走近凱特?米德爾頓：孕育了王妃的家族企業

????凱特的中產階級父母邁克爾和卡羅爾擁有一家派對用品公司Party Pieces，出售產品從氣球、彩旗彩帶到蛋糕、五彩紙屑一應俱全。

????二十年來，這家公司憑借孜孜的進取精神已從一家初創小公司成長為如今號稱“英國領先的派對用品網絡/目錄訂購公司”的家族企業。

????現在隨著皇室婚禮即將舉行——凱特和威廉將于4月29日在威斯敏斯特教堂舉行婚禮，這家公司的公眾知名度急劇提升。

????與皇室建立關聯，即刻為這家公司帶來了公眾信賴感，資深公關人士、Wasabi Publicity的聯合創辦人米歇爾?坦南特表示。

????“這創造了知名度，促進了銷售并建立了信賴感，而小公司面臨的最大挑戰就是建立信賴感，”她說。

????皇室婚禮極大地增加了Party Pieces網站的瀏覽量。根據網絡數據公司Experian Hitwise為CNNMoney提供的數據，威廉和凱特宣布結婚的當周，英國瀏覽量激增163%。

????Experian Hitwise的分析師詹姆斯?穆雷預計婚禮前瀏覽量將一直保持上升，但也許不會再現最初的高峰。

家族事業

????1987年卡羅爾?米德爾頓推出Party Pieces時是一個全職母親，當時凱特只有5歲。她創辦這家公司是因為苦惱于無法為孩子派對找到價格適中的派對禮品袋。

????后來業務發展到一定階段，麥克也辭去了飛行調度員的工作，幫助打理。隨后，Party Pieces從開在后院小屋里的夫妻店，搬到了離倫敦約1小時車程的伯克郡，開始在三棟由農場建筑物改建的空間里辦公。

????Party Pieces的成功使得米德爾頓家有能力在富裕的巴柯爾伯里村莊買下了一棟房子，并為將凱特送到英國最昂貴的私人學校提供了可能。房地產網站Zoopla的數據顯示，巴柯爾伯里的住宅平均售價為100萬美元/套。

????公司規?，F已擴大至約30名員工，但它“很大程度上仍是一個家族企業”，卡羅爾?米德爾頓2010年3月接受公司雜志采訪時說，“我依然積極參與并樂于搜尋和發展新的派對用品?！?/p>

????凱特和她的妹妹皮帕、弟弟詹姆斯都是伴隨著這個家族企業一起長大的?！捌づ梁蛣P特都曾擔任郵遞目錄的模特，穿著標注年齡的Ｔ恤衫，手拿紙杯蛋糕，”《凱特：平民王妃》（Kate: The Making of a Princess）的作者克勞迪亞?約瑟夫在一封電子郵件中寫道。

????從這一點來看，Party Pieces同大多數家族企業相似?！凹依锏暮⒆釉趯W生時代為家族企業工作的比例差不多是100%，”Family Business Institute的總裁韋恩?瑞福斯表示，“總有些事情要做的?！?/p>

????凱特已從昔日的郵遞目錄模特成長為公司業務拓展的重要力量。2008年，她帶領設立了嬰兒派對業務部First Birthdays。據約瑟夫稱，她還負責Party Pieces和慈善機構Starlight Children's Foundation的合作工作。（該公司幫助為重癥兒童在醫院中舉辦派對，并提供禮品袋。）

????實際上，除了在英國時尚零售商Jigsaw擔任過一段時間的兼職采購之外，現年29歲的凱特,其職業生涯完全是在Party Pieces度過的，她在Party Pieces的工作職責還包括設計和制作郵遞目錄、營銷和拍照。

“一個絕好機會”

????隨著圍繞皇室婚禮的狂熱日益高漲，Party Pieces一朝成名。從某種意義上，這是“這個家庭以及家族企業的意外之獲，”CNN資深供稿人馬克馬克?桑德斯說?！艾F在他們可能是全球最出名的派對策劃公司了?！?/p>

????目前尚不清楚企業知名度的上升是否提升了銷售。由于Party Pieces在英國注冊為合伙企業，無需披露財務數據，而且，他們家對媒體的嘴巴嚴也是出了名的。在本文尋求置評時，Party Pieces表示，公司沒有雇員專門處理媒體垂詢。

????但不可否認，皇室婚約已令他們獲得了從未有過的高知名度，商譽研究公司Echo Research的集團首席執行官桑德拉?麥克勞德指出?！巴蝗恢g這家公司出了名，”她補充道，“未來將依賴口碑而生存?！?/p>

????但突然被置于聚光燈下也有不好的地方。自從訂婚以來，已有英國小報報道稱，米德爾頓家通過囤積旗幟、長條旗和其他節日裝飾用品等英國主題的街道派對用品，借皇室婚禮發財。

????“媒體關注也可能有害，如果他們被視為是過度謀利或唯利是圖，” 麥克勞德說，“他們必須小心，不能站到有品位的對立面?！?/p>

????還有一個問題是作為一家企業，如果人們對皇室婚禮的興趣確實轉化為訂單增長，他們是否有能力滿足市場需求，坦南特表示。

????距離婚禮慶典還有一周多一點時間，公眾對它的興趣——和探究——可能將達到頂峰。但坦南特指出，這種興趣和探究不會消失，米德爾頓家必須決定如何處理這個她稱之為公司的 “一個絕好機會”。

????“對于像他們這樣的小企業，尊重皇室和凱特的意愿是第一要務。只有基于此，才能期待長遠的婦孺皆知，”她說。

????雖然企業的知名度達到了新高度，但將損失一個關鍵的員工。Party Pieces一直是凱特生活中的重要部分，但作為一名皇室成員，她未來的關注力預計將主要放在慈善工作上。

????凱特早已離開Party Pieces原先的職位，但目前并非無事一身輕——畢竟，還有一個世紀派對要規劃。

????Kate's middle-class parents, Michael and Carole, are the owners of Party Pieces, a party supplies business that sells everything from balloons and bunting to cakes and confetti.

????Thanks to their entrepreneurial spirit, over the last two decades the company has gone from a little start-up to a family firm that today claims to be "the UK's leading online and catalog party company."

????And now with the royal nuptials pending -- Kate and William will marry in Westminster Abbey on April 29 -- the public profile of the venture has surged.

????Having a link to the royal family establishes instant credibility for the firm, said veteran publicist Michelle Tennant, who is also co-founder of Wasabi Publicity.

????"It creates awareness, boosts sales and establishes credibility, and that's the biggest challenge for small businesses -- establishing credibility," she said.

????The royal engagement boosted traffic to the Party Pieces website tremendously, with U.K. visits surging 163% the week William and Kate made the announcement, according to data compiled for CNNMoney by Experian Hitwise.

????James Murray, an analyst at the web metrics firm, expects traffic to keep rising in the run-up to the wedding, although it might not achieve that initial peak again.

A family affair

????Carole Middleton was a stay-at-home-mom when she launched Party Pieces in 1987, when Kate was just 5. She started it out of frustration at not being able to easily find affordable party bag presents for her own children's parties.

????The business grew to the point where Michael quit his job as a flight dispatcher to help run it, and it's evolved from a mom-and-pop outfit run out of a shed in the family's back garden into a venture operated out of three converted farm buildings in Berkshire, about an hour's drive from London.

????The success of Party Pieces has afforded the Middletons a home in the affluent village of Bucklebury, where the average residence is valued at $1 million, according to property site Zoopla, as well as provided the means for them to send Kate to some of the priciest private schools in England.

????The business has grown to about 30 employees, but it's "still very much a family business," Carole Middleton said in an interview with the company magazine in March 2010. "I am still actively involved and love sourcing and developing new party products," she said.

????Kate and her younger siblings, Pippa and James, have grown up alongside the family business. "Both Pippa and Kate used to model for the catalogs, wearing t-shirts with their ages on them and holding cupcakes," Claudia Joseph, author of "Kate: The Making of a Princess," said in an e-mail.

????In that respect, Party Pieces is like most family ventures. "The rate of children working for the family business while students is virtually 100%," said Wayne Rivers, president of the Family Business Institute. "There's always something to do."

????Kate's gone from catalog model to playing a role in expanding the business. In 2008 she spearheaded the launch of First Birthdays, a division that focuses on babies' parties, and according to Joseph, she was also responsible for getting Party Pieces to support the charity Starlight Children's Foundation. (The company helps host parties and provides party bags for seriously ill children in hospitals.)

????In fact, aside from a stint as a part-time buyer at British fashion retailer Jigsaw, the 29-year-old's professional career has consisted solely of her experience at Party Pieces, where her duties have also included designing and producing catalogs, marketing and taking photos.

'A beautiful opportunity'

????With the growing frenzy surrounding the royal wedding, Party Pieces has benefited from instant fame. In some ways, it's been "a bonanza for the family and for the family business," said CNN royal contributor Mark Saunders. "They are probably the most famous party planners in the world."

????It's unclear whether the increased awareness of the firm has boosted sales. Since it's incorporated as a partnership in the U.K., Party Pieces isn't required to disclose its financials, and the family is famously tight-lipped when it comes to speaking to the press. When seeking comment for this article, Party Pieces said it did not employ anyone to handle media requests.

????However, the engagement has undoubtedly given them a huge profile they never would have had before, noted Sandra Macleod, group CEO of Echo Research, a firm that specializes in reputation research. "Suddenly the organization has been put on the map," she said, adding, "it will survive on the oxygen of word of mouth."

????But being thrust in the limelight can also have its drawbacks. Since the engagement, British tabloids have published reports claiming the Middletons are capitalizing on the royal wedding by stocking British-themed street party items, such as flags, streamers and other festive decorations.

????"The media profile can become toxic if they are seen to be overly profiteering or mercenary," Macleod said. "They just need to be careful that they don't step on the wrong side of tastefulness."

????There's also the question of whether, as a business, they'll have the capacity to meet demand if rising interest in the royal wedding does translate into more orders, said Tennant.

????With a little more than two weeks to go before the ceremony, interest -- and scrutiny -- is probably going to be at its highest. But Tennant noted, it isn't going away, and the Middletons will have to decide how to handle what she described as "a beautiful opportunity" for the business.

????"For a small business like theirs, the first priority is to respect the royal family and Kate's wishes. Once they get their wishes met, then they can look and see that in the long term everyone is going to know who they are," she said.

????While the business is gaining newfound recognition, it's also losing a key member of staff. Party Pieces has been a central theme for nearly all of Kate's life, but as a royal, she'll be expected to focus her attention on charity work.

????She's already stepped down from her post at the company but isn't kicking her feet up -- after all, there is a party of the century to plan.