That Works Weekly provides an alternative take on the week’s marketing and branding news. In Episode 9, Selfridges welcome weddings, Tesco is Pret-central, KFC are reunited with their slogan and VO5 reach out to the follically-challenged.
Marriages at Selfridges
The high-end department store Selfridges has announced this week that, in an attempt to aid the backlog which has built up during the pandemic, they are to host weddings. Ah, every young couple’s dream. Postpone the wedding four times over the course of 18 months, then, when they can eventually tie the knot, hold it in the upstairs of a glorified Debenhams. Who said romance is dead? The ceremonies will be held in the fourth floor of their Oxford Street store in London, which has been specially converted into a snazzy new wedding suite. What they should have done instead is convert the fourth floor into the branch of the business we all want to see, where they specialise in the sale of kitchen-based utilities which keep food cool; Selfridges Sell Fridges.
Pret’s Tesco takeover
Pret A Manger earn their first mention in That Works Weekly since episode one, in which we discussed the launch of their croissant range in Tesco stores. Well, not content with just rinsing Tesco-goers for French breakfast pastries, this time they’ve gone a step further and will now open whole cafes in a selection of the supermarket stores. Apparently, the move comes in an effort to ‘target more people working from home’ – a) they’re about a year late on that trend, and b) who knew people lived in Tesco stores?
KFC permit finger lickin’
This week saw the return of a real staple in the world of marketing and branding; KFC’s ‘finger lickin’ good’ slogan. If there was ever a sign that the pandemic in the UK may be coming to an end and that normality may be about to return, it’s not pubs being open, it’s not Boris finally being rid of the scarecrow haircut and it’s not random people hugging in the street at 3am. It’s being allowed to lick your fingers after annihilating some herby, spicy, fried chicken from the state of Kentucky. Because when the slogan was on a hiatus, we all just used wet wipes, right?
VO5’s bold bald move
Hair-styling product brand VO5 have chosen to base their new advertising campaign around men who are running out of hair on which to use styling products. Not to be cynical, but isn’t that a little bit like BT trying to flog their broadband packages to some tribe in the Amazon who have never heard of the internet? The Unilever-owned company acknowledge that “using a balding bloke to promote a hair product might feel counter intuitive, but the only thing men fear more than a dodgy hairstyle is losing it altogether.” Wrong. The only things men fear more than a dodgy hairstyle are being hated by their mother-in-law and having people find out how much they enjoy Love Island.
Holidays, hugs and pubs
This week’s ‘good news’ really is the best of news as we approach the next stage of the Government’s roadmap in easing Coronavirus restrictions. From Monday, we’ll be able to enjoy a meal or drink indoors rather than in December-like weather conditions, physical contact is more or less allowed (anyone remember how to hug?) and overseas holidays are permitted to ‘green list’ countries. The only downside to all of this is for the 30 or so unfortunate inhabitants of the South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands - one of the 12 countries on said list. Imagine the herd of delirious, pale, holiday-deprived Brits who will flock there like seagulls to chips from 4am on Monday, despite not knowing the place even existed until two weeks ago. You can hear the residents’ pleas to be put on the ‘red list’ from here.
