Here comes the … Royal Wedding Merchandise

The promotions industry is extremely creative and resourceful and every event or occasion inspires the imagination of those in this sector. So what has the industry created or suggested for the forthcoming Royal Weddings?

Everything from note books (the paper kind) to laptops and from bunting and balloons to wine glass charms … that’s what!

We’ve all seen the commemorative mugs and plates on show in the mass media, so we thought we’d look a little deeper and find some more imaginative and unusual potential Royal Wedding merchandise and feature some traditional celebration items too.

 

Ideas on Paper

Established promotional product supplier iNameit (part of the printing company, Prime Group) supplies a wide range of calendars, diaries, notebooks and lately, easy peel stickers, that can all be branded. Calendars, diaries and note books can be personalised on the cover or on each page, but for the first Royal Wedding of 2011, iNameit is suggesting this note book with the stylish and symbolic wedding rings, but the company could just as easily add other wedding symbols and if they adhere to the rules issued by the Clarence House they can also use certain Royal images too. 

Fiona Booth, Account Manger, iNameit, said, “The era of the mass mailer is over and companies that fail to embrace image personalisation, and the use of relevant imagery for special occasions, will be stuck in the slow lane of marketing where their message will end up in the bin and left un-read; and with increasing financial pressures for marketing budgets to work harder, being able to truly engage with your customers will yield dividends.“

 

Ideas on Laptops 

My Brand Tech offers a complete range of personalised laptops, touchpads and smart phones that can be fully customised with the graphics and branding of your choice and the company has created this sample for the Royal Wedding in April. 

Of course, when wedding fever has run its course, you can turn to My Brand Tech for laptops branded with your own logo or message. As the company’s website says, “Why have a laptop that advertises the makers company, when you can have one that advertises yours?”

My Brand Tech makes it easy for you to design and customise your own high spec laptops. 

 

Ideas on Glasses

Zoogee, which supplies a huge range of key ring, golf balls, guitar picks and much, much more, has designed this full colour, domed wine glass charm for the forthcoming nuptials. The charm comes with a quality wire hook attachment and two colourful beads for easy application to any wine glass stem. Charms can be produced with a single or double-sided photo-quality, domed imprint in any shape or size without setup or die charges.

Zoogee tells us the product can also be produced with translucent or glow-in-the-dark backgrounds – just the thing for the late night, wedding celebration parties. To complete the quality feel, the goods come in professional style packaging.

 

Ideas for More Traditional Promotional Merchandise from Pens …

Obviously, suppliers of more traditional promotional merchandise (the backbone of the industry) have creative ideas for producing merchandise for the occasions too.

Melissa Chevin, Marketing Manager at Senator, a leading manufacturer of promotional writing instruments, advises, “Many brands will be looking to capitalise on the Royal Weddings and the feel-good factor they are expected to generate.  However, with such a wealth of merchandise available selecting the right product can be a bit of a minefield as the range of options to be considered is vast.

”One of the reasons why the promotional pen is so popular is that it has universal appeal and longevity. A high quality, desirable pen, will stay with the recipient for a long period of time, conveying the message of the brand and protecting its equity.”

Two of Senator’s products which are ideal for commemorating the big day are the Visir Ball Pen (pictured), and the Image Chrome.

The Visir is a premium heavyweight twist-mechanism metal ball pen which features a dynamically shaped clip, high-gloss lacquer finish and chrome-plated metal barrel.  It is available in blue or black and can be printed on the barrel or engraved on the clip with a commemorative date.  Engraving also enables brands to include variable text such as personalised names.

The Image Chrome is a distinctive twist-mechanism metal ball pen which has a classic design and a high-quality matt lacquer finish with matt chrome fittings. It is available in silver or blue and can be printed on the barrel or engraved on the clip.

Both pens can be presented in a stylish gift box for added impact.

 

… to Bags …

Andy Steavenson, director and founder of Crazy:Bags, a leading stockist and distributor of promotional bags says, “It’s refreshing to be looking ahead to two very exciting national events this year. The two Royal Weddings represent some much welcome good news at a time of public gloominess and will be a real shot in the arm for the promotional marketing and merchandise industries.  

“These events offer marketers and promotional marketers some fantastic opportunities; especially if we learn from previous experiences when the nation has really come together in celebration; most notably perhaps when Prince William’s parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, married in 1981. 

“It is this public display of good will and celebration that we can tap into and leverage.  The UK economy is anticipated to be boosted by the event, with estimates of in excess £620 million, according to consulting director of retail researchers Verdict, Neil Saunders.  He suggested merchandise sales could be worth between £12 million and £18 million.

“But buyer beware; there are official guidelines from Clarence House regarding souvenirs, gifts etc., so a quick check of the do’s and don’ts would be wise.”

 

... to Balloons, Bunting and Banners

With many companies having their own celebrations for the big occasions, why not send your customers some celebrations staples (bunting, balloons, flags, etc) as a good will gesture?

Established supplier, B-Loony has put together some packages for the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton. For just £50 (plus delivery) you can have 50 x 10” assorted red/white/blue balloons, 1 disposable helium cylinder, 3 mini rolls of ribbon, 50 paper handwaving flags (with Royal Wedding print) and 2 x 10M lengths of Royal Wedding print bunting. Other packages are available.

Another well-known supplier of traditional British party items, Peeks of Dorset, (I caught up with the company on its stand at the recent Trade Only Show), has a vast array of Royal Wedding banners, bunting, flags, plus lot of items featuring the Union Flag, including inflatable hands and a variety of hats.

 

Looking to the Future 

There’s plenty of scope for those who supply or want to buy merchandise for the forthcoming Royal Weddings .. and that’s not all … 

It’s recently been announced that there are tours being arranged of the village where Kate Middleton grew up; cue the ‘I’ve visited Kat Middleton’s school’ badges and the flags to wave during the tour.

And before you know it we’ll all be celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It’s not just the industry that’s going to be inspired by this occasion. A young lady called Katherine from Chester has already been inspired and she’s just won the BBC’s Blue Peter competition to design and emblem for this event and here it is. I’m sure we’ll be seeing this jolly design on lots more Royal Memorabilia in the near future.

Carole Bull, Editor.

 

 

 

 

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