Opinion leaders in the palaces

Opinion leaders are people who are particularly admired or who have special qualities that result in their having influence over what some consumers like or buy.

For some segments, the Duchess of Cambridge is an opinion leader for women's fashion, as an example.

In the UK, the display of a Royal Warrant confirms that the households of royal opinion leaders have used the brand for at least five years. Products apply for and may display the Royal Warrant indicating product use by one of three royal households (HM The Queen, HRM The Duke of Edinburgh or HRM The Prince of Wales).

Among the Royal Warrant holders in food and beverage, for example, are BritVic, Renshaw Baking, Johnnie Walker and Selfridges.

When Unilever's Marmite became a Royal Warrant holder just ahead of the Queen's 90th birthday this year, it celebrated by publicising the warrant and toasting the Queen's special birthday. The brand received extra social media attention on this occasion, as 'Love It' fans were glad that Marmite is enjoyed in the palaces.

UK tobacco packaging goes plain

In February, I wrote about the latest controversies surrounding tobacco packaging that must carry large and explicit health warnings--and minimal marketing content.

The UK High Court just ruled in a lawsuit filed by the major tobacco manufacturers. The marketers argued that the government was effectively taking away their trademarked intellectual property rights, leaving them unable to display marketing and branding symbols they've invested in and protected legally against competitive use for many decades.

The judge ruled against the tobacco marketers, saying:

'The essence of the case is about whether it is lawful for states to prevent the tobacco industry from continuing to make profits by using their trade marks and other rights to further what the World Health Organisation describes as a health crisis of epidemic proportions and which imposes an immense clean-up cost on the public purse . . . In my judgment the regulations are valid and lawful in all respects'.

In his decision, the judge noted that marketing symbols and brand designs exert 'a causal effect upon consumer behaviour and encouraged smoking'. In addition to requiring plain packaging on cigarettes sold in the UK, certain types of packaging (such as 'lipstick' packs targeting female smokers) will be banned. Retailers are allowed to continue selling current inventory of branded packaging until stocks are depleted. After that, packs such as the one shown above will be the standard, with branding allowed but only within strict guidelines.

The Art of the Trench in Its 7th Year

Burberry launched its crowdsourced Art of the Trench microsite in 2009. Anyone can submit a photo, as the above 'upload' detail indicates. The photos not only celebrate the trench, they also celebrate the art of personal style and the brand's heritage.

With the company investing heavily to build a new Leeds factory, 'Made in Britain' is both fashionable and a big boost to the local economy.

Trench coats remain in style decade after decade, with fashion updates. The Burberry trench is distinctive because of the careful hand-crafting of each detail, sewn in company factories by skilled workers who require as little as 6.5 hours to complete one trench, aided by tech extras.

Harrods, one of Burberry's channel partners, posted a style history of the trench last year. Focusing on the heritage and the craftsmanship supports the brand's upmarket image and reinforces the 'Made in Britain' message.

And the winner is . . . not Boaty McBoatface

RSS Sir David Attenborough

A new cutting-edge polar research ship is being built in the UK, and the public was asked to vote for a name (#NameOurShip).

Overwhelmingly, people voted for Boaty McBoatface but officials instead chose RRS Sir David Attenborough, which received far fewer votes but had strong backing from many. Yes, this is a dignified choice and quite appropriate.

Boaty McBoatface the sub

But Boaty will live on, as the name of a remotely operated yellow submarine carried aboard the new polar ship. Cheeky tweets about #BoatyMcBoatface suggested that the sub might be called Subby McSubface.

To see more about this unexpected ending to a highly public social media contest, just search for 'Boaty' on the Web or in Twitter.

The Science and Technology Committee will look into the contest results next week. The marketing lesson: Crowdsourcing doesn't always work the way you think. I still believe Boaty McBoatface should be licensed for children's toys, but Subby McSubface would work almost as well.

Disney targets adult brand fans

Of course Disney markets T-shirts for adults. But it's also looking to market diverse new product lines for adults, and inviting fashion designers to consider the possibilities.

'We did a lot of consumer research and discovered there was huge demand for adult product from Disney', says the head of Disney consumer products for Europe, Middle East and Asia.

For example, Kate Spade New York has just launched a line of fashion accessory products based on Minnie Mouse, including the tote bag shown here (from Disney's media images).

Kenzo released a fashion line for adults based on Disney's new movie, Jungle Book. These are upmarket fashions, available exclusively through posh Bergdorf Goodman in New York City and from the designer, Kenzo.

With so many valuable brand franchises (not just traditional Disney characters but also Star Wars and Marvel characters, to name just two), Disney has numerous opportunities for licensing its pop-culture icons, aiming for the target market of adult fans.

Why Instagram is 'top priority' for some marketers

Not just photos...Instagram is a very important marketing tool for marketers like Fossil (watches) and Leon's (furniture).

Fossil has more than 500k Instagram followers, attracted in less then one year. Its digital brand manager says Instagram is 'top priority' because of its popularity amongst Millennials, a key target audience.

Also, Fossil can post images for all occasions, all product categories and all promotions--and all followers will see them. Finally, the Like2Buy link is actually contributing to sales of pictured products.

Leon's, a Canadian retailer, is using Instagram to reposition itself and emphasise its fashion furniture.

The social media manager says that Instagram is an important marketing medium because the images visually reinforce the retailer's updated fashion image. 'All we did was highlight a style a lot of people didn’t know we had', she explains.

So think visual and think about how your marketing plan can make best use out of Instagram.