The Royal Wedding: The New World of Event Branding
The last British Royal Wedding, between Charles and Diana, occurred 30 years ago. In 1981 Ronald Reagan was president, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, Apple's Mac was three years from unveiling, Mark Zuckerberg wasn't even a gleam in his parents' eyes, the first commercial Web browser was a decade away and the Internet (there was no World Wide Web) was a network used primarily by researchers.
Just to say, it was quite a different world. But some things remain constant. This Friday's big deal may be a wedding, but it is also an up to $70 million branding event for the British monarchy, just as surely as were the nuptials of Charles and Diana. The brand campaign this time is to drive home the ideas that the royals still play a relevant role in modern society, that tradition helps ground us in a world where little remains permanent, and that the future King and Queen are of the people and deserve support when their time comes. (See Ira Kalb's post, linked below, about how the wedding is being used to market the entire country.)
Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter says CEOs have quite a lot to learn from the hoopla surrounding the marriage. For example, she says, the wedding underscores the belief that today's best brand campaigns are all about multimedia and causes.
"The whole world can experience the event and learn British history through multiple channels," writes Kanter. "There is a Royal Wedding website, a Clarence House royal wedding Twitter feed, and a live multimedia blog put together by St. James Palace. Anyone can watch the Archbishop of Canterbury talk about the significance of marriage. The happy couple has endorsed a charitable gift fund to benefit children, military families, and environmental causes in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Donations can be made in six currencies by phone, check, or text message."
Kanter also believes that the wedding, which will get more viewers than either the Super Bowl or World Cup championship, underscores the need these downer days for marketing messages to embrace feel-good stories and positive emotion. "The joy factor -- hope and unity -- is a better business theme to emphasize than the fear factor," Kanter writes.
Do you see any business takeaways in the royal wedding?
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