The Spice Girls are an English girl group that first came to international prominence in 1996 with the release of their debut single "Wannabe". The following year, they became involved in a prolific marketing phenomenon, leading to an unprecedented number of Spice Girls merchandise and sponsorship deals. With their name attached to numerous sponsors including Pepsi, Cadbury and Polaroid, and the official Spice Girls branding on hundreds of different product tie-ins, they quickly became the most merchandised group in music history. Their global merchandising efforts alone brought in over £300 million in 1997, while the group's total grosses were estimated at US$500–800 million by May 1998.
Industry pundits attribute much of the brand's success to the group's longtime manager Simon Fuller. By the end of 1997, however, the overwhelming number of Spice Girls merchandise and sponsorship deals led to a public and media backlash. The group responded by firing Fuller and slowing down, but not stopping, their marketing pursuits. They eventually disbanded in 2000, but the marketing phenomenon they created in the 1990s has had a lasting influence on the modern music industry.
History
1997: Unprecedented merchandising Off the back of their record-breaking debut album Spice, the Spice Girls began signing many lucrative merchandising and endorsement deals.
In February 1997, the Spice Girls were booked to help launch the West McLaren Mercedes MP4/12 at London's Alexandra Palace. They performed "Wannabe", "Say You'll Be There" and "Who Do You Think You Are" to an assembled audience of five thousand, comprising media, sponsors, VIP guests and fans. The event was filmed by MTV and presented by Davina McCall. In March, Girl Power!, the Spice Girls' first book was launched at the Virgin Megastore; it sold out its initial print run of 200,000 copies within a day, and was eventually translated into more than 20 languages. Later that month, the group were booked to launch Britain's fifth terrestrial television network, Channel 5, for a reported fee of £500,000. They appeared in promotional print ads,Channel 5 – "Spice Girls" AdForum. Retrieved 9 February 2017. recorded a song ("1,2,3,4,5!") and filmed a music video that became the network's first broadcast programme. The launch was watched by 2.49 million viewers. During this time, the group also launched Spice, the quarterly Spice Girls fanclub magazine. In April, One Hour of Girl Power, an official Spice Girls VHS documentary, was released; it sold almost 500,000 copies in the UK between April and June to become the best-selling pop video ever.
In early 1997, the Spice Girls signed a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with PepsiCo to launch the soft drink company's Generation Next campaign. 92 million promotional Pepsi cans and bottles featuring the Spice Girls individually and as a group were produced worldwide. Promotional giveaways included collectible drinking glasses and two limited edition music singles, "Step to Me" and "Move Over (Generation Next)". These promotional offers for the group's singles were the first of their kind in the music industry. Around 600,000 copies of the "Step to Me" single were redeemed via the Pepsi offer, making it "the most successful on-pack promotion in the history of the U.K. soft-drink market." The group also starred in three television adverts for Pepsi, all featuring the song "Move Over", that were aired on TV and in cinemas in 93 countries. In October 1997, the group performed two live concerts in Istanbul sponsored by the soft drink company; tickets for the concerts were available exclusively through a Pepsi offer, causing the UK sales of Pepsi to increase by 30% during this one-week promotion. The Spice Girls' "Generation Next" campaign led to a record five percent gain in the cola market share for Pepsi in 1997 and the endorsement deal was extended in November 1997 for an additional £500,000. In a 2014 interview with BBC Radio 2, the group's longtime manager Simon Fuller claimed that Pepsi spent around $100 million on the Spice Girls' endorsement campaign.
By June 1997, it was reported that the Spice Girls had applied for more than 100 trademarks. The following month, the group began an endorsement deal with Walkers Crisps to launch their "Cheese & Chives" flavour. The Spice Girls were featured on various crisps packets individually and as a group. They also starred in two television adverts alongside Gary Lineker and a number of promotional photoshoots for the British potato chip maker. The Spice Girls campaign was Walkers' "biggest ever promotional effort"; the company reported a six percent increase in their brand's volume share of the crisp market within the first eight weeks of the campaign, and had sold 16 million packs of their Spice Girls crisps by October that year. In the summer of 1997, the toy company Magic Box Toys created the first Spice Girls collectible photo album and trading card series. It was estimated by Forbes that 25 million cards had been sold by September 1997. Later, a second photocard series was released, along with an official Spice World: The Movie sticker book. During this time, Polaroid also signed a deal with the group to produce various Spice Girls-branded products including the Spice Cam, a variation on the original Polaroid 600 Instant Camera and Polaroid's first camera to be named after a group or person, that was marketed in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia."Spice Girls snap up camera deal, Posh Spice pied by anti-fur protesters". MTV. 6 May 1998. Retrieved on 10 February 2017. The group filmed adverts and conducted a number of promotional photoshoots for the Spice Cam. In August 1997, the Spice Girls teamed up with Impulse to launch a fragrance known as "Impulse Spice", with a scent that was meant to reflect each individual member of the band. Limited edition deodorant body spray and shower gel products were produced. A£1.8 million advertising campaign accompanied the Impulse Spice launch, including a television advert the group filmed for the product."DIGESTS" . Marketing Week. 28 August 1997. Retrieved on 20 February 2017. The Spice Girls' fragrance was sold in 50 countries and quickly became Impulse's "most successful variant ever." During this time, the Spice Girls also signed up for product tie-ins with Benetton, Zeon watches (Spice Girls-themed watches and clocks), British Telecom (Spice Girls-themed phonecards) and Elisabeth the Chef (Spice Girls-themed cakes).
In September 1997, British supermarket chain Asda signed a £1 million merchandising deal to launch a wide range of Spice Girls products for the 1997 Christmas season. Over 40 different Spice Girls-branded goods were stocked including food, clothing, gifts, stationery, party supplies, Christmas crackers, individual pizzas with each band member representing a different flavour, homewear, books, videos, platform shoes and even Spice Girls-branded Kids Meals Boxes in the stores' restaurants. The deal was promoted in Asda's pre-Christmas television and print advertising campaign. That same month, it was announced that the Spice Girls had signed a licensing deal with merchandising company PMS International to produce a wide range of official Spice Girls products. Over 200 separate Spice Girls items were released including stationery, toys, lunch boxes, bags, purses, party goods, clothing, mugs, cosmetics, postcards, picture frames, keyrings and badges, all in the Spice Girls official colours of magenta and white. Upon the release of Spice World, movie memorabilia was also produced, including toy versions of the Spice Bus. In October 1997, Cadbury signed a deal with the band to release a range of Spice Girls-branded chocolate products. The range consisted of 10 chocolate countlines, assorted boxes and holiday confectioneries including Easter eggs, featuring the Spice Girls individually or as a group. In the same month, it was announced that the Spice Girls had signed a deal with Chupa Chups to release a range of Spice Girls products, including different tins filled with assorted lollipops featuring each girl, "Fantasy Ball" Chupa Chups with different packages each featuring a collectible Spice Girl sticker, "Push Pops", "Crazy Dips", toy microphones and bubblegum packets that came with collectible Spice Girls temporary tattoos. The band also signed a merchandising and distribution deal with American retailer Target. The discount store retailer was one of the largest suppliers of official Spice Girls merchandise in the United States and Australia, devoting aisles to Spice Girls products such as bikes, school supplies, party supplies, and toys. The Spice Girls were also sponsored by shoe brands Shellys London and Buffalo, and launched an official shoe line for adults and children.
In December 1997, the first series of official Spice Girls dolls by toy company Galoob (now Hasbro) was released, with subsequent series released in 1998 and 1999. The dolls became a huge hit during the 1997 and 1998 Christmas seasons, selling over 11 million to become the best-selling celebrity dolls of all time.Vintage Celebrity Dolls Collectors Weekly. Retrieved on 25 March 2017.One D dolls and the sweet smell of success Irish Independent. 4 December 2012. Retrieved on 25 March 2017. The dolls were the fifth best-selling toy—despite limited stock—in the UK for the 1997 Christmas season according to the British Association of Toy Retailers' annual Christmas best seller chart, and the second best-selling toy of 1998 in the United States according to toy trade publication Playthings annual industry survey.
By the end of 1997, the Spice Girls had become a "formidable money making machine", estimated to have earned over £300 million ($500 million) that year from their marketing endeavours. The Spice Girls brand was named one of 1997's best brands in Advertising Ages annual "Top Marketing 100" list. Some analysts cautioned of a brand "overkill", with The Independents Paul McCann warning that the "endless exploitation of the band's name signals the beginning of the end for the Spice phenomenon." At this point, the Spice Girls themselves had reportedly grown weary of the "endless" corporate obligations and fired their manager Simon Fuller.
1998–2000: Continued success and hiatus The group started off 1998 by hiring KLP Euro RSCG as their new commercial agent and Big Tours as their licensing and merchandising agent. Under KLP, they adopted a new marketing strategy which saw them slow down their marketing efforts, reportedly turning down numerous sponsorship offers from this point on.
In early 1998, the Spice Girls signed a sponsorship deal for the European leg of their 1998 Spiceworld Tour with Italian scooter maker Aprilia. As part of the deal, five different "Spice Sonic" scooters—each promoting a Spice Girl—were created and marketed. The group also participated in a promotional photoshoot and filmed a television advert to promote the scooters. However, relations soured between the group and the Italian company after Halliwell's sudden departure in May 1998. In January 2002, after losing a long-running legal dispute in Spice Girls Ltd v Aprilia World Service BV, the group was ordered to pay $67,000 for scooters Aprilia supplied to the band members, in addition to damages and legal costs.
Spice World, a video game featuring 3D-animated likenesses of the Spice Girls, was developed and released by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for the PlayStation in 1998. The video game was sold out in the UK within several months of its release. The Spice Girls also endorsed the sugar brand Domino Sugar in a promotional photoshoot. By May 1998, the band had become a "$500 million merchandising and marketing industry" according to CNN, while Entertainment Weekly placed their global gross income up to that point at $500–800 million.