As 2012 is a jam packed year for Britain with a number of large events, we’ve been taking a look at how brand marketing has become more patriotic. From the Olympics to the Queen’s Jubilee and even the Visit Britain campaign all over our cinema screens, 2012 is set to be a great year for inbound tourism and provides numerous opportunities for brands large and small to get involved. Many brands such as Kelloggs, Heinz and Marmite (Ma’amite!) are commemorating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee using vintage packaging, with both Kelloggs and Heinz using designs that were around when the Queen ascended to the throne.
Brands are also teaming up to mark the “British summer to remember”. Schweppes and Diageo are set to promote drinking Schweppes with Pimms and Gordon’s gin – complete with union jacks in the promotional images of course!
But how many union jacks is too many?!
A recent study by Coley Porter Bell shows that most London based professionals don’t mind when marketers, advertisers and PR’s play on Britishness, just as long as it’s subtle!
Vicky Bullen, the CEO of Coley Porter Bell said, "Our main finding is that the British are being very British in their attitude to Britishness. They are happy for brands to be patriotic, but they want brands to act with dignity and restraint when it comes to using the flag and other icons of Britishness. Fewer than one in five respondents felt that overt patriotism is acceptable."
Outspoken journalist Charlie Brooker has recently written a blog for The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/22/olympics-thank-god-for-sponsors) focusing on sponsorship for the Olympics and particularly how it is overused. Given the investment these brands have made, it is understandable they want to maximise exposure and exploit the opportunity, but is it too much?
Charlie goes on to say, “The official Olympic iconography has become just another bit of background visual noise – like the Keep Britain Tidy icon, or a barcode.” This is a fair comment which not only applies the Olympics, but also to The Queens Jubilee. The more we see union jacks, the less attention we are going to pay to them!
Although the idea is lovely, and it is great that Britain is having such an eventful year, all this play on ‘Britishness’ will become too much for us and will soon lose all meaning. This is similar to the recent issue with products claiming to be ‘green’, resulting in us being ‘greenwashed’ so green credentials no longer hold much meaning to us. What’s more, jumping on the bandwagon to raise awareness of products has resulted in the ASA clamping down on false claims being made towards how sustainable a product may actually be.
Will the same apply for British patriotism for marketing non-British products? For example, Heinz is an American company, but is using the Queen’s Jubilee to market its products in the UK. Does patriotic marketing mask actual British products and make us associate these big brands with being British? The fact that Heinz is supporting the Queen’s Jubilee makes us associate it with being British, although the brand never actually claims to be.
Mary Portas’s ‘Bottom Line’ has created ladies lingerie from materials 100% manufactured in the UK, using British suppliers and staff. It’s a great concept in providing for the British economy, but with the amount of ‘British marketing’ from non British companies, this uniqueness has been taken away as everything appears to be British these days. It’s something that the ASA has not yet picked up on, and depending on the extent of the issue it probably never will. But it does make us question how much is too much? And what effect is it having on real British products.
