Brands and the Royal Wedding
As shops adorn their windows with patriotic symbols of the United Kingdom, pubs and restaurants display union jacks and bunting from every nook and cranny, it can’t be ignored, that a royal wedding is upon us.
Unless you have been living under a rock since January, or have had no contact with civilisation, you may have heard “whispers” of the approach of the wedding of Prince William of Wales and his fiancé Kate Middleton.
With the wedding madness at its peak on the eve of this historic event, it is interesting to observe the brands in Britain hanging on the royal coat tails in order to sell more products by feigning regal affiliation.
So far connections have been made with tele-shopping channel QVC, who shortly after the betrothal was announced, revealed a replica of the iconic engagement ring selling for under $50. Tesco followed suit by commissioning a design for the dress worn by Middleton on the video engagement announcement, selling the item in stores for £16.
The phrase “the Kate Middleton Effect” has been coined by a number of brands following a surge in sales of items used by the future queen. Examples of companies cashing-in on this royal promotion have been Luis Vuitton after Middleton was shown holding a branded bag and high street stores such as Reiss and Whistles which have seen increased sales of dresses that she has worn.
As far as branding is concerned, a number of household names (such as Hovis) have royally themed their products to boost sales however, are set to see little effect as the nation declares indifference to royally endorsed products.
A poll conducted by Marketing Magazine gave the results that 66% of consumer stated that they would not be affected by such associations and 17% would even be put off purchasing a product obviously attempting connection with the wedding.
The brand most associated with the wedding, as voted by the British public is the Royal Mint who not only produced a range of wedding merchandise. On top of the expected coins and spoons they produced the novelty royal contraception brand crownjewelscondoms.com. Despite the efforts of most supermarkets to be associated with the event, Marks and Spencer came out on top with only 4% of general public recognising a connection.
Brands considering royal connections should take heed of the poll which showed that over half of consumers stated it would be inappropriate to increase sales on the back of the royal wedding. Specifically in London 100% of people asked maintained that they would not be affect by this type of branding.