I began the year by saying that since my blog is celebrating 25 years of the 21st century which has been all about innovations, I should innovate and start sharing some of my ideas. After creating a climate change brand for the UNFCCC which I shared recently on my blog, I thought I’d turn my attention to the UK Royals.
The UK’s Royals are an institution and as institutions go, many of them are brands or are at least worthy of being one, but just don’t know it. I have shared my thoughts before on how many educational institutions too are brands, such as the IITs and IIMs in India.
As far as royalty in the UK is concerned, it is a brand because the entire country engages with it in various ways. A lot of the times, it could be because they are the rulers as monarchs and their position is circumscribed by law and parliament. But many times, it is because the people actually do feel a certain affection for their king or queen and indeed the entire family.
How does one go about creating a brand for an institution like the UK royals whose position is paramount, yet doesn’t communicate directly with its subjects that often or regularly?
And how does one create a brand for the UK royals without falling into the usual trap of creating a “personal brand” which seems to be the rage these days, or yet another celebrity brand?
My approach and strategy to building the UK Royals brand is nothing like that suggested by a UK academic in an article online that I happened to read.
As an advertising and brand communications professional in India, I decided to focus on the institution – the office of the king and what it represents. The office of the king or queen of the United Kingdom has relations not just with the people of England, but with those of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales as well. Besides, the King also has a relationship with the UK government, the entire Commonwealth as well as leaders of countries around the world, as Head of State. The core values of the office of the UK royals are equally important and chief among them is keeping UK united and protected.
I was surprised to discover that the UK royals have their own website, which suggests to me that they are already keen to communicate with the British people as well as the rest of the world. In order to build their brand, the UK Royals do need to communicate with their audiences, but they need to do so within a strategy, and they need to use different channels to communicate on different occasions.
There is another brand, linked to the UK Royals brand, and I think it belongs to the family. The current line of British monarchs belongs to the House of Windsor and this too can be built into a brand, in my opinion.
I have created a strategy for how the UK Royals should build and strengthen their brand and in this exercise I have viewed it as a corporate brand, since it is an institution. Separately, I have also attempted to create a strategy for the House of Windsor and how it ought to create and build its brand. I have based the strategy on the premise that the House of Windsor represents the royal family as private citizens. The two brands are connected, of course, and when you read the strategy and communication ideas document that I am sharing below, it will become apparent how the two brands are distinct even as they are connected.
I have also created and shared a sample launch advertisement for both brands, for television as well as the print medium. As I say in the document, this is meant to set the creative and strategic direction for the brands, which future advertisements and other communication channels such as PR ought to follow. The TV advert scripts are in the main strategy document, and you can view/read the print launch adverts in the file below.
I must mention that in working on this UK Royals brand exercise, I do see both the royal brands playing an important role in helping Britain navigate new challenges of the 21st century. One of them is the UK Royals lending their encouragement and support to making Britain a great investment destination. I have written recently on the UK and EU economies, and it hints broadly at what more might be required to make the UK’s new industrial strategy work effectively. Hopefully the Spring 2025 budget will reveal more specific policies in this regard.
I will perhaps share more of my thoughts on “Britain for Business” that occurred to me a long time ago, and I proceeded only as far as the main concept or idea for it, which you can see below.
Let me conclude by also saying that all these various strategies and brands are interconnected, as you might be able to see by now. The one other crucial link could be British Airways and the brand strategy and ideas that I had recommended for the airline, when I shared them here on my blog long ago.
The featured image at the start of this post of Buckingham Palace, London is by Neil Cartwright on Unsplash.
The images used in the print adverts for the royal brands are from Wikimedia Commons as are the royal coat of arms and I am thankful to them
Peripatetic Perch 