Waistcoats are still coming home: the impact on search

As the first manager to guide the England Men's team to a World Cup semi-final since 1990, Gareth Southgate won the support of the nation and did it in great style, literally. It became apparent throughout England’s World Cup campaign that he would be going for a smart look finished off with a (now famous) navy waistcoat.

The rise of the waistcoat

Consequently, the success of Southgate triggered huge interest in the term ‘waistcoat’ online, sending it soaring as the nation’s hopes continued to be fulfilled.

From Google trends data over the past five years, it’s clear there’s a correlation between the England team’s success and interest in waistcoats, particularly evident in the large peak seen after our successful last 16 penalty shoot out.

Marks and Spencer’s campaign

Since our Quarter-final victory, Marks & Spencer successfully launched a waistcoat campaign to build upon their already impressive 35% increase in waistcoat sales seen in the last month.

They declared Saturday as #NationalWaistcoatDay, which blood cancer research charity, Bloodwise, quickly gained inspiration from to create their semi-final campaign #waistcoatwednesday, which had the nation in a waistcoat frenzy.

Well done #England!

For the semi-final on Wednesday, why not wear a waistcoat to show your support for Gareth’s team and help beat blood cancer?

Find out how to take part ⚽️️ https://t.co/XQ9qrt48nh#WaistcoatWednesday#ENGSWEpic.twitter.com/Ocb7H0E4FK

— Bloodwise (@bloodwise_uk) 7 July 2018

Waistcoats on social

#Waistcoatwednesday gained huge traction and the whole of twitter flooded with tweets showing support in its many forms. From waistcoat cupcakes, to dress your dog waistcoats, to make your own waistcoat or just simply wearing a normal waistcoat, we seemed to have hit a waistcoat phenomenon never seen before.

Baking efforts for tomorrow’s #WaistcoastWednesday in aid of @bloodwise_uk! Top tip: waistcoat is a difficult shape to carve out of icing... I’m sure they’ll still taste good though pic.twitter.com/0LaHnZbvaW

— Emma Victoria Brown (@chattrboxie) 10 July 2018

.@jonhollingfm didn't wear a waistcoat today so I made him one. As you can tell he's delighted. If anyone asks it's Dolce & Gabinbag #WaistcoatWednesday#itscominghome#WorldCup#ENGpic.twitter.com/7mllGZ8gY4

— Josh Bancroft (@JoshBancroftUK) 11 July 2018

#WaistcoatWednesday COME ON ENGLAND pic.twitter.com/YoqAYjELZR

— one man & his dog (@manandhisdog112) 11 July 2018

Backing #WaistcoastWednesday on @GMB today! #ItsComingHome#ComeonEngland#GarethSouthgate@piersmorgan@susannareid100@kategarrawaypic.twitter.com/xSU3vQjDDK

— Charlotte Hawkins (@CharlotteHawkns) 11 July 2018

Who’s winning in waistcoats?

When looking at the search term ‘waistcoat’ over the past month, it’s clear that since the beginning of July the value of this term has been growing, which aligns with Gareth and the England team’s success since the group stages of the competition.
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M&S increased their position, reaching 4th by Waistcoat Wednesday, with their successful campaign as the ‘Official tailor to the England Team’, even managing to surpass Moss, the top position holder from mid-June to 3rd July.

M&S managed to create a well joined up marketing strategy which brought them great success. Creating their own waistcoat-related hashtag campaign, alongside a luxury waistcoat line identical to that of Southgate’s, on top of gaining the title of ‘Official tailor to the England Team’, M&S covered major ground with such success they even sold out of navy waistcoats ahead of Wednesday’s match.

Utilising this opportunity to full effect enabled them to benefit from huge sales in an area that previously wasn’t bringing them their most revenue. Importantly, this demonstrates to the rest of us the power of an effective marketing strategy developed on the back of a popular trending topic.

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