Beauty Review | FIRMA MediSpa

Tucked away in the inconspicuous buildings of Duddell Street, Central is FIRMA, a new facility that follows the trend of medispas emerging around the Asia Pacific.

Medi Spa (n.) - combining advanced and sophisticated medical research based beauty procedures with the appeal of a luxury spa environment. 

Dry skin is the number one skin complaint in these pesky winter months, and there's nothing quite like a facial to inject some moisture back into your skin. Speaking of cold weather pet peeves, any motivation that you've mustered up over the summer to hit the gym whittles back down to zero. Good new is, we can still cheat your way to slip into that unforgiving party dress with a little 'body contouring'. So on my first visit to FIRMA, I went with a double-threat pamper package:

• For the face: HydraFacial a refreshing and effective hydrating facial treatment
• For the body: Vasershape (a UV ray induced slimming treatment) and the LPG Lipomassage (a 100% natural treatment that uses motorised rollers to eliminate stubborn fat deposits).

(Originally I had only planned to try the Hydrafacial and Lipomassage treatments, but based on the rave reviews of the receptionists regarding their experiences with Vasershape and a sneaky special price offer, there was no harm in adding it to the roster. Perfect for some pre-New Years indulgence)

PR and Marketing | My pick for best advertising idea in 2012

In review of this past year, one of the best marketing ideas that I have come across has to be TNT's unconventional advertising campaign to launch it's high-definition television channel in Belgium. It involved a two-fold strategy that took place in real time as well as via an online video that generated over 30 million hits. The performance took place on a 'quiet square' in Flemish town where a large button was inconspicuously placed waiting for an unsuspecting passerby to exercise their curiosity. When pressed, an entire procession of dramatic events unfolded in rapid fire speed, which covering all the major television genres. The beauty of this promotional tactic was that it was an out-of-the-ordinary experience that where people couldn't help but literally stop in their tracks and take notice. Additionally, it successfully retained this attention through it's ambiguity. It left the spectators both offline and online guessing on the intent the commotion till the very end where a giant rolled out banner revealed its true purpose. This was a marketing stunt that required an extensive amount of choreography and actors but the result is a creative celebratory reminder of the value of television in adding color to our lives through dramatic moments that we are rarely exposed to in our daily lives.

The FaceFacts Intern Chronicles | Dogs doing market research?

10:00am After brewing the day's first, and by no means the last, cup of coffee, I was assigned my first capsule project: researching opportunities to promote the Face Facts Grad School.

The Grad School was set up to address the needs of various groups:

• graduates struggling to find jobs due to lack of work experience
• undergraduates looking for on-the-side learning within the real working world
• anyone curious about working in market research

After talking to my fellow interns at the FF HQ, along with other recent grads during my time in University, it would seem that many students often don't realise the importance of work experience until they've graduated. While we can debate over whether a Masters degree gives students 'an edge' to secure a guaranteed high-ranking job straight out the bat (and I am not suggesting this will always be a bum deal for all graduates) many employer testimonials would contest that, at the end of the day, work experience is the name of the game. And to add further fodder to the fire, a recent careers talk I attended presented a series of scary statistics indicating how a staggering 2/3rds of employers wouldn't even consider hiring someone without any prior work experience.