Have you heard of ‘the Kate Effect’? You know the one, when the gorgeous Duchess of Cambridge wears something and BOOM – the garment sells out?! There’s no doubt that having the Duchess wear an item of your clothing or an accessory is huge for a business… but it’s a unicorn for many and can’t be forced or really planned for. But on this podcast we speak to one of the businesses who’s experienced the Kate Effect first hand – Hicks & Brown.
The Kate Effect with Hicks & Brown
If you don’t know what I’m talking about – I first saw the Duchess in a Hicks & Brown hat on the Hello Magazine website but a Google of ‘Hicks & Brown Duchess of Cambridge’ will show you just how far this spread, including websites like Vogue, Good Housekeeping, Glamour Magazine… the list goes on. For any business, this is HUGE.
On this episode, I talk to the founders of Hicks & Brown, Rosie Turner and Alice Leet-Cook, about how the business started and, of course, the Kate Effect. We talk about what it was like when the ladies realised the Duchess of Cambridge was wearing their fedora, how quickly the hat sold out, where the interest has come from following Kate wearing that fedora and so much more.
In this podcast, Rosie and Alice chat about the challenges of having their business catapulted into the spotlight over a very short space of time. We chat about stock, but also running out of boxes and branded tissue paper… and even how challenging it is to deal with couriers shipping hats all over the world. We also talk about how people’s perceptions of the brand has changed and how they have been asked about distributors and customer service in different countries, in addition to putting a handwritten card in with every single order… even when that meant taking a stack of cards home each night!
And of course, we chat about the positives too – and I really smiled when Alice shared one of the biggest positives for her. It might not be what you expect.
As always, I would love you to tune in, screenshot and share to Instagram Stories tagging us both if you love it. You can find out more about Hicks & Brown through all the links below:
