10 Minutes With Calypso Rose

Continuing our quarterly interviews with the movers and shakers in the promotions industry. Called '10 minutes with …' these features offer a snapshot of the chosen person's career in the promotional sector and their thoughts on the industry. We will also reveal just one little thing about them that their colleagues in the promotions world would be surprised to hear!

We start our 2008 interviews by talking to the lady behind the Clippykit brand. Calypso Rose (pictured) was awarded the BPMA Entrepreneur of the Year Award in December 2007. However, this is not the first award she has won since she launched her Fulham-based company four years ago. Other accolades she holds are Winner of London Business Awards – London Chamber of Commerce 2004, Winner of Enterprising Young Brit, the Daily Mail, 2005 and she was Highly Commended in the 2007 Gift of the Year Award.

Calypso, a 27 year-old designer, came up with the concept of the Clippykit brand whilst designing a bag for her photographs and mementoes. The bag was so versatile and unusual that she was constantly being stopped in the street and asked 'where can I get one of those?' After receiving an initial business loan Calypso sourced a plastics manufacturer and subsequently put the bags into production. From a small stall on Portobello Road the bags were formally launched to the general public, where they proved an instant success. In 2004, the range, now called Clippykit, began to achieve a celebrity following with the likes of Thandie Newton, Helena Bonham Carter and Jools Oliver being seen with them.

The promotional marketing sector recognised the potential of Clippykit as a key sales promotion opportunity with brands including L'Oreal, Aga, the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Brit Awards all using Clippykit bags as part of their promotions.

Q. What's your typical working day?

A. Well, I would love to say, designing new products, meeting with celebrities followed by a spell of counting the money, but reality must prevail. So I am sure my pattern is very similar to most people's working day – emails, 'phone calls and day-to-day business activities which do seem to take up every minute. I don't get much time for chat and lunch.

Q. What was your initial reaction to the promotions industry, having come from, and being still involved in, the fashion sector?

A. I noticed brands are looking for new and unique products that reflect and relate to their brand, and I am thrilled to see the massive potential that Clippykit can offer. It is a promotional natural that strongly promotes other brands while maintaining the fashion roots of the company.

Q. Do you think that more fashion brands should take the promotional industry seriously as a route to market?

A. I am sure they already do, but they have to maintain their own unique styling and the direction they have chosen to go in. A lot of fashion brands produce give-aways on the front of magazines for example, but tying brand names together can sometimes be hazardous.

Q. What do you like most about the industry?

A. Simplicity. There is no worry about the shop display for a start.

Q. What do you dislike most about the industry?

A. Too soon to say. The companies we have worked with so far have all been delighted with the products and very easy to deal with. Come back with this question next year!

Q. Who do you admire/respect most in the public eye?

A. Jamie Oliver is pretty impressive. It would be very easy to keep on cooking without getting involved in health and welfare issues. He is a committed individual.

Q. What do you like to do to relax?

A. Dancing, roller-skating and chatting to my rabbit, Cabbage. Although not all at the same time!

Q. What has winning the BPMA Award meant to you?

A. The promotion of my own product. It has given Clippykit a great kick-start into this area and I am very grateful. Also I have to say that even the judging process was very inspirational. I came back, fired with new ideas and applications for Clippykit products.

Q. OK, I've got to ask it; is Calypso Rose your real name and if so, where does it come from?

A. It certainly is. I am half Greek. Calypso was a Greek nymph who charmed Odysseus away from his wife and for seven years kept him by her beauty and magic powers languishing on an island.

Q. Tell me something about you that nobody in the industry knows?

A. When I was 12 I ran a magazine called 'Pig Patrol', which dealt with all aspects of pigs – stories, pictures, facts and jokes. We sold 100 copies each month for a year and managed to have quite a good selection of contributors. Sir Robin Day wrote a piece and so did Miss Piggy. I didn't eat piggy bits for the whole year.

Carole Bull
Editor

We may well re-visit Calypso in 12 months to see how her product has developed in the promotions industry. In the meantime, for more information, you can visit the Clippykit website at www.clippykit.co.uk

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