Okay so where am I?

I just opened the mail and declared that sometimes the USPS delivers some pretty things! In today’s mail was lovely letter from the 25th Annual Communicator Awards honoring excellence in Marketing and Communications. Whenever you get a letter from an awarding body that starts with “CONGRATULATIONS!” it’s got to be good. In this case it was better. My recent work earned their Award of Excellence (top award) in the Marketing Effectiveness category. Needless to say, I am thrilled beyond belief.

This got me thinking about personal branding and branding in general. You know who has great branding? The Royal Family of England, that’s who.

Did you know that the Royal Family has its own website? They do. The address is “royal.uk” (catchy, right?), and it’s not your typical government website. While “whitehouse.gov” has some character, in terms of charm and personality, it pales in comparison to our UK counterpart.

According to Business Inside the Royal Family was worth just under $90 billion—contributing roughly $2.4 billion to the UK economy each year—though after the birth of Prince Louis and after Prince Harry’s recent nuptials, the dynasty’s value has undoubtedly surged.

Even more staggering than the family’s monetary value is their soaring popularity. In an age when the word “monarchy” feels archaic and out-of-style, Elizabeth II and her heirs maintain a massive global audience, and that acclaimed Netflix series devoted to The Queen. You could say Nielsen data don’t lie: Meghan and Harry’s wedding was watched by more than 29 million viewers in the U.S. alone. The Super Bowl might have them beat (the most recent bowl amassed over 103 million), but most brands would kill for that many spectators spread across 15 separate networks.

Most of the fascination is due to the fairy tale nature of it all and the desperate need for escapist television in this highly political (see: contentious) era. But we can’t ignore the fact that the Royal Family has cultivated this business for decades, and their branding is intentional and strategic. So, while your company may not reap the benefits of being one of the most iconic families in modern day history, there are still some things to learn from the Royals.

The Media Guy might know a thing or two about the Royals.

Up Close and Personal —More than anything, the Royal Family website is unabashedly personal, rife with smiling close-ups of the principal cast of characters. The site depicts the Queen and the rest of the royal cast as outgoing, generally cheery people who happen to exist in this opulent setting. It reinforces the argument that businesses should not back away from personality; the more your customers learn about you and your team on a personal level, the more trust they’ll develop in your brand. Whether you write copy in the first person, offer up opinions in your tweets, or publish your personal excursions on Instagram, you’ll inadvertently give your brand some much-needed authenticity.

Media Matters —The Royal Family’s site is not elaborate by any means, but it is populated with rich, varied content. The photos are a blend of formal, casual and candid, while the videos depict major milestones, provide unique perspectives on televised events, and offer behind-the-scenes looks at the happenings around Buckingham and Windsor. Scrolling through, you’re reminded how much we rely on visuals to fully understand a brand.

Luxury Hasn’t Died, It Has Evolved —When the Luxury Marketing Council Worldwide gathered at Manhattan’s Pierre Hotel in 2018, the powers that be determined, not surprisingly, that modern luxury is all about “experience.” Scanning their well-curated Instagram page, it’s no doubt that the marketing masters behind the Royal Family are intent on delivering precisely that. From YouTube videos of Kate’s charitable acts to shots of Prince Harry high-fiving crowds of fans on the street… with each post, the Royal Family proves that luxury is about delivering riveting, relevant experiences and convincing your customers that they’re living each one firsthand.

Infusing your brand with personality can feel like a major risk. Your instinct might be that “personal” and “business” don’t mix…or that your daily life is not relevant to the products or services you’re offering. Trust the Media Guy, research shows that modern consumers want to know the names and faces behind their jeans, their socks, their music streaming services, and, if the Queen herself can pose for the occasional publicity photo and share her experiences with millions of viewers around the globe, then we can all do the same.

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Prince is dead, long live the king.

So instead of drowning my sorrows in a few neat Crown Royal Canadian Whiskys, I’m trying to finish my application to become the social media manager for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (or at least the minion responsible for making these decisions, because I am most certain that she couldn’t care less).

And, why not? I haven’t seen the Queen since I snapped off a few hundred pictures of the royal family as a youngster in the eighties on a fellowship that I won back in the day. A return to Buckingham Palace seems in order now that they posted a position for the Head of Digital Engagement with the Royal Household.

A Media Guy Original

The Royal Household advertised the job of with a salary of up to £50,000 (that’s $71,000 USD for you and me) with the following enticement: “It’s knowing your content will be viewed by millions. It’s about never standing still and finding new ways to maintain The Queen’s presence in the public eye and on the world stage. This is what makes working for the Royal Household exceptional.”

The basic duties takes me back to the time I applied for that Ogilvy internship: “Whether you’re covering a state visit, award ceremony or royal engagement, you’ll make sure our digital channels consistently spark interest and reach a range of audiences. With an eye to the future, you’ll work to hone and shape our digital communications through sharing best practice, understanding new technologies and stimulating creativity.”

While 5.3 million followers across social media is not on the Taylor Swift or Kardashian scale, you can bet that competition will be still. Maybe I’ll stick to making commercials…

…while I was filling out my application, word came through that artist now known again as Prince had passed suddenly. There’s been too many great musicians that passed as of late. David Bowie, Glenn Frey and now Prince.

I liked Prince for many reasons. First and foremost, Prince was bad ass and ss I get older, I admire those who don’t give a damn about what I think. What we think. Maybe it’s the ad man in me, trying to reach that niche demographic and drive them to my product or service. He did whatever he wanted. On stage. In the recording studio. With his personal life. You name it, he did what he wanted, when he wanted. Bad ass!

I mean, Michael Jackson was coming off Thriller, only the best selling album of all time,  and Jackson asked Prince if he wanted to collaborate on a song or two. Prince’s reply “No, I’m good.” Bad ass!

That time during his 1990 concert tour where I got a press pass to take photos for the Associated Press. Seven hundred photos later, Prince’s people convinced my editor to turn them over to be reviewed. Prince liked then so much he cried copyright violation and kept them. I didn’t like it at the time, but honest, that was bad ass!

And then, all of that sex. Prince was all about sex. It’s the straight ahead, uncompromising sexual nature of his music. When you listen to Dirty Minds, it’s intentionally shocking and musically all over the place. He ruled the airwaves in spite of it all. He was a singular music talent whose impact resonated far beyond the radio. Here’s a few snippets of what people who actually know what they are talking about wrote of him:

The New York Times Obituary
Across a career of more than 35 years, Prince released 39 albums while being lauded not only for his songs, but their visual presentation both onstage and on camera. His 1984 film “Purple Rain” is widely considered one of the best and most influential music films ever, while its accompanying soundtrack spawned the No. 1 hits “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry.” He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Rolling Stone (1983)
All cocky, teasing talk about sex, that’s Prince. Forget Mr. Look So Good; meet the original Mr. Big Stuff. He’s afraid of nothing onstage: ready to take on all the desires of a stadium full of his lusty fans, ready to marry funky black dance music and punky white rock music after their stormy separation through the Seventies, ready to sell his Sex Can Save Us message to anybody who’ll give his falsetto a listen.

GQ Spends Six Days In Paisley Park
Like his records, like his stage shows, Prince’s Paisley Park headquarters is a monument to this system of beliefs. It’s a strange place, even to visit. Something in the water, as Prince once so memorably put it, does not compute. It’s not anything physical, not the two doves in their cage or the purple galaxy painted on the boardroom ceiling or the obsessive cleanliness. It’s something more intangible, and you see it in the faces of the people who work there. They’re like students taking a long, perplexing exam, trying to work out what the question means before they can start writing.

Prince Guest Stars On ‘Muppets Tonight’

Time to drown myself with a royal cola…

RC Cola had some no-so-great sexist ads…more on that another day.

Not every underdog story ends well. In the case of Royal Crown Cola, every sign pointed towards an eventual victory over Coca-Cola. RC Cola started in the basement of a grocery store. They won a crucial lawsuit that kept Coca-Cola from having a monopoly on the word “cola.” They were the first to introduce the public taste-test, canned soda, and crucially, diet soda. But one study, largely funded by the sugar industry, cast a false pallor over RC’s artificial sweetener of choice: cyclamate. The controversy led to RC changing their formula, which fell flat with the public. RC then made a serious of bad business deals — buying furniture companies? — and now they’ve since become the proto-PBR of the soft drink industry. Read more on Mental Floss…

FAKE ROYALTY

Game of Thrones has a history of eliciting rather strong reactions from viewers. From its premiere in 2011 to last year’s season five finale, this show has been all about shock value. From its gratuitous rape scenes and brutal deaths to incestuous affairs and mind-blowing plot-twists, the HBO fantasy drama may have generated the most WTF moments of any show in the history of television.

So, in case you’ve forgotten, here are the 30 most WTF moments from Game of Thrones, and all the deaths from seasons one through five:

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