Contents 5. Vision Location of sales 6. Email preview code 8. Musical stimuli Advertisements 11. Magazine Billboards Youtube & Facebook 12. Video production Publishers Paper Printing & binding 15. Images & interview rights Text & new font Production numbers 16. Events company Event Invites Catering staff Guest list Managment & security 18. Entertainment & fashion shows Goodie bags Materials & design layouts Staff 19. Event video production After launch 20. Total costings 21/22. Timeline
Vision ‘Sempre Versace’ meaning ‘always & forever’ is a new publication from the Versace brand. It will be exclusive to the brand as it will only be sold via their websites, retail stores and boutiques. The concept of the book is to give the dedicated Versace customers a keepsake of the brands history, enabling them to access the story behind the brand and it’s innovative business ventures as well as a catalogue of beautiful imagery from previous collections and the Gianni years. The book will serve as a tool to describe the excitement of the brand, the hustle and bustle of their back stage shows, it will depict the short but fascinating life of the brands founder Gianni Versace, and create a shrine of his visionary statement. The reader will be introduced to the creators of Versace with chapters containing personnel photos and past interviews with the family. The exciting thing about this book is that it will be like no other publication already created for the brand, it will feature many ideas previously uncombined for the company within a publication and will also mark the anniversary of Gianni’s untimely death sixteen years ago. The book will rival other luxury brand publications and will be the newest release dedicated to the Versace in brand since 2009. Location of sales The book will be sold online via a number of Versace websites, home-ware and tourism will play a role within the books chapters so the book will be sold via Versace Home and Palazzo Versace websites meaning sales can be increased, this will tie together a varied range of Versace customers. A sales page will be created once the book is set up for purchase where customers will be able to make procure the book, this will be via a link on the website where selected customers can preview the book before its release. License fee’s for the website are paid for annually by Versace, however the design and layout for the new purchase page will be created by Toronto based web designers at ‘n.design studio’. The company will produce a webpage that will be interlinked via all Versace websites and will cost £656.00 to design and set up. The company will also be designing a email page that will be sent to members who have signed up for a preview code either in store or online, and will enable them to have a sneak peek at pages from inside the book and view the video presentation created for the book 4 weeks before it goes live
Email preview code In the run up to the release of the book customers who have shopped via the Versace website or in store, as well as those who book rooms at either of the Palazzo hotels will be asked to fill in a form with their email details, in order to receive a code which will allow them to view the preview pages, and the video launch. Every code is personal to each customer and will be individually attached to the designed email sent out, the books launch page will then be ‘exclusive to those own the code’. As well as the above mentioned, in the run up to the full length video launch, customers will be able to exercise their codes for four weeks prior to release in order to preview short 30 seconds snippets of the full video, this will help build up momentum and create an exciting buzz for Versace customers.
Musical stimuli Music has always played a big part in the Versace brand, with Gianni Versace once stating that if he were not a fashion designer he would have been a musician. The ambience surrounding the brands designs changes from year to year but always has a dramatic in put when the catwalk shows go live in Milan. Both in store and online via the books website page and preview page a series of musical numbers will be played on loop to create a ‘moment’ and a feeling surrounding the mood the book intends to project. As the books is marking the anniversary of Gianni’s death many celebrity friends and customers of the design house have donated the rights to their music free of charge. All of those who have donated their music have of course received invites to its launch night and have received recognition via the websites page. As well as this each celebrity will receive a personalized copy of the book before its release with a private thank you note from both Donatella and Santos on behalf of the company. The video will also serve as promotion to the artists musical talents, it will promote sales of their albums with connections to their music via an itunes link on the Versace website. The following music will be looped as a playlist: Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma Andrea Bocelli - Time To Say Goodbye Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Pelagia’s Song Prince - Musicology Elton John - Sad Songs REM - Radio Song Kanye West - Runaway Madonna - Dress You Up in My Love Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
Advertisement The book will be advertised in a number of ways prior to its distribution. It is important that those who are follow Versace are aware that the book will only be sold exclusively via the brand. Mass advertisement will create a huge buzz around the book, and the knowledge of it’s limited copies will make it more sought after globally. In order to remain loyal to those customers who have purchased from Versace and received the email code for the preview, only selected images and video footage will be used within advertisements, meaning code holders
Magazines In the June edition of Vogue, Vogue Living, W, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Elle Decoration and Harpers Bazaar a double page advertisement space will be purchased, five historical Versace images will be selected for publishers to choose from, these images will include the Versace logo and the date the book will be released along with website links and the code 313,710 in the top left hand corner, which indicates the number of copies set for purchase. The cost for the advertisement space for each magazine, for the three months required comes to a total of £1,0000,00 Total = 1,250,00 Billboards As well as magazine advertisements, billboard space will be rented at three famous landmarks. The three acquired spaces will be consist of Times Square, Piccadilly Circus and Shinjuku Japans main shopping district, the advertisements will take place four weeks prior to the books release. The five images that have been promoted within the magazines will also appear on the billboard commercials as well as snippets from the promotional video and indicators of the launch date. The three locations were selected as they are sought after tourist attractions and over 600 million people will be able to view the advert over the course of a month. It is acknowledged that 600 million copies of the book will not be available for purchase, however the advertisement itself will bring massive brand awareness, and may boost record sales. The cost of renting these spaces over the four weeks will total at £254,385.84 Total = £100,185.84 Youtube & Facebook As well as advertising through billboards Versace will also use Facebook and Youtube as tools to spread awareness of the books release. Advertisement space can be purchased for the home page of Facebook, as well as individual site pages. Companies are able to advertise their products where every user who uses the website logs on, meaning Versace will have the potential of making over 750 million people aware of the books launch, and the brand.The same advertisement scheme is used by Youtube as well as the capability to advertise through the back drops of viewers selected video streams. This means that when anything from cookery lessons to Oscar speeches is being viewed on a world wide scale, a company’s advertisement can been seen in the background Advertisement space will be secured for the same length of time as the billboards - four weeks prior to release, which totals a cost of £4,875
Video Production Production on the video for the launch of the book will be executed well in advance of its release date, due to code holders having access to 30 second snippets of the video four weeks prior to its full release. Bill Cunningham, close friend of Gianni Versace and one of the only film makers allowed inside Casa Casuarina before his death will be responsible for the production of video, he will conduct all interviews and source all music and selected images himself. As a guideline he has advised that production will need to begin nine months prior to its release and that the total cost of all his services will total £2,985 Total = £2,985 Publishing The publishing company responsible for production will be Thames and Hudson. Their services also include sourced book binding and print company Barnard and Westwood, as well as paper handling via Shepherds Falkiners. Distribution of the book will then be taken care of as per their company service. The total cost of publishing and sourcing comes to a total of £5,275 for the 313,710 books that will be produced. Total = £5,275 Paper Shepherds Falkiners are a Bloomsbury based luxury paper merchants who have been sourced on behalf of Thames & Hudson to take care of the productions material needs. The company have suggested the best weight of paper for the type of construction needed will be 45gsm, and have recommended their ‘Shoji Basic’ paper which is sold in rolls of 914mm x 71m would be best for print. It is the most cost effective choice, whilst allowing production to remain luxurious. The total cost of paper for the amount of copies required will total £16,920 Total = 20,920
Printing and Binding Once the paper has been cut to size it will be sent to Barnard and Westwood, another London based company. The book will then be printed and bound and then sent back to Thames & Hudson for distribution and publishing. The total cost of printing and binding comes to £8,458
Images & Interviews All images used have co-ownership between the Versace brand and the photographer, all photographers who’s images are used will be paid on an individual basis and require different rates. Getty images own over fifty of the images that will be used within the books pages and have charged a rate of £1,358 for the use of their material. Stephen Miesel owns over forty of the images that will be used, during the 1980’s and earlier 90’s he was Versace lead campaign photographer and has asked for a fee of £1,600 for the use of his images. Representatives at Richard Avedon have asked for a sum of £1,485 for the use of his photography, and all catwalk and brand images such as H&M’s campaign will be paid at an individual rate. The total cost for the use off all imagery within ‘Sempre Versace’ will Total = £4,470 Interview rights have also been sourced and costed on an individual basis, the use of Vogues interview with Donatella on two separate occasions have been priced at £695.00. As Gianni Versace rarely gave personal interviews, those that have been selected were for the use of friends within the entertainment industry, the interviews selected have been donated for the purpose of the book. All other interviews from companies such as Vogue, and Elle etc have cost a total of £695.00 Total = £695 Text and new font A new font will be designed for the text within the book and will be named after Versace’s founder Gianni. The ‘Gianni’ text will be created by graphics company ‘Logos’, and will possess a unique and bold take on the already existing fonts used within the design industry. The price for the design of the text totals £2,575 and Versace will own the rights for its use. Total = £2,575 Production Numbers Due to exclusivity of the book for the Versace brand 313,710 copies of the book will be created for the first batch of sales, further batches of books can then be created to sell afterwards, to increase revenue. Once these copies will be sold within a shorter time frame and a smaller number than a common edition book. Sales will then 4,500 copies of the books produced will be sold online, with 307,450 editions available to be sold across the globe in-store at Versace boutiques and through the company’s retail areas in a variety of luxury multi designer department stores. Each store and boutique will receive 300 editions to sell. As well as in store, 1,700 copies will be available to buy from the Palazzo Versace hotel’s gift shops with one placed in each of the 250 rooms of the Palazzo Versace Dubai and 238 copies within the Palazzo
Events Company One week before launch Versace will host a private party in their NY boutique situated at 200 Madison Avenue. The party will have celebrities, press and prestigious fashion icons in attendance. The event will also be documented including interviews, runway footage and a behind the scenes look for the fans and customers tuning in via the website and through youtube. New York based events company Rafanelli will be hired to take care of the entire event, their services include sourcing caterers, organizing the guest list, security, goodie bags, materials, staff and design layout. Staff for Rafanelli will also wear their own uniform for the event, the total cost for their services comes in at £25,000 Total = £15,000 Event Invites Shepherds Falkiners will be used to source the paper for the invites. The weight of the invite paper has been advised to be 120gsm, a much heavier paper than that selected for the books production, this will give it the feel of a heavy weight card invite. ‘Oracle’ will be the selected paper and comes in rolls of 914mm x 71m at £148.00 per roll The paper will be cut at a diameter of 8cm x 6cm ready for printing, this will require the use of two rolls. The total cost of the rolls will equate to £296.00. The paper will be shipped overseas to ‘n.studio’ who will take care of the invitation design and print for a cost of £568.00. n.studio will then ship the invitations to the Rafanelli for the distribution to guests. The total cost of shipping will equate to £357.00 Total = £1,073 Catering Staff Selected on behalf of Rafanelli New York based catering company Nova will create a three course meal and champagne canapes for guests attending the event. The cost of their services will be paid by Rafanelli, and is included in the budget given to Versace by the company. Guest List The guest list will consist of family and friends, celebrity clients and models, press and esteemed journalists and photographers within the industry. All guests will be chosen by Donatella and forwarded to Rafanelli with contact details. Management and Security All celebrities who will be attending the event will have their own management and security, however extra security will be provided by the
Entertainment & Fashion Show During the evening of the launch party a fashion show will be held with musical entertainment being played throughout the evening, by esteemed dj David Guetta who will mix a series of music requested by the company. The fashion show will exhibit a number of archived items created by Versace dating back to as early as the 1980’s. Models will be hired, with friends of Gianni Versace such as Naomi Campbell. Claudia Schiffer and Helena Christensen walking the catwalk, in items they originally debuted during his illustrious career. All models will be paid at individual rates, the total cost of their services amounting to £18,648. Interviews will be video recorded with the models who were close friends with Gianni, where they will reminisce on their time working with him, the recordings will then be played on a screen behind the catwalk for guests to view, and will be synced to the music playing as the models walk the catwalk. Dj David Guetta will perform the musical numbers for the show and has mixed the musical score requested by Donatella ready for the show to debut. For the cost of his services he will be paid £2,500 Total = £21,148 Goodie Bags Each goodie bag will include an issue of the ‘Sempre Versace’ meaning everyone on the guest list will receive copy. As well as this each guest will receive a bottle of ‘Red Jeans’ or ‘Blue Jeans’ a mini bottle of Palazzo champagne and toiletries to suit their sex. All items will be donated by Versace and will be put together by staff employed by Rafanelli. The goodie bags will be designed and made by Rafanelli with their logo on and business cards inside, however the company have used the Medusa head logo of Versace on the tag of the bag to fit in with the event. Materials and Design layout The floor plan and seating arrangements will be taken care of by designers at Rafanelli supporting the specifications set by the boutiques management. All decor and designs will be created by the Rafanelli team and costs come under the price of the budget. Staff All staff will be paid by the rate set by their employer, however the New York Versace boutique staff will be employed throughout the evening, at a rate of £14.50 per hour. It will cost £1044.00 to pay the team
Event video production The event will be documented exclusively by Vogue and streamed via their website. Vogue will also link their documentary to Versace’s website and youtube account in the days leading up to the books launch. This will be viewable to all customers, however code holders will be able to watch a panoramic view of the event as it is set up and completed. The cost of the documentary has been met by the production team at Vogue, in return for an exclusive allowance no other documentary makers have been given. After the launch Once the books have been purchased, a unique limited edition wrapping will be created for shipping and for in store purchasing, as well as bespoke carrier bags. n.studio will be responsible for the design of the limited edition packaging and will produce a revamped logo for the plastic carriers and paper wrapping. The logo will feature the word ‘sempre’ emblazoned across the medusa coin. Costs for the design of the new logo will total £2,448 n.studio will then forward the design to Xtex production company. Xtex are plastic bag and packaging manufacturers and will supply Versace with the materials for packaging and intend to distribute to necessary destinations. The total cost of the packaging manufacturing and shipping will equate to £5,936
Total costings Location for sales Total = £1,096 Magazine advertisment Total = 1,250,00 Billboard advertisment Total = £100,185.84 Youtube & Facebook advertisment Total = 4,875 Video production Total = £2,985 Publishing Total = £5,275 Paper Total =£20,920 Printing & Binding Total = £10,458 Image & interview rights Total =£5,165 New ‘Gianni’ font Total = £2,575 Events company Total = £15,000 Invitations Total = £1,073 Entertainment Total = £21,148 Staff Total = £1044 Packaging Total = £5,936 Grand total = £189,315.84
Timeline New ‘Gianni’ font is designed and sent out to designers of book April 2012 Interview and imagery rights purchased and obtained for Production May 2012 Production begins on book July of 2012 Video production begins with Bill Cunningham which he will work on until it’s release September 2012 Layout design out book is completed and sent to Barnard & Westwood ready for paper arrival for printing and binding November 2012 Paper is cut and sent to Barnard & Westwood November 2012 Printing for book begins November 2012 Website page and email design begins with n.studio December 2012 Events planners begin sourcing materials for launch party January 2013 Music from artists sourced for website and sent out to n.studio for website production January 2013 Packaging designed by Xtex with prototypes sent out to Versace January 2012 Binding completed and sent to Thames & Hudson for publishing February 2013 Chosen images sent out to advertisers for magazines sent out February 2013 Okayed packaging sent out to destinations for distribution with book February 2013 Snippets of video creation and imagery sent out to billboards advertisers by Bill Cunningham March 2013 Thames & Hudson distribute copies of books to various locations March 2013 Paper cut for invitations by Sherperds Falkiners and sent out to n.studio for printing of design March 2013
Invites sent to Rafanelli who will distribute to guests March 2013 Required music sent out to David Guetta for remixing for fashion show April 2013 Catering staff email Versace to okay menu ideas April 2013 Advertisements sent out to Facebook and Youtube April 2013 Video sent to n.studio for website launch by Bill Cunningham April 2013 Guest list requirements and numbers sent out to Rafanelli, from invite responses gathered May 2013 Models are contracted for launch event May 2013 Items arrive for goodie bags for Rafanelli staff to organize for event May 2012 All copies of books arrived at destinations and stored for set up May 2013 Website finalized and set up ready for preview code holders May 2013