Citypress is made up with
Vie at home win

Vie at home, UK's biggest cosmetics party plan company, has appointed Citypress to handle its corporate PR and consultant recruitment programme.

Vie at home sells cosmetics, jewellery and homewares through a network of more than 8,000 self-employed consultants that organise sales parties in people’s homes.

The business, which generates annual revenues of more than £20m and handles over one million transactions a year, was bought out of the Virgin Group in December 2008. Vie at home also sells to consumers online at www.vieathome.com.

As part of a full communications brief, Citypress will be raising the profile of Vie at home throughout the UK and promoting career opportunities with the company.

Social media engagement is a major part of the Vie at home’s consultant recruitment strategy and Citypress is taking on a consultancy brief to help the company maximise its online investment.

Vie at home currently has over 4,000 fans on Facebook and actively uses blogs, YouTube and Twitter to recruit.

According to the Direct Selling Association (DSA), direct sales of consumer goods – which include party plan as well as door-step selling – totalled £1.2bn in 2009, with personal care products accounting for the largest proportion (48 per cent). It also reported the number of people recruited to direct selling over the same period was 325,000 – 47,000 or 17 per cent higher than the previous year.

Charles Tattersall, Citypress managing director, said: "Vie at home sells more cosmetics through party plans in the UK than any other brand, including Avon. As a direct selling company it has very specific communication requirements, especially given that the business is aiming to increase the number of consultants in its network and build its brand without having a physical high street presence."

In addition to targeting expansion in the UK, Vie at home is also rolling out its business model internationally following successful market openings in Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Greece and Lebanon.