SEEING THE PANDEMIC THROUGH WITH MORILEE

Wedding Trader -issue 25

We caught up with Chrissy Pratt, Marketing Manager at Morilee to find out how they coped with the pandemic and kept communications lines open with their authorised retailers

When Covid-19 hit us over a year ago, no one knew what on earth to expect. This was all completely new to us, and there definitely was not a communications plan in place for a global pandemic!

After Boris’s big announcement, our office staff were sent to work from home as we acquired laptops and mobile phones, and set up redirects for our phone lines. The message was very much ‘business as usual’ with staff working their normal hours, just from a different location, with no affects to our customer services.

My new routine became home schooling, PE with Joe Wicks, and my meetings turned into ‘walk-and- talks’ on the phone, and getting my ‘steps’ in down by the River Trent in Nottinghamshire, not far from our head office base.

Due to the work undertaken in our warehouse to keep the supply chain working, we kept the facility open, with minimal staff, social distancing and all the necessary precautions in place. It is funny to think back now, that this was a time when you couldn’t get hand sanitiser anywhere as everyone has brought up the supply – remember breweries and distilleries switching to producing it!

We had launched our retailer portal back in June 2019 so the wheels were already well oiled and in motion when the pandemic hit. This gave customers the ability to check stock, and deliveries, and place orders online. We saw traffic to the portal increase during lockdown, even though our shops remained closed.

As for communication with our customers, we were constantly sending out updates to our stores informing them how to contact us, and offering suggestions of what they could be doing to help their own businesses in lockdown. A great opportunity for us then was to really get stuck into our marketing and do all those jobs that just fall by the way-side when we are so busy with product launches and trade shows.

The communications plan

We took time to put together leaflets on social media, and ‘how to’ guides; we put together lots of readymade Instagram story content that stores could download and post; and our designer, Madeline Gardner, working from home in New Jersey, was able to record video messages to share on our social media platforms. We also took the opportunity to do some data cleansing of our email distribution lists to ensure everyone was getting our suggestions, and support.

Other online outlets such as Hitched, Bridal live, and our very own website, were also reviewed during this ‘down time’ to ensure all products and messages were up to date and consistent.

Seeing the pandemic through with Morilee

A huge benefit for me personally of this working-from-home culture, was that there was no time and distance barriers to attending meetings. I could easily log onto Zoom and have face-to-face sessions with my colleagues across the pond, and of course see more of our amazing designer, Madeline Gardner. We recognised early, the value of the shift to moving online, and worked with Love Stories TV in the US to create a catwalk showcasing our new collections. Our message – ‘grab a glass of fizz and join us’ – generated real excitement among brides-tobe, and our message, ‘Love isn’t cancelled’ added to that, with brides enjoying the build-up to their big day, despite not knowing when it was going to be.

And we kept our social media adverts running, and updated our posts daily; it was absolutely crucial to not furlough our social media account staff – keeping brides’ spirits high and their enthusiasm full of sparkle, was vital to the industry as a whole, to retailers, and to those key supporting suppliers.

During the pandemic, we lent out our sample loan gowns that would usually be at trunk shows, to support the photographers, make-up artists and wedding venues, who were using the downtime to organise styled shoots to showcase their products and services. That pattern of coming together has introduced a new way of working across the various sectors of the industry.

And then came the green light

When life as we’d come to know it changed for the positive, we knew we had to be on the ball for an influx of weddings. We ensured that we had extra stock of our classic gowns available at late notice for all of those cancelled and re-booked weddings; we waived our rush-cut service fees from Easter to the end of July; we ensured our customers had updated communications regarding stock; we listened to their needs and wants, and the feedback they were getting from their customers.

With smaller and more intimate weddings the new order of the day, our Other White Dress collection was born. The premise behind this range was that while some brides may already have purchased their dream gown, they wanted a less elaborate option for the simpler nuptials and were keeping the more elaborate dress for their big post-Covid party. This capsule collection of chic, understated gowns that includes dress and jacket combos as well as jumpsuits is now in its third season… a success story in its own right.

With all the big trade shows cancelled, we really missed seeing our customers and set up Zoom catch ups with key accounts to listen to their challenges, keep lines of communication open, get excited about new collections and see what they needed from us. These were kept informal and Madeline herself was able to join in with some of the meetings which the customers loved.

We still managed to launch collections face to face at private hotel events in-between lockdowns, with track and trace and social distancing in place. Customers had to book appointments to ensure numbers at any one time were kept to a minimum – but it all worked really well. Some, understandably, did not want to travel or attend in person and we were able to send out digital catalogues and video content. This process really cemented the importance of video content as opposed to flat image – our stores want to see how the dress fits and moves, and we showed just that.

The pandemic has been challenging but it has helped us learn to grown and adapt quickly to new ways of working. We hope the industry and our stores have successful years ahead following the challenges of the pandemic.

T: +44 (0)1636 700 889 E: ukmarketing@morilee.com W: uk.morilee.com

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