Written by Aimee Everest
Over 3 million people watch it. Not all of them like to admit it. It seems everyone in the UK is talking about Love Island and there is no escaping it! But has it lived up to the hype this year?
Yes, it’s trash TV. But they know their market, they know their audience and they run with it.
Love Island, for those who don’t know, is a concept similar to Big Brother in that a group of people are put into a villa and filmed for 7 weeks but with a much more positive connotation - we aren’t looking for controversy and arguments, we’re looking for love. And so are the contestants. Everyone loves a love story, right?
The contestants are good looking, happy to spend all day in a bikini in front of the cameras and are looking for someone to fall in love with (or just kiss and tell) in front of the nation. A huge gain brands get from partnering with contestants is the influencer marketing exposure – these contestants are what a lot of people aspire to look like, so having them promote protein shakes, fake tan and teeth whitener for the rest of the year is bound to boost your sales.
It can also be a great way of boosting your customer engagement, especially if your brand shares a similar target audience. Loads of brands will get involved in the hype on Twitter during the show using the #LoveIsland hashtag. It means your social media team are working out of regular hours, but the rewards and benefits from being involved in the show’s conversation can be huge.
The show itself is similar to your marketing campaign. The contestants are trying to promote themselves to a potential partner. You make yourself desirable and marketable. New temptations are presented to you - are you going to stay loyal to the brand you’ve tried, tested and liked, or will you try something new? You have banter with the other contestants and speak in the ‘diary room’, which mirrors the engagement with your audience. You might get accused of ‘mugging someone off’, which means not staying true to your word, giving the wrong impression or lying for your benefit – you don’t want to ‘mug off’ your customers by not delivering on your promises and not living up to your brand message!
The Love Island marketing campaign is certainly a successful one. They have partnered with huge brands including Jet2, Superdrug, Missguided, Lucozade and Echo Falls for the 2018 series. The first teaser was released on social media on 29th April 2018 which was the start of a 5-week social media campaign to attract viewers, ready for the first episode to launch on Monday 4th June.
There was a lot of hype over the new series after a phenomenally successful 2016 and 2017 series with viewing figures peaking at 3.4million, an all-time high for ITV2, on the first episode.
Even if you aren’t a fan of the show, it begs the question of how much can your marketing team learn from the success of Love Island?