Convenience and instant gratification are so important for customers that retailers must be ready to react at all times.
Love Island are the words on everyone’s lips. Well this isn’t entirely true, but it may well be if you are 16 – 24 years old – Love Island’s primary demographic. The popular 8-week show sees young singletons enter a villa to find love, but the show provides so much more than an opportunity for the contestants.
The annual Summer reality show hooks in on average 3 million viewers per night, but it is about much more than just viewing a one hourly programme for the retailers looking to leverage the opportunities Love Island presents.
The shows advert breaks are packed with major brands – including McDonald’s, Kellogg’s, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble, but Love Island has also been seen as an attractive proposition for new entrants to TV advertising.
Boost energy drinks and Rekorderlig cider are on board, as well as fashion and beauty brands Pretty Little Thing, Boohoo, British Style Collective, Swimwear 365, I Saw It First, Superdrug and Hairburst.
A look at the Love Island Outfits Instagram account, which has over 100,000 followers and counting, shows that many of the clothes worn on the show come from these fashion retailers. Whilst real-time spikes in viewers looking for outfits worn by contestants during the show have been noted.
Product placement also features heavily throughout the daily programme, with Superdrug investing heavily to ensure their sun cream brand is front and centre in the line of viewer’s vision.
The opportunities for partner retailers are cross-channel, with numerous touch points for retailers to engage with potential customers. Opportunities range from product placement, licensing, product creation, retail promotions, VOD spend, airtime spend and social.
Whilst an influx of sales is obviously great news for retailers it is imperative their systems can cope with such influxes. Problems with user journey, ordering and stock management all have a high impact on the impression that a customer builds of a certain brand. The narrow window of opportunity that Love Island presents, shows how imperative an instant shopping experience is for this demographic.
Can your systems cope with an influx of activity and shopper engagement? Are your business systems ready to leverage the instant opportunities that the retail and reality world present? For a review of your technology and operational processes, contact the Retail247 team today.
CEO
Martin is the CEO of Retail247. Involved in many large scale and customer focused projects Martin brings a real world thinking, pragmatic approach to innovation and strategy.