, they’d want an exclusive for six months in the U.S. Uh oh. “I’m already signed on with Scoop,” I muttered under my breath, almost hoping they didn’t hear. But their eyes lit up (if Scoop liked it, it had to be good!). They said they’d get back to me in a few weeks (this after trying on – and raving about the gloss. “It doesn’t stick to your hair. It doesn’t sting! It smells incredible!”).

The waiting… was… torture!

Then I got the email. It took me two days to open it because I was afraid of rejection. But I got in! It was the best feeling ever, like getting into your reach school!

There was much back and forth paperwork over an iron clad agreement with a lot of words like “herein” and legalese I needed my lawyer brother to translate. (Scoop was nothing like this – Space was like a serious real estate transaction. I was surprised they didn’t ask for my ovaries.)

Once signed, I received a 5-inch thick dossier. Their shipping requirements, full of details on how things needed to be shrink wrapped on a palette and labeled a certain way. And getting the product to London, where there would be an 18 month exclusive, was so overwhelming, I actually cried. I needed a European address, compliancy for the EU (that, I learned, is a whole other thing), a 100 page “product information packet,” a forwarder to pick up the goods at customs and bring to their distribution center after making an appointment that fit into a few hour window. WTF!?! The list was endless. If I tripped up on one thing, I’d be charged. God, shipping incorrectly could mean owing them money even after they buy product!

That is when Todd came in! I could no longer manage this alone. “Um, baby, can you quit your job.”

Todd is a real estate investor and had a somewhat flexible schedule. Between him and my brother, it was like one full-time employee (Todd trasnsitioned into CFO and COO slowly but surely). I have to say – I was really honored that my husband believed in me so much that he would support me so much, not just by unloading his life’s savings but by putting in his sweat too.

Of course, this was all new to him. While he is savvy in business, he did not have insider knowledge of the beauty industry. He did know how to ask the right questions, though. He thought about the things I didn’t.

There is a ton more to say about this – my husband transitioning careers, working with him, running out of money, manufacturing issues you can’t imagine, I could go on. And I will. Next week… when I’ll finally get back to PR and some brutal faux pas!

Mwah!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

Last I left you, I found the lab. That was the first hurdle (believe, there were plenty more to come…).Here’s how the process works:

1. You tell a chemist/lab about your “product profile,” what you want your claims to be, how you want to market the product, what it should feel like, what you don’t want it to be like (i.e. no parabens!), etc. The more details the better.

2. They send back a “paper formula,” which is a list of ingredients and actives that they feel would fit the bill. We discuss ingredients, blah blah blah.

3. They send a sample. I give feedback – it’s not thick enough, the color doesn’t “pay off” (industry jargon for “show up/stay on”) enough… etc.

4. They send new sample based on feedback until approved.
For that, there is usually a fee – a few thousand dollars, which will be put towards the eventual order of the full run.

In the beginning, doing this didn’t seem like it would be so expensive.

That was until I heard about minimum orders!

Will go there later.

The next step: Testing. Many kinds of testing.

1. R.I.P.T. test (repeat insult panel test, which is basically putting product on a panel of skin/body part the product is for repeatedly to make sure it does not irritate). That one is a few thousand dollars (forgot the exact amount right now).

2. If you want to make claims – say the product does something by a certain percent – you have to do clinicals, which are essentially scientific studies that prove the claims you’re making. They can be costly. Very costly. Too costly for Purple Lab’s blood at this time.

3. Stability. This tests how stable the formula is – and it involves using heat and simulating time so you can see if and how the formula would hold up over months, years, etc.

4. Compatibility. You have to make sure the formula works with the component it goes in (a component is the beauty biz term for whatever holds the formula – a squeezie tube, a jar, a container, etc.).

To do compatibility, you have to know what you’re putting the gloss in.

Yikes! I had no idea.

I knew that I wanted it to convey luxury and feel special in your hand. I didn’t know that there was a world of millions of components to choose from – and how I’d navigate it. Did you know that there are consultants whose sole job is to find components for beauty products for people? I didn’t. But I sure did meet a few. While it is great to have someone out there doing your dirty work, I didn’t have the budget to put one on retainer. I needed to fly solo.

More frantic calls.

What I found out is that components tend to come from China – they’re typically sent by boat, which takes 12 weeks by the time all is said and done. 12 weeks! There are two kinds of componentry: stock, which is what manufacturers have existing molds for and tons or brands use; custom, which requires building a mold which gets costly. Granted, you can amortize the cost of a mold over time and it’s not bad if you’re producing hundreds of thousands of pieces, but in a case like mine – new, small business on a tight financial diet – custom was out of the question.

Very sad. Because you know I wanted to do something custom and crazy! Hopefully we can do so in the future…

I was given the name of one of the largest manufacturers in the business through one of the component consultants I met who was nice enough to share her source. They sent me a handful of components to look at. I didn’t really like most of them – they all looked kind of cheap. (This part is free, FYI.)

The company sent me another set of components, these more upscale. What I learned I like is called “double wall,” components, which is when there is an inner cavity floating in the main component. It has such a clean, modern feel. The one that spoke to me the most was very similar to others I’ve seen out there in the luxury market – Lip Fusion comes to mind. It felt heavy, sturdy in the hand, like you’re actually getting something significant.

Meanwhile, the lab had sent me the sample and it only took three back and forths to nail it. By the time it was done, I was in love and obsessed with the formula. I had a few in little jars that I wore religiously, as did my mom and two friends who swiped them from my bag!

I sent the lab the sample component to do their battery of tests, which typically run for about three months.

If you’re doing the math here, this means we’re at 6 months before the product is even remotely ready to go. But there are always a million other delays, all of which I experienced! Get to those later.

After three months, we passed all tests and I was ready to order the components.

Enter “minimums,” which are minimum orders. It costs the factories tons of dough to run their machinery so they won’t even turn them on unless you’re buying at least 5,000 of each color. Minimums are usually 5,000 per color. I wanted six colors. So I suddenly found myself ordering 30,000 pieces – and writing a check for over $20,000

Where is that trust fund when you need it?

The scary thing is, I’m not in China to oversee the process, to make sure it’s all groovy. So I’m paying for these things and can’t see them to approve as they come off the factory line, though these companies have reps there and they assure me they have serious quality control.

In China, they also decorate the component.

OMG!

I didn’t even think of that part yet. I had to have a design on them, the brand.

Hold everything!

I needed a logo, a color scheme (it had to be purple, my favorite color, but which pantone shade exactly, I didn’t know), and… um… a trademark on the name, something I didn’t do until my eagle-eye lawyer of a brother, Jason, asked me about it.

J went to law school (Emory in case you’re wondering) with a guy named Danny who is now an IP attorney (IP = intellectual property) in D.C. Just the guy we needed. He works for a prestigious white hankie law firm (i.e. Disney is their client). They’re a fortune per hour. But J assures me he’s the best and it’s worth every dime – God forbid we make something and get sued or have to recall it later.

$500/hour and too many hours to count later, we got a green light to use the name “Huge Lips Skinny Hips.” Phew! But the original brand name I wanted to use was unavailable. I had my eyes on the moniker, SKINNY, and my thought was to give “the skinny,” some kind of insider tip for something relevant on each product.

Couldn’t get the name – someone owned it.

Back to the drawing board.

Name 2 I tried? Taken.

Name 3? Taken.

Name 4? Taken.

I hated my lawyer! I felt like every time he called with news about why I couldn’t use a certain name, he was trying to hurt me.

It took me two months to conjure the right – and available – name, not to mention about 10k in legal fees. Ouch! I combed through French, Italian, and Sanskrit dictionaries (always love a foreign word). I read the thesaurus as if it were the bible. I was making up words, all of which were taken, taken, taken. TAKEN!

Frustrated beyond belief, I contemplated a leap off my roofdeck.

The thing about challenges like this – they push you to a point that is even better than where you started.

And that point was coming…

I was talking to a very creative artist friend about the brand name issue. He was asking me crazy questions like the name of my invisible friend when I was child, the street I live on, mom’s maiden name (ironically, it’s Moss, as in Kate!). It came up that I used to sleep with a stuffed hippo when I was a kid – and he said, kind of flippantly, “what if you did something out there and kooky like ‘Hippo Lab.’ It doesn’t mean anything but it gets people talking.’”

Hippo Lab?

Wasn’t feeling it.

He started drawing logos of very cute hippos though.

“Um. I don’t know,” I said. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings – he was spending hours helping. “What if we colored the hippo purple.”

PURPLE!

I love purple. I love everything about the color – the energy it has. It’s sexy. It’s chic. It’s glam. It’s fun. Exactly how I see this brand.

“Purple Lab,” I yelled. “Purple Lab!”

When I was in college, I was pre-med and en route to med school. When I decided to come to New York, the joke in my family was that I changed my “lab coat” for my “fab coat” (I may have mentioned this already). Purple Lab made total sense.

I prayed to the trademark gods that it be free!

And it was!

***

Now all I needed was a logo and design.

My friend JD owns the most amazing creative design shop called Calliope Studios. He’s done branding work and website design for Nars, John Varvatos, Kirna Zabete (my personal fashion Mecca – a.k.a. the drug den), amongst others. He also owns Yoya and Yoya Mart, the best baby stores you will ever see and the only place I buy baby gifts for friends. He is so inspiring.

His eye is slick, cool, sexy, and sharp. He totally gets my vibe and I knew he would be the best person to hire for our branding, website, collateral, everything…

But the man does not come cheap.

I went to his office with cupcakes and 6 years of friendship to back up my plight – please help me and don’t really charge me anything because I don’t have much money and I’m trying to make it big and when I do, you will be repaid!

That got me a little bit of love…

He gave me some time on the weekends and we went to town.

I showed him the things and sites that inspire me – Colette in Paris, Dita von Teese, Kate Moss, the artist Anselm Reyle (his purple foil piece sleighs me… FYI, it’s 600k!), the purple Nina Ricci dress Reese Witherspoon wore to the Oscars post-divorce. We poured through font books to see what stood out. A few days later, he came back with this:

Love the font! Love the Logo! Love JD for making it!

OUR LOGO!

And…

OUR LIPGLOSS!

I was so in love, I actually printed the image, shrunk it and laminated it so I could carry it in my wallet!

The design went to the manufacturer so we could see a comp.
New trouble began.

The manufacturer went completely AWOL!

I mean, the business was still around but my contact stopped returning calls and emails. WTF!?!?!?!

That roofdeck leap was looking pretty good again!

My lab, meanwhile, kept asking me about the timing on things. Note: they wouldn’t really make any money until I placed a full order and I couldn’t place a full order until I had components coming. See the dilemma?

They referred me to another manufacturer, a very established and well known company based in New Jersey, home of many a lab and beauty manufacturers (not to mention the glamorous state in which I grew up). This company… I’ll call them X (no names right now – you’ll see why later… it didn’t turn out to be the best experience)… was able to manufacture the exact same component that I wanted.

Before I placed the order, they sent a comp with our “deco design” (that is the graphic on the component). It took a few weeks for it to arrive (remember, it was coming from China). In that time, I focused on packaging with JD.

Meanwhile, back to packaging. My main goal was to have a box that stood out, something that would pop in a sea of products. JD sketched an hourglass shaped number and came up with the idea of the gradient purple (like that Reese Witherspoon dress I was obsessed with). LOVE! But is it possible?

He fiddled and played and actually came up with a way to make it work.

Just needed to find a printer who could bring it to life on a large scale. Easier said than done. JD saw the panic on my face (I was like… ugh, back to frantic calls!). He promised he’d find someone to come to the rescue. “It just has to be affordable,” I warned. I have a habit of making things more expensive than they have to be! That’s another story – ask my accountant. Better yet, don’t!

JD wound up scoring me a guy who could whip up our box – a bit more than we were hoping for. Boxes in the beauty world tend to be around $0.10 to about $0.50 – we were a few dollars. The impression it makes was worth it to me – I would rather make less money and put something out there that gives women a fabulous emotional experience. I decided to go for it. Had to keep true to my “cut through the clutter” mantra.

Come back soon for the rest of the tale… there’s A LOT more! I’m talking creating colors, PR, marketing, getting retailers to sell it… and a little thing called money and the fact that we needed to raise some!

Chat soon!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

It was a typical fashion store opening. A stunning blond teetering on the latest wacky Marc Jacobs wacky heels to my left, a sighting of the new Balenciaga bag at 12:00, and behind me – my favorite part of any event – the space from which the waiters emerge with hors d’oeuvres. And this particular soiree was stocked with the best beggar’s purses and salmon croquettes.

Hunger or not, I have never been the one to pass up a good beggar’s purse and after 20 minutes of making sure that every server knew to circle by me before the rest of the crowd, I looked at my husband and said, “I have to go.” I had ring around the waist – the red line that forms around your belly after you eat so much that your waistband suddenly feel one size too small.

He was kind of annoyed. We were barely there for a half an hour.

“If my lipgloss could plump my lips and not my hips, we wouldn’t have this problem,” I sniffed.

OMG! My Eureka moment!

Lipgloss with plumper AND appetite suppressant!

That would be my dream product, I told him. “I’d call it Huge Lips Skinny Hips,” I said, all excited about my vision.

I grabbed my cell phone to call a friend in the beauty biz to tell her about the product – I wanted her to make it so I could buy it.

Todd, my husband, grabbed my phone, mid-dial.

“You make it,” he said, totally assuredly. “You start a company and sell it! Your whole career has been leading up to this! You need a brand!”

Moi?

I had no idea how to make a product or a thing about manufacturing. But why couldn’t I figure it out, I thought.

Before I go on, let’s back up for a minute.

My background…

The Cliff’s Notes version: I was a journalist for over ten years. I got my start at WWD (first job out of college where I was handing out mail, fetching coffee, filing, and faxing – this before email was an integrated part of our everyday culture, which kind of dates me, I must say). I worked there for 3-plus years before going freelance, when I started writing for all the women’s magazines – Marie Claire, Elle, Bazaar, InStyle, Glamour, etc. – and the New York Times Sunday Styles section as well as the New York Post.

It was amazing fun – I covered everything frivolous and fabulous, from celebrity soirees on private yachts in St. Barths to going undercover as a phone sex operator to the Sundance Film festival parties to cover stories on the stars (I spent a day with Molly Sims who had to see what kind of things she could talk people into doing for her – like drop their pants and build a pyramid on the beach and put her on top) to all the trends/beauty/fashion/ pieces I could get my mitts on.

It was definitely a crazy ride (one time on the back of a scooter while Liev Schreiber was driving – I swear!).

Liev Schreiber, tearing up the streets in St. Barths. I swear, that's me on the back! That little blurb of a leg and white hat!

Then I got an assignment from Marie Claire that wound up being the catalyst for a major career shift. The mission: become famous in two weeks. My friend and now best selling author Melissa de la Cruz (shout out to Mel!) did the story with me and for two weeks, we schemed our way on to gossip columns (WWD actually called me K.Ro after Harry Winston loaned me $2 million of rocks, I kid you not!), faked our way into free clothes (borrowed glamour – nothing like it especially when the label is Dior!), and pretended we were girls from Planet “It” (the major lesson I learned: make your name match your brand of celebrity stardom… Karen von Robin is a lot more believable to the media as an heiress than Karen Robinovitz, which sounds more like I’m a rabbi’s daughter when in fact, I’m a car dealer’s daughter).

Mel and me! We came to our first FAMOUS book party by way of fleet of 20 Vespas driven by Ford models! That's an entrance! We called ourselves the Asian and Jewish "Ab Fab!"

We got a call from our agent the minute the piece hit newsstands. “Write a book proposal now! How to become FAMOUS in two weeks or less.” When you get a call like that, you can only say one thing: YES!

Call it timing, luck, whatever but we had a book deal two weeks later! That wasn’t the part that changed my life, though it was beyond exciting and amazing to write with a friend. It was the aftermath…

Three months before launch – BTW, those horrible sunglasses on the cover were airbrushed on us! – we received our long-awaited “marketing plan.” I put it in quotes because the only initiative was “put book on Hampton jitney.” Marketing plan? That’s not even a full sentence! When I asked where the rest of the plan was, our publisher told is there was no “rest of the plan.” That was it! That was all they would do!

I became a marketing machine. I didn’t really know what I was doing but I called every PR contact I had to see what kind of strategic partnerships I could create. When it was all said and done, I was signing books by kissing them with MAC lipstick (they offered makeovers at all of our readings and events), promoting Rock & Republic jeans which had hangtags about our book, working with AOL (shout out to AOL! Woo hoo!), sitting pretty in the back of a Bentley (we did interviews in the vehicle – how hot is that?), and, um, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie hosted our LA soiree!

Hello! The Bentley! The perfect entrance to a book signing soiree! Plus, I got to wear an Escada gown that was once worn by Halle Berry!

That was when my life changed…

I am a marketing person!

I started consulting for brands – showing them how to become famous in two weeks or less – and doing all kinds of programs: events, influencer seeding (i.e. giving products to the rich and fabulous to get it in the “right” hands); guerilla marketing (did something awesome for Glam.com where we had hot guys in branded BMWs circling fashion week and handing out Glam branded gumballs and then gave the front row girls “Glam Pods,” ipods curated with haute runway music by the industry’s most coveted sound stylist, Coleman); social media programs (Love you, Twitter! BTW, follow me on Twitter! Shameless plug, I know!), and more.

I didn’t stop writing though – Melissa and I co-authored Fashionista Files! Adventures in four-inch heels and faux pas (Michael Kors and Diane von Furstenberg gave us props for our cover!) and I wrote a book for the PR and event planning behemoth Harrison & Shriftman: “Fete Accompli! The Ultimate Guide to Creative Entertaining.”

I did some TV along the way – things like the Fabulous Life on VH-1 and MTV’s Made. I even shot a pilot about my life for BRAVO, but it wasn’t picked up. Still, I have a great DVD for the future grandchildren… if DVDs are still in existence, that is.

I get a little – I don’t know – uncomfortable talking about things I’ve done, but for more deets and to see the hint of the pilot, please check out on my site.

So that brings us back to my hubby, telling me to make the product. (Love that man! He is so supportive!)

And that is what Purple Blab will be about…

The making of our beauty brand, which would never have been possible without the words of encouragement from Todd, my husband. He’s so cute! See below!

My hubby!

Think of it like a guide to getting a product made and building a brand. I’ll dish all the dirty secrets I learn from labs and manufacturers and what we go through to line up distribution, financing, PR, events, etc. Every trial. Every tribulation. Every success. Every fear. Every everything!

It will all be here, along with other glittery details I may have to share along the way… like my poledancing classes, Minx manicure parties (Blog chanteuse Dana Oliver blogged about it recently on Stylelist.com, where, by the way, I am also penning a blog called Beauty Blab!), celebrity sightings (I spot many in my neighborhood – West Village of NYC), and fashion moments (I tend to be a very good shopper!).

Next time… the first steps of getting a product made! World Domination, Phase I!  (Evil laugh here!)

So read, share, tell me what you want to know or hear about, too!

I am an open book!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix