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Kate, William plus two! Seven great integrated marketing lessons.

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You may have noticed the young UK royal couple the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have just announced the birth of their daughter, the fourth in line to the throne.

It has been hard to miss, being on every news channel, Twitter and Facebook feed for weeks, and it is probable that media and consumer attention will not wane for some time to come.

The huge interest in the Royal baby is no accident; there are many ingredients of a perfectly integrated marketing campaign at work.

Here are some of the learnings marketers can take from the global interest in Kate and Will’s new family member.

1. A global insight and idea.

What could be more common to every race, creed, and country than royalty and babies? Big ideas are born (sorry!) from simple core human truths that many people can relate to regardless of their background. Babies and royalty tick this box perfectly. Most of the recent Cannes Award Winners show such simple global insight and inclusive execution (see our post about Dumb Ways to Die here), all the best ideas do.

2. Suspense

We had a little over eight months of suspense from the time Kate was admitted to hospital with acute morning sickness, to the slightly delayed birth of her daughter. The long build up helped escalate the pent up excitement. The fact that the baby was a couple of days late was even more delicious from a media point of view, even more column inches, and TV bulletins were squeezed into the schedules.

3. Keep them wanting more

The Royal press office is fantastic at just releasing the barest essentials of any announcement of any story. The time, gender, and weight of the baby girl are all we have been told so far. This is genius and allows even more speculation on names and titles and so on. The public has plenty of time and space to become involved in the intrigue of the story. What bit are you deliberately leaving out of your launch or campaigns, to let the consumer fill-in?

4. Symbolism

The whole Royal Family is an incredibly well run set of rituals, symbols, and protocols carefully designed to build both love and respect. The baby was announced via a press release simultaneously as a framed card on an easel outside Buckingham Palace. There will be a series of formal celebrations today including pageantry at Westminster Abbey, 21 gun salutes from the military etc. All of these keep the story rolling and build “majesty” around the birth of a princess. What icons, and brand pageantry can you create for your brand?

5. Preparation makes perfect

The Royal Family have an incredible well drilled press office, and have had nine months to prepare for the news, so it is no surprise that the news was managed immaculately. First, the symbolic announcement, then the prepared quotes from doctors, and the Royal Family themselves. Before, the heads of church and the parliaments of the United Kingdom all welcome the fourth heir to the throne.

We can look forward to further immaculate announcements with regards to the name, titles, and officially approved images and video in due course.

This level of integration takes a profound understanding of how the media works, but also faultless integration from specialists in their field.

6. Hundreds of hooks

The birth of a royal baby, whilst on one hand is the simplest thing in the world, has millions of angles for journalists and the public to take and run with.

What hooks have you prepared or seeded with the media and your consumers for your next campaign?

7. A story with a future

The other thing about this story is that it has “legs” – it will run and run. Like any good big idea, the announcement is only just the very beginning of the story that will evolve daily and over (God willing) decades.

How are you planning your brand campaign’s future? Do you have a content calendar of future events?

So, a little girl is born and so starts another chapter in the rich British Royal tradition. And, those of us in marketing can learn from arguably the greatest brand in the world (if you consider the Royal Family as a brand!)

If you would like to learn how to integrate global campaigns please do not hesitate to get in touch by clicking here.


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2 Comments

  1. Guy on July 23, 2013 at 1:05 pm

    Interesting twist on the marketing of Great Britain. Now all they need to do is put together a few videos on some funny fail compilations and some crazy royal cats and it will be perfect.

  2. Kat on July 23, 2013 at 1:11 pm

    Hi Guy, thanks for your comment! When you find those videos and royal cats, let us know, we might post them here! In the meantime, all the very best from the Flock.

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