The Love Island 2020 summer series has been postponed to 2021.

Sofie Willmott, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view on this news;

“Many retailers targeting 16-24s will have been banking on their Love Island partnerships drawing in new customers this summer and will be left wondering how they can replicate the huge awareness boost that the program brings. Impressive viewing figures and a highly engaged young audience have attracted numerous brands to couple up with the program over the past few years, including I Saw It First, Missguided and Superdrug.

“Retailers have been wise to get involved with the show given that almost half of 16-24 year olds watched an episode of Love Island in 2019 and of those who watched, 45.3% bought a product after seeing it on an advert by one of the brands sponsoring the show*. Additionally, collections launched in partnership with contestants following the show have helped some fast fashion online pureplays to rocket in popularity and the collaborations have kick-started their brands in a highly competitive market.

“Despite missing out on the sales lift, the brands that were planning to sponsor the show may feel somewhat relieved that they will be able to save on the cost of taking part, with many retailers slashing their 2020 marketing budgets to reduce operating costs. Although Love Island could have boosted brand awareness at a time when UK consumers were potentially ready to spend again, it is looking unlikely they will be buying much swimwear and suncream this year given holidays abroad are in doubt.”

*Data taken from GlobalData’s survey of 2,000 nationally representative UK consumers conducted in August 2019.