Capitalizing on Culture: Global Brands and The Royal Wedding

It turns out that stately weddings are not only a national pastime of the United Kingdom, but also a lucrative opportunity for international business. During the historic union of a British royal and American national last month, an equally historic number of brands around the world joined to celebrate in their own unique ways. Prior to the May 19th date, MarketWatch and Brand Finance estimated that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s nuptial ceremony would bring $1.43 billion to the U.K economy through tourism and marketing initiatives.

This estimate was in line with figures that came from the previous wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, during which magazine sales alone were boosted by $31 million. But while a climb in gossip columns and star zines might be expected from a high-profile marriage, a boost for restaurants, perfumers and furniture companies is more surprising. Nevertheless, that stopped no company from “newsjacking” in the aftermath of the wedding’s announcement.

According to Joshua Jackson,

“Newsjacking occurs when a business uses its social presence to ride (not hijack) a news story, by delivering a timely message that is relevant both to the business’s purpose and the story at hand.”

In this article, we’ll review some of the more creative ‘newsjacking’ used to capitalize on May’s royal wedding.

U.S Brands

The international status of the bride and groom was a widely regarded point of intrigue for onlookers. This sentiment was especially felt in the U.S, where a friendly rivalry with the U.K has been maintained for centuries. Brands capitalizing on the wedding invoked this sentiment for effect.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)

According to a KFC spokesperson,

“ When we discovered Prince Harry proposed over a roast chicken, we simply had to show our support for the big occasion.”

To this end, KFC released 50 limited edition and suitably refined KFC buckets crafted from bone china. The unlikely pairing of Southern American cuisine with a British tea aesthetic is easy to appreciate.

With only 50 buckets available, eager fans were encouraged to download the KFC app for a chance to obtain one, making the move a marketing win for the fast food company.

Hidden Valley Ranch

Considerably more extravagant than any porcelain bucket, Hidden Valley Ranch created only one of its special products: a jewel-encrusted bottle of the titular dressing worth $35,000.

While the connection between a popular salad pairing and the royal wedding may be obscure, marketer Lisa Dini who worked on this project managed to find one:

“[Hidden Valley is] America’s king of condiments, so there is a royal tie.”

By offering a giveaway of the enormously valuable bottle to one lucky social media recipient, Hidden Valley was able to marshal additional followers for its brand.

Farmers Insurance

U.S insurance company Farmers Insurance has not operated inside the U.K for nearly a hundred years. This added an element of hilarity to the “British-ification” of its brand prior to the royal wedding, which included dressing its spokesman J.K. Simmons in a bowler hat, and peppering its commercials with British slang.

Although the effect may come across as silly, reactions to the campaign were widely positive.

U.K. Brands

For brands in the United Kingdom, the royal wedding provided a more immediately profitable opportunity as citizens prepared to celebrate the event at home or in pubs around the nation. It therefore isn’t surprising that beverage companies took a special interest in the occasion.

Strongbow

British cider brewing company Strongbow has the unique distinction of possessing a “royal warrant,” meaning its products are regularly purchased by the Palace,

The company honored its own heritage with an unusual, limited addition tea-set to accompany a special brew called “Rosé Apple”. Surprisingly, the intention was to reach American consumers in addition to British. According to a press release,

“Strongbow is inviting Americans to raise a glass and toast the celebration…. embracing America’s other obsession, rosé wine.”

Marks & Spencer (Markle & Sparkle)

Of all the brands mentioned so far, one made the ultimate show of loyalty to its monarchs: British retailer Marks & Spencer officially and temporarily renamed itself to ‘Markle & Sparkle’ in honor of Meghan Markle.

The change only lasted one weekend, but was marked by limited product releases as well as a big commotion at the brand’s location in Windsor, which involved a traditional town crier and ribbon cutting.

While in other contexts a move like this could easily be passed off as an April Fool’s joke, M&S went so far as to release commemorative logos for the company’s updated brandname.

Argos

Perhaps the shadiest entry on this list, British retailer Argos made headlines by offering replica engagement rings like the one which sealed the deal for Harry and Markle. This, after the official jeweler vowed that no replicas of the ring would ever be produced.

While the original cost £120,000 (~$160,500), Argos’ reasonably accurate imitations — marked on the inside with a commemorative date — sold for a mere £14.99 (~$20.00). This turned out to be quite a lucrative move, after the website of competitor QVC crashed from popularity when it offered a similar product.

The Aftermath

While ‘newsjacking’ has often proven effective for brands, and while many of the marketing initiatives covered in this article brought in positive publicity, not everyone approves.

Lisa Rosenberg of Allison + Partners remarks,

“If brands have no real connection to the event, it looks like they are jumping on a bandwagon. If it doesn’t feel authentic to who the brand is and what the royal family stands for, it feels gratuitous and falls flat.”

In fact, many gifts sent to the royal couple as a promotional stunt were returned. The Cut reports that protocol prevents any British royal from accepting gifts from a business which may “exploit the gift for commercial purposes”.

Sadly, almost all of the examples mentioned would fall under this criteria. Hence, over $9 million worth of gifts from companies and private individuals were rejected or sent back by Harry & Markle following their wedding.

At its best, newsjacking is a form of public engagement which allows brands to become part of an unfolding conversation which brings themselves and their clients together. At its worst, newsjacking may be considered opportunistic or exploitative; almost certainly, much of this analysis comes down to context and approach.

For better or worse, whether exploitative or unifying, one thing cannot be denied: the creativity with which brands around the world threw themselves at a timeless event. And this, at the very least, is something to strive for.

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-Brandon Shutt, Editor at OMI