“Where there are people there are customers” and the Globe Theatre in London maximises the eternal interest in England’s bard with an assortment of gifts, merchandise and souvenirs bursting with both imagination and creativity, yet developed with no small degree of commercial acumen and business foresight. A combination of art and artefacts that would surely have impressed the great man himself.
Shakespeare and all things Shakespearean of course offer a wonderful opportunity to dust off the cobwebs of a million English lessons and to develop an assortment brimming with literary loveliness and dramatic intent. However the Globe has cleverly read between the lines, and in the best tradition of literary comprehension and assessment has dissected every play, digested every speech and explored every wonderful charismatic character to create a series of collections that cleverly encapsulates the attraction of each element to its appropriate audience and customer.
“All the World’s a Stage” is brought to garish life in the bright pinks of Broadway lights, whilst the teenage attraction of the tragedy of Romeo & Juliet adorns T-shirts and sweat shirts in appropriate adolescent cartoon style. For the younger siblings “Something Wicked this way comes” in gothic black and violent text, whilst for “Et Tu Brute” read spattered shirts, testament to the violence of any Roman assassination, and satisfying the artistic blood-lust of even the most macabre of teenage theatre goers.
The commercial acumen is in the selection not only of the character, and the graphic interpretation to a clearly defined target customer, but also in its application to appropriate product, from the attention to the detailing in the size and shaping of teenage t-shirts, the weight and sophistication of mugs and ornaments, to a careful pricing strategy appropriate to tiny incomes as well as the more affluent enthusiast.
With the excitement of the show still lingering in the mind and the prophetic words still ringing in the ears, surely the only outstanding act left to perform must be “To Buy or not to Buy?” if that is a question at all.
Does your assortment maximise the potential of your client base?
Are you bringing the emotional context of your products to life for the customer?