Brand Marketing, Royal Style
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Fri, Apr 29, 2011
Look at them. Aren't they cute?
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as "a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." Walter Landor, who helped create and develop such famous brands as Coca-Cola, defined a brand as a "promise." "By identifying and authenticating a product or service, it delivers a pledge of satisfaction and quality."
Brand marketing focuses on communicating the brand message to drive awareness and affect attitude. So in the end, it’s all about how we feel about the product.
Today’s royal wedding was a lovely bit of brand marketing, wasn’t it? I guess only marketers would even say that. Which undoubtedly makes us weird. But it’s true, nonetheless. This is a current event spun into a fairy tale through the efforts of the media and the general public. Millions of tweets, hundreds of videos, articles and blogs were devoted to the occasion. Everyone seemed determined to wish the young couple well. Everyone was grateful that they had a chance to step out of their ordinary lives and get a glimpse into a world that most of us can only imagine.
Yes, the power of marketing was in full force today. How did the marketing of the royal couple make us feel about the whole thing? The week leading up to the wedding was chock full of biographies, documentaries, footage of previous royal weddings, making all of us old enough to remember Charles’ and Di’s wedding nostalgic for those comparatively innocent days. Much was made of the fact that a commoner would someday be queen. A real Cinderella story—how romantic!
The coverage had an air of positivity and excitement. It was warm and fuzzy. You’d pretty much have to be a terminal grump to not feel good about this wedding.
The royal brand is an attractive one. It illustrates how important it is to make your target market believe in you and your product, and feel positively about it. Brand marketing generates buzz, for sure. Your content, in the form of videos, email newsletters, press releases, tweets, blogs, articles, podcasts and webinars (and cross-marketed through social media, etc. for maximum impact) will become who you are. This is how consumers will perceive you.
Use them wisely, and you too could enjoy the positive brand perception that the happy young couple are enjoying today. Even if they don’t realize it.
Much happiness and all good wishes to the Prince and Princess!