The royal wedding is only days away, and excitement is in the air—and not just in England, but in the bride’s home country of America too. While we may not have a royal family in the U.S., we are certainly excited to be represented by one of our own in this wedding. Royal wedding mania has overtaken the country, and many brands are looking to cash in on the excitement by rolling out royal-focused marketing campaigns.
The wedding will take place in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor on Saturday, May 19th, and will be streamed so all can tune in. In 1981, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s wedding was watched by 17 million people in the U.S., and 750 million worldwide, making it the most-watched wedding at the time. Prince William and Kate Middleton’s 2011 wedding had 23 million U.S. viewers, and 2 billion viewers worldwide. The viewership for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s nuptials are expected to exceed this, with seven U.S. networks airing it.
DOING IT RIGHT
With the royal wedding garnering so much attention, it makes sense that brands want to jump on the wedding bandwagon. Strongbow Hard Ciders is playing up its 125-years British lineage with a campaign that invites Americans to raise a glass and toast the royal couple with its new Rosé Apple Hard Cider. Strongbow also created limited edition Royal Rose teacup sets with British designer Stanley Chow to tie in the British theme.
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Omni Berkshire Place in New York City is offering a room service high tea experience, complete with a butler arriving with a cart filled with an assortment of tea, finger sandwiches and pastries. Hotel guests can also order a royal viewing party breakfast to their room, which includes a mimosa flight and full English breakfast.
MISSING THE MARK
Not all the brands hoping to benefit from the royal wedding have British ties, or make any sense, really.Hidden Valley Ranch is one such example. The brand gave its bottle a “makeover fit for a princess”, with an A-list celebrity jeweler designing a $35,000 jewel-encrusted bottle of ranch dressing that will be gifted to a winner via social media after the wedding. According to the brand’s statement, they created the special bottle to honor Markle, and “remind her of the familiar flavors of her home country”. Current, the agency that worked with Hidden Valley on the campaign further explained the brand chose to do a royal wedding campaign because Hidden Valley is “America’s king of condiments, so there is a royal tie there.”
Chili’s has created a line of fascinator hats and cufflinks that feature recreations of menu items, like Sizzling Fajitas and Texas Sized Ribs to celebrate the royal wedding. Definitely not the most logical brand to celebrate the royal wedding, but no one wants to miss out on the historic nuptials.