Seal of royal approval for the coronation

Seal of royal approval for the coronation

by | May 2, 2023 | Copywriting, Marketing, PR & Comms, Working practice

How to create a successful marketing campaign: Seal of royal approval for the coronation.

How to create a successful marketing campaign: Seal of royal approval for the coronation.

The latest in our irregular series looking at successful marketing campaigns and how you can create your own winning promotion.

With less than a week until the coronation of King Charles III, the shops are full of every kind of product you can imagine to commemorate this historic occasion. It seems like almost every brand has thought of a way to show their patriotism. And you might need access to the privy purse to afford some of the products. Here we look at some of the products, who has got the royal connection right, and who should be heading to the Tower?

All the usual suspects have special wares just for the coronation; think Marks and Spencer, Fortnum and Mason, Emma Bridgewater, and Sainsbury’s – all the usual Great British retailers.

Marks and Spencer has everything from soap and moisturiser to light-up cushions. And of course, there are special Colin the Caterpillars! What national event could pass without a special Colin?

Sainsbury’s has various special items including their Coronation Ale; brewed in England of course and apparently with a biscuit flavour.

Talking of biscuits, it seems every retailer has a special biscuit set and tin to commemorate the occasion. McVitie’s has its Coronation Commemorative Biscuit Selection, Marks and Spencer, John Lewis, and Fortnum and Mason have their own too. But if you fancy a fancy biscuit then don’t miss the Biscuiteers King Charles III coronation biscuits and tin.

As well as biscuits, John Lewis has developed a special cocktail for the occasion: Kocktail King Charles III Coronation Crown Martini. The Crown Martini is ready mixed, requiring no effort to celebrate. The drink includes Hepple gin, dry vermouth, elderflower liqueur, rhubarb, cucumber, and rose tea. A perfectly British mix.

Fortnum and Mason have a veritable smorgasbord of items to buy. Starting at £8.95 for their Coronation Chocolate Coin Tin up to their King of Picnics hamper for £500!

Kingsmill bread has released special packaging for the coronation and Pimm’s has its special No.1 Cup Coronation Edition.

And non-food items also include pottery gifts from Emma Bridgewater and clothes from Cath Kidston and Joules. Or how about a puzzle from Goviers; something to keep you entertained during the coronation service.

So, as you can see there’s plenty on offer but which of these warrant the Royal Warrant, and how you can take advantage of these for your organisation?

Be relevant

The best of these products are the ones that have a clear link to the coronation or are clearly ‘British’. So the soap and moisturiser set from Marks and Spencer seems a bit tentative. But the Kingsmill bread and Pimms all hit the right note. What about your organisation is really British? Play up those connections. For example, if your development charity works in every country of the commonwealth shout about that and show how all over the world people are celebrating their new Head of State.

Be exclusive

A winery in Sussex is offering a limited-edition sparkling wine, with only 1,000 available. Products like these are great; exclusivity makes the product desirable. How can you create exclusivity? Perhaps the first 100 donors receive a special gift or invitation to an event. For example, a conservation charity could plant a tree in its coronation wood for each person who donates before the Monday 8 May, and put their name on a plaque at the entrance to the wood.

Be useful

Many of the coronation products work well because they are useful. People up and down the country will be celebrating this weekend, so food and drinks will always work well. Especially at street parties when people want to show off to the Joneses. How can your organisation be useful? Perhaps a charity working in mental health could offer a blog on coping with the coronation weekend and the effect it may have on mental health?

Be long lasting

One of the reasons things like biscuit tins are so popular is that as well as the collectability of them, they are long-lasting. Many people still have tins from the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and even her father’s coronation. And they are still being used to store cash, receipts, buttons, and a plethora of other household items. How can your organisation demonstrate its longevity? What product or service can you release to mark the coronation? Perhaps a new fund, award, or scholarship?

It’s not too late to create a product or service or even just write a blog that links to the news-worthy coronation just follow these four tips to make sure what you create hits the mark and drives your organisation objectives too.

So, tell us, how is your organisation celebrating the coronation?

Pic courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Fairtrade Foundation and Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Foundation and Fairtrade Fortnight

by | Mar 1, 2023 | Branding, Marketing, PR & Comms

How to create a successful marketing campaign: Fairtrade Foundation and Fairtrade Fortnight.

The latest in our irregular series looking at successful marketing campaigns and how you can create your own winning promotion.

Fairtrade is a global movement for change that works directly with businesses, consumers, and campaigners to make trade deliver for farmers and workers. It has a strong and active presence in the UK, represented by the Fairtrade Foundation. The Fairtrade Foundation was established in 1992 by various charities, campaigns, faith, and women’s groups as an independent non-profit organisation. In the last 30 years, the Fairtrade Foundation has grown and 65% of people in the UK say they choose Fairtrade. And it’s growing; Fairtrade sales increased by 14% in 2020. But like any organisation, it can’t rest on its laurels and needs to keep promoting itself and most importantly it’s products. So, each year the Fairtrade Foundation runs Fairtrade Fortnight. So, what makes the campaign so successful?

Strong message

Fairtrade Fortnight has a simple message and in 2023 links in with climate change. This year, they have used the rationing of fresh produce as a hook. One of the reasons the message is strong is that it combines head and heart – something that always works well when it comes to consumer buying behaviour. The ‘heart’ message of the cause of the people producing the food and planet, mixes well with the ‘head’ message of you can make a difference through your day-to-day purchases.

Strong stunt

Taking the strong message, the Fairtrade Foundation has created a great stunt that will create headlines and column inches. The Endangered Aisle will shine a light on the supermarket staples most at risk of becoming endangered from the climate crisis, including coffee, bananas, and chocolate.

A strong call to action

The final thing that makes this campaign successful is a clear, simple call to action: Buy fairtrade. The campaign has explained the issue of farmers not being fairly paid, and land suffering climate change effects and then set out what everyone can do about it.

Taking note of these three things could make all the difference to your next campaign. How can you create a message which reaches both heart and head? Can you create a stunt that catches people’s eyes? And the most important thing is to make sure you have a strong call to action. Indeed all your marketing materials and activity need this so it’s worth spending some time on.

Let us know which of these tactics you use and what success they have brought you.

Pic courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Pic showing a stall selling different vegetables with a Fairtrade sign at the back

Toilet Twinning and World Toilet Day

Toilet Twinning and World Toilet Day

by | Nov 18, 2022 | Marketing, PR & Comms, Social media

How to create a successful marketing campaign: Toilet Twinning and World Toilet Day

The latest in our irregular series looking at successful marketing campaigns and how you can create your own winning promotion.

The charity Toilet Twinning was established in 2010 as a joint venture of NGOs Tearfund and Cord. Since then 175,337 Toilet Twins have been created and 1,052,022 lives have been transformed through safe sanitation. It raises money for sanitation projects through ‘toilet twinning’. For £60 you can twin your loo with a family’s household latrine in a vulnerable community in a country of your choosing. You then get a certificate to hang in ‘smallest room’, along with with a photo and GPS coordinates so you can look up your twin’s location on Google Maps. Lovely! You can imagine, it’s a quirky gift idea for that hard to but for uncle at Christmas but probably quite a hard sell to get people interested the rest of the year. This is why we love Toilet Twinning’s World Toilet Day campaign. Yes, World Toilet Day is a thing! So, what’s so good about this campaign and how can you recreate its success?

1. Great hook

Making use of an awareness day, anniversary or other time of public interest can save you a lot of hard work. There will already be other people, brands, organisations who will be sharing content on this topic and using the hashtag so you can piggy back on that too. The most important thing is that the hook you choose is really relevant to your organisation. World Toilet Day and Toilet Twinning were made for each other. Find your perfect fit and then run with it.

2. Make it Pun-ny

Talking of runs with it (see what we did there?!), Toilet Twinning is not afraid of a good pun. And we are here for it! We love a pun at We Are Comma. Toilet Twining use puns to great effect for topics which can be quite taboo still. They use the #bigpush to encourage their fundraisers to get those donations. And their headline fundraising initiative for World Toilet Day this year is the Big Squat – encouraging people “Squat 60 times a day from 1st of November to World Toilet Day on 19th of November and raise money for life-changing toilets!”. If that sounds to active for you, how about a piece of cake with their ‘soggy bottom bake sale’?

3. A clear target

This campaign is very clear in what your fundraising target should be. £60 – the cost of twinning a toilet. 60 squats for £60. It all adds up nicely. And it’s achievable. Getting friends and family to club together and help you raise £60 seems do-able. And the more people who think they can achieve it, the more people who will join in.

So how can you apply these lessons to your organisation, ahead of your next campaign to make it more successful?

You can find out about We Are Comma, who we are, and the services that we offer on the website. Or to start a conversation you can email or use the contact form.
Pic courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Pic showing a senior team leader with her team planning strategy
How to create a successful marketing campaign: Christmas jumper day

How to create a successful marketing campaign: Christmas jumper day

by | Dec 9, 2021 | Copywriting, Creative, Marketing, PR & Comms

How to create a successful marketing campaign: Christmas jumper day

This is the first in our irregular series looking at successful marketing campaigns and how you can create your own winning promotion.

2021 is the 10th anniversary of Save the Children’s annual fundraising Christmas jumper day. Last year the campaign raised £3m for the charity – despite all the challenges of last Christmas. So why is this campaign so successful? And most importantly, how can you recreate its achievements?

There are five key reasons Christmas jumper day is so popular.

First, it’s simple. It’s an easy-to-understand concept. Wear a Christmas jumper then donate some money for doing so. Great! Finding a similarly simple concept to promote your charity or organisation might not be so easy but it is possible. There are a few options – either you can choose a time of year that you want to focus your efforts on and pick something familiar as a ‘hook’ to hang your campaign on; Easter bonnet day for example. Or you pick something that it iconic to your brand and focus on that.

Secondly, use an item they have or are familiar with. Everyone knows what a Christmas jumper is. Many people own them. Picking a day when everyone should wear them makes it powerful. This leads into point three.

Three, make your campaign accessible. Everyone can wear a Christmas Jumper. This is one of the reasons it is so popular in schools, places of work – everywhere. Anyone and everyone can join in – if they’re willing to wear a questionable jumper. And in fact, since Christmas jumper day launched the options for more tasteful Christmas jumpers have increased. Incidentally this has been reflected in the marketing. It started as a very tongue in cheek, dodgy jumper day. But its simplicity and popularity mean it has grown to be more middle-of-the-road. Asking people to wear ballgowns, for example, will never become so popular because they are not so easy to get hold off, a good percentage of the population would rather not wear them and many people couldn’t do their job in them.

Four, make it regular. This is the 10th annual Christmas jumper day. Schools, PTAs, hospitals, community groups, local authorities – everyone knows to expect it in early December. This means they can make it part of their plan for the year.

Five, make people feel good. This is the most important part to any successful campaign. People have to feel good for taking part. Save the Children’s Christmas jumper day makes people feel good for donating to a worthy cause. And they can build excitement about the coming celebrations for Christmas. It’s a win-win. How can your organisation leverage this feel good factor? Are you a charity that people can feel good raising money for? Are you an organisation which people can volunteer for and feel good doing so? Are you a small business that can make people feel good for supporting? Find your feel good factor and use it.

What lesson from Christmas jumper day will you be taking into your campaigns in 2022?

Remember We Are Comma can help design, develop and deliver your campaigns and create success for your organisation. Email to find out how we could help you.

Pic showing a Christmas jumper pattern

Photos from Adobe Stock