Photo: Dunkin’ Donuts
Will American consumers go for ‘When Harry Married Meghan’ promos?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s nuptials seem to have captivated many Americans, and some U.S. marketers are looking to cash in.
Among the majors, Dunkin’ Donuts from May 14 through May 20 is selling the Royal Love Donut, a heart-shaped jelly donut frosted with chocolate icing and a strawberry drizzle. On May 19, the day of the wedding, restaurants will be opening at 5 a.m. for wedding viewing parties.
Dunkin’ Brands Chairman and CEO Nigel Travis, a dual U.S. and British citizen born and raised in Woodford, Essex, said in a statement, “The Royal Wedding represents optimism, happiness and joy, and thus is a perfect opportunity for our brand to celebrate.”
Other retailer and brand executions around the ceremony include:
- At Bloomindale’s 59th Street flagship on Saturday, 200 couples will be offered an assortment of wedding day-related necessities as part of The Bridal Council’s “Wedding Weekend.”
- Velveeta introduced a “Crowns & Cheese” version of its popular “Shells & Cheese” product with macaroni shaped like crowns and a gold-plated spoon. The item is sold out on its website.
- Brooklyn-based ice cream shop Ample Hills is selling God Save The Cream, a lemon ginger ice cream studded with chunks of elderflower cake. (The royal wedding cake is lemon elderflower.)
- Tostitos’ website includes instructions for making a “7-Layer Dip Wedding Cake” from a variety of chips and dip.
- Mrs. Fields is promoting 12-inch round or heart shape cookies with the inscription, “When Harry Met Meghan.”
- Pez on May 13 auctioned off for charity a dispenser set that looks like the couple.
The wedding may be earning extra attention in the U.S. because Ms. Markle, a well-known actress, will become the first American to marry into the British royal family since 1937.
Brand Finance predicted that the royal wedding will boost the U.K. economy by £1.05 billion ($1.43 bn) from tourism, dining, commemorative items, Ms. Markle’s potential to drive fashion sales and the overall “PR value” for Britain.
- Share The Love: Dunkin’ Donuts Unveils New Royal Love Donut To Celebrate The Royal Wedding – Dunkin’ Donuts
- Tostitos 7-Layer Dip Wedding Cake – Tostitos
- Royally Treat Yourself – Velveeta
- The Craziest Things Brands Are Doing to Leverage the Royal Wedding – INC
- Countdown to Royal Wedding Leads to Bobbleheads, Champagne Toasts in Stores, Wedding-Friendly Dresses – WWD
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: How successful do you expects retailers and brands to be with promotions tied to the upcoming royal wedding? What advice would you have for stores or brands looking to capitalize on the event?
Poll
BrainTrust
Meaghan Brophy
Senior Retail Writer
Georganne Bender
Principal, KIZER & BENDER Speaking
Brands have attempted to tap into relevant cultural happenings for decades. This ranges from Presidential elections to sporting events and seasonal opportunities. As with all of these, some will be successful and some will be “pretenders to the throne.” The key for brands is to be authentic, or at least entertaining, and relevant in some way. If the connection is too much of a stretch, consumers will ignore or, worse, leave with a bad taste in their mouths that the brand tried to take advantage of the event.
UGH. What is the fascination with these people, for crying out loud? But yes, retailers have tons of opportunity to pull on our sappy heartstrings with this. Pile it high and watch it fly! Take advantage! 😉
The Royal Wedding is a smart way of creating a unique promotion that retailers can use to generate additional business. The media has been covering the story for days and, of course, with all the added drama over Markle’s dad, the news has been getting a lot of attention. We go through the year knowing all the typical promotional events for every holiday we can think of so having something which is a “one-time” event will stand out as being different, giving retailers a chance to be creative and customers an opportunity to take advantage of “one-time” offers.
Brands love occasions when the consumer’s mind is already engaged. The royal wedding will increase in profile as the event approaches, so there is nothing to be lost in thoughtful or even trivial campaigns. Mass media buying has so overwhelmed creative marketing that it might even steer some Madison Avenue meetings back into messaging that actually resonates and generates viral appeal. There is a princess in every woman and a Prince Charming in every man. Brands can benefit from aligning with the attributes that are so carefully honed by royals.
The royal wedding is such a fun opportunity for retailers to get creative! Everyone loves a wedding. There’s no reason not to celebrate a happy occasion, especially if you can do it in a way that makes sense for your brand and your customers. For example, Stew Leonard’s, an indie grocery chain near us, recreated the royal wedding cake and people are LOVING it.
This one’s a no-brainer. I think my American friends are more excited about this wedding than my friends in the U.K. are. Retailers have used whatever is going on in pop culture forever because people respond. If your company doesn’t have a VP of Pop Culture you’re missing out on some great promo and social media opportunities.
Ample Hills’s “God Save The Cream”… come on! That’s brilliant. #dying
Remember the cheesy commemorative plates from the Charles and Diana wedding? We Yankees love royal kitsch; expect more!
Its a great opportunity to leverage a positive feel-good factor moment. There are plenty of downbeat articles in the news, embrace the positive and go for it. The U.K. has always seen a healthy profitable market for these moments. There is no reason to think that U.S. consumers will not embrace the real-life princess fairy tale and create a suitable supporting economy.
The royal wedding is a fun, short-term opportunity for some creative marketing and promotion. There’s a lot of cynicism around it – especially on social media, but I think most people like seeing the interesting ways brands are participating just as they welcome some celebratory, optimistic news!
Who? This is a classic niche marketing opportunity, so the question is, how big of a niche is it? Most of the companies mentioned seem to be playing it safe with low key promotions … and at worst they’ll just scrape the icing off the congratulatory pastries.