Exciting news – BrandAlley’s brand new advertising campaign has just gone live. We can’t wait to give you exclusive access to all the goings-on behind the scenes. But first here’s a sneaky peek of our three super-stylish ads, which will be featuring in Look, OK, Stylist, Red, Elle, Marie Claire, Cosmo – and lots more of your top style reads over the coming months…

The inspiration

How did we create the ads and where did we start? Well, we – as in art director, Lynne Casey and copywriter, Jo Beale (me) – were briefed to develop a series of print ads celebrating BrandAlley. So, we hid ourselves away for a few days and, fuelled mostly by coffee and cake, came up with several creative concepts that we were really excited about.

We shared our ideas with Melissa Littler and Kristina Laslett from BrandAlley’s Marketing and PR team over more coffee and cake. And guess what? They loved them too and chose everyone’s favourite – the concept all about the style adventures of Alice all grown up. Why? Because they really liked the way it encapsulates the fabulous wonderland of BrandAlley, where you can live your own style dreams, with up to 70% off top designer brands.

Each stylised scenario in the three ads is part of one big lifestyle story, which reflects your life. As you walk through the ads, you’re walking through Alice’s beautiful world and you know that you can create your own unique designer lifestyle for less with BrandAlley.

There are touches of the classic Alice in Wonderland story throughout – like Alice’s blue dress, the book she’s peering over, her ‘drink me’ bottle and the Mad Hatter’s vintage timepieces, both in his hand and sitting on a top hat cake. There’s a sense of the ethereal in each scene too, but if you look closely, you’ll see that everything is real.

The process

With the route chosen, the design finalised and the copy written, we needed to find the right photographer; someone who understood our vision. We wanted the photography to be edgy; high fashion, luxe and super-aspirational, making the ordinary extraordinary.  Happily, we stumbled across amazing fashion photographer, Julia Kennedy, whose client list includes Charlotte Olympia, Myla, Harrods, Harper’s Bazaar, Liberty and Elle. When we contacted her, she was really excited about our ‘Grown up Alice’ theme and couldn’t wait to get started.

After agreeing a shoot date, Julia helped us find the perfect models, the right location, the props and more. Plus, she pulled together her trusted team, including stylists for fashion, make up, hair and food.

Over at BrandAlley HQ, Kristina and the fashion stylist started picking out outfits, accessories, shoes, homeware and garden furniture for the photo shoot – all from the BrandAlley designer sales. Everything they chose was carefully checked against Lynne’s art-direction brief for the shoot, based around an on-trend, pastel colour palette. Then, once they made the final cut of around 200 products, everything was packed up and sent to the shoot.

The shoot

There was a lot to do in one day, with three separate scenarios to photograph. By the time I arrived at the photographic studio in Hoxton at 9am, the place was already buzzing.

All the boxes full of designer goodies had arrived and been unpacked. The stylist team was in one corner; hanging up clothes on a rack, laying out accessories on a big table and setting up their temporary beauty parlour.

In another corner, the food stylist was unwrapping tray after tray of delicious, Alice-themed sweet treats for the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party shot.

Elsewhere, Julia’s people had already unpacked all the props and started styling separate sets with Lynne to create BrandAlley’s wonderland.

Once the three models arrived, they were whisked into hair and make up, where they were transformed into Alice, the Mad Hatter and his gorgeous girlfriend. We all gasped when they appeared from behind the curtains of the changing area in their outfits and walked on to the set. They all looked so very, very tall and so very, very beautiful. Julia turned the music up, instructed the models to strike a pose and started snapping…

It was a long, exhausting, totally brilliant day, which produced a set of super-stylish ads that we’re really proud of. We hope you love them too.

Which new BrandAlley ad gets your vote?

Cast your vote for your favourite and tell us why you love it in our  Facebook prize draw. You could win afternoon tea for two, Mad Hatter style at the luxury Sanderson Hotel in London, W1– worth £35 each.

Good luck!

Jo x

Picture credits: © BrandAlley.co.uk; © Image of Mad Hatters Tea Party at The Sanderson Hotel via www.cntraveller.com.