Mothercare and Tesco look to capitalise on Royal Baby baptism interest

Mothercare and Tesco are among a small number of brands launching tactical marketing initiatives to exploit the media interest in the baptism of Prince George, however, the event has failed to spark the same levels of activity that greeted his birth three months ago. 

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Mothercare is running a Facebook competition for fans to win a set of Royal Baby products.

The christening takes place later today (23 October) and will be the young prince’s only other public appearance since he was shown to the world’s media in the hours following his birth earlier this summer. The new born is expected to inject £240m into the UK economy this year, according to figures for the Centre of Retail Research, with marketing experts claiming the buzz around the prince is likely to encourage shoppers to buy products to toast his arrival.

While the prediction was reflected in the spike in brand activity to welcome the Royal Baby’s birth in June, the level of baptism-themed activity has failed to reach the same heights. Mothercare is attempting to captialise with the launch of a Facebook competition to win a range of Royal Baby celebratory products.

Elsewhere, Tesco has posted a tweet through its Tesco Baby Club feed to congratulate the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge. It reads: “It’s the day of the royal baby’s christening, may today be special for the Duke & Duchess and of course Prince George Alexander Louis!”

Brands that were quick to launch activity this summer including Warburton’s, VisitBritain, Mini and Magnum told Marketing Week they would not be running any tactical activity this time round. It follows warnings from branding experts that marketers have to be wary of tapping into events such as a royal celebration to avoid damaging the credibility of their brands.

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