Apparently the world is a flutter over the new #royalbaby who is third in line for the British thrown. Media have been camped outside St Mary’s Hospital in what is called ‘royal baby ground zero‘. It is great that a positive news story is making headlines for a change but what I am finding interesting is the agile marketing that is now taking place, especially all over Twitter. Well it’s not really agile as the creative team probably had them prepared when the news first came out that Kate was pregnant, and they’ve been waiting to hit the publish button.
Coke continues with their ‘Share happiness’ theme when they congratulate ‘Wills & Kate’: “Time for a Royal Celebration #Royalbaby”
https://twitter.com/CocaCola/status/35939770411319705/photo/1
Diet Coke gets in on the bandwagon too with their tweet “It’s a boy! #RoyalBaby pic”
https://twitter.com/DietCoke/status/359451316310900738/photo/1
Starbucks UK tweet “And then there were three. Congratulations!”
https://twitter.com/StarbucksUK/status/359401066380537857/photo/1
Even Oreo Cookies tweeted “Prepare the royal bottle service!”
https://twitter.com/Oreo/status/359398137267376129/photo/1
Magnum Ice Creams says “Cheers to Will & Kate on their #MiniRoyal bundle of joy! #RoyalBaby”
https://twitter.com/MagnumIceCream/status/359398017905856512/photo/1
In Queensland, even the Queensland Health department tweeted that “All babies born in Qld 22 July 2013 will receive commemorative medallion in honour of the birth of the Prince of Cambridge #royalbaby #qld”
I am sure there are many more examples. But why do brands do this? Well it’s to build an association with a positive world event – there is a lot of talk about the birth of William and Kate’s son, so why not get on the bandwagon and make sure your brand is being talked about as well? Although not every brand can do it and the market will get cluttered very quickly (if brands haven’t got something ready by now and tweeted it, they’ve lost the chance). But it is a good way to create a connection with a brand and an international event, and assist in ensuring that the brand’s name is front of mind for their chosen target market.