The Jubilee's impact on retailers

The nation has now recovered from the great British showcase across the country as many of us hung union Jack buntings, prepared for street parties, and spent a fortune on celebrations in preparation for the Queen’s Jubilee. I think we all owe a huge thank you to the Queen for giving us a wonderfully patriotic four days off work (and being our Queen for sixty years of course!)

But what about the unfortunate Brits who didn’t get given the time off to enjoy the different events that took place? Whilst I was relaxing watching the Jubilee boat race, retailers were still attracting shoppers, which made me think about the turnover in the run up to the Jubilee since high street brands everywhere converted shop windows and consumers were inundated with red, white, and blue marketing.

London’s Oxford Street is the greatest retail environment within the UK and is said to have kick-started the West end celebrations with 147 flags and over 2 million shoppers.

Amongst fashion retailers, food retailers were all very keen on being Jubilee focused too- especially Sainsbury’s whereby Piccadilly circus was transformed into a ballroom.

The quirky marketing campaigns on TV (like the M&S ‘Summer to remember’ advert), social media photo uploads, in store decorations and product branding, excited us and as consumers it reminded us about the important upcoming Jubilee.

 

The Jubilee gave us fortunate employees time off, and the opportunity to be proud of being English, but it also enabled retailers to have a record trading boost. We could not help but spend! 

Did you see any excellent examples of Jubilee marketing? What did you buy throughout the celebrations? 

 I would love to hear your comments...

The dire relationship between young people and the police that lead to a 3 day riot in London.

OK So I am a little bit late in writing up about the London Riots but it is still in my mind- so I'm sure it is in the minds of others!

Firstly I think it is important to show recognition and thank all of those kind hearted people who helped clean the streets of London after the rioting, looting and arson occurred. To me this shows solidarity in the community, which I was starting to question if there was any.

Secondly I am embarrassed to come from the same place as these horrible nasty people. When I found out, I was up late in bed thinking and searching for news on Google when I saw the capitals reputation going downhill in other parts of the world. Definitely not what London needed to the lead up of big events like the Olympics, the Notting Hill Carnival and the SW4 Festival...

 I love London and it has a great atmosphere but I am not sure if I will be attending any of these upcoming events now- Will I be safe? And I am sure I am not the only person questioning safety at this moment of time. Although rioters have been ordered to stay away from Notting Hill Carnival, I am not convinced they will. It is expected to finish early this year at 7pm- but didn't rioting occur in daylight... so is it going to stop them?

It is horrible to think people are now frightened of little scumbags. A peaceful protest in Tottenham lead to youths roaming the streets and stealing goods from retailers. I don't understand? Did young people see the Prime Minister on holiday as an excuse to cause chaos?

There is a dire relationship between young people and the police that young people knew the metropolitan police could not stop this mass looting. It shows how disrespectful the youths of today are. Although it wasn't a time for laughing I saw groups form on Facebook with titles such as 'Going to pick up our benefits, but realising we burnt down the Post Office' which is true! They were so stupid they were destroying the place they live.

Do we blame education, parents or the government?

Personally I blame the government... They make me cringe! The faces we were seeing on TV were faces that belonged to gangs. Why have the government not focused on this appalling increase in gang culture? Valid that these youths in gangs scare teachers, social workers and police officers but surely this is more reason to override the problem before more innocent people lose lives in monstrosity attacks like the London Riot 8/8/11. The government wanted a multicultural society with equal human rights but this is what has happened....

I am no Prime Minister, but I know for a fact the main cause of concern here are gangs. As a 21 year old I can shamefully say I know individuals that consider themselves in a gang, and although I think it is ridiculous, I know WHY they choose to be in gangs. They are blaming the government for having no job, and for coming from a less wealthier background that they steal to get the 'essentials' that are needed in everyday life like Smart phones, laptops, TV's etc.

I could go on and on...but I would like to finalize with stating the police should have beaten these people! I recently got back from my holiday in Spain and I witnessed them beating people. If English police adopted European policing strategies perhaps gangs would not want to commit such crime because they would be scared of the consequences...instead of the other way round.

The worst thing is I heard one rioter got sentenced to 1 day imprisonment! What a joke.