Creative impulse

Royal Doulton's voguish new print campaign focuses on bright young things planning their rather unorthodox weddings. In one of six initial executions, the couple envisage "a white trouser suit" and the organ playing 'I'd Do Anything', but still covet the classic wedding present of "a ton of Royal Doulton", which the models cradle in their arms.

The client: Royal Doulton

Sally-Anne Roberts, advertising and sales promotions manager

The feeling was that the advertising we'd done in the past was very traditional. We wanted to take the china off the table and put it in a people context - with people who would use or might use Royal Doulton.

The agency's brief was to find models who looked young, contemporary and stylish, to appeal to other young, contemporary and stylish people. We wanted to bring the brand up to date, and with that in mind, we're running the ad in magazines we haven't been seen in before, such as Marie Claire.

The agency: Publicis

Di Canady, managing partner

Royal Doulton has lots of wonderful qualities - quintessential Englishness, very high quality, long heritage - and it was very important to maintain these associations so as not to interfere with existing sales. The china's quality was a given; what we had to do was tap into contemporary lifestyles, weddings and relationships and make the product relevant to them.

So we needed to put the focus on people, and show how their choice of china fits in with their style. But we still kept the essential Royal Doulton qualities at the fore, signing off with the slogan "What else?" - which says that whatever you do that's different, Royal Doulton is the only china choice.

People now have such high expectations of design, and are so confident and so discerning in their choices, that they have to be addressed with a certain attitude; they know their choice of china will say something about them.