The Queen’s Jubilee provided a weekend full of unforgettable celebrations, but these five brands leveraged the pomp and ceremony with the best activations.
There were MANY things to love about the recent Platinum Jubilee, and even if you weren’t a fan of the controversial nickname (‘Platty Joobs’ ?), you can’t deny the fun behind epic celebrations and royal treatment. The last regal celebration like this – the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2021 – saw a 10% boost in sales for supermarkets and a rise in retail footfall. This four-day festival was even bigger. The official numbers aren’t out yet, but research is showing that 39 million people celebrated in some way, and an estimated £80 million in sales was earned, and that’s just in London’s West End.
The long weekend included pageantry, street parties, red, white, and blue bunting, and of course, lots of toasting and cheering, too. The big supermarket chains cashed in with hampers like ‘Corgi meets Jubilee Connie the Caterpillar’ and limited-edition products, like Heinz renaming some of their famous sauces (Salad Queen and HM Sauce). There were also plenty of liquor brands that rebranded their bottles or crafted signature drinks: our winner was the Campari Platinum Jubilee Negroni.
However, we’ve chosen five quick-thinking brands that truly earned royal treatment. Their savvy tactical marketing offers plenty of smart lessons for your next event.
1. Multi-Channel Celebration: ROYAL MCDONALD’S TREATMENT
The Marketing Magic: Using several touchpoints and slick merch to win.
The Golden Arches crushed the competition this long weekend with a campaign that was subtle but oh-so-smart. They started with a straight-forward product tie-in: their Quarter Pounder became the Royale with Cheese, paying homage to the famous scene from Pulp Fiction. Next, they changed the slogan from ‘I’m lovin’ it’ to ‘One’s lovin’ it.’ Then also recorded a new version of their jingle with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and to top it all off, they launched a limited-edition, hand-modelled, glaze-finished bone china dining set shaped like McDonald’s packaging. In a busy weekend of Corgi- and royal-themed merch, this was an outright commemorative winner. Only 70 sets were created, and they could only be won through a competition on the McDonald’s app – they weren’t for sale.
2. Breaking Regal Records: SUBWAY STREET PARTY SUB
The Marketing Magic: Feeding into the party vibe for better engagement.
The long weekend was filled with busy pubs, restaurants, and bustling street parties. Subway tapped into this tarmac traffic by crafting their biggest creation to date: a whopping seven-metre sub that could feed 30 people and would be delivered to any street party (and one lucky fan had a chance to win it). The seven metres represented the seven decades of the Queen’s rule, and the ingredients were chosen by five Subway Sandwich Artists. It contained four different sections: the Jubilee-inspired Coronation Tikka, Italian (pepperoni, salami and ham), Turkey & Ham, and Veggie Delite
3. Stoking Social Media: PROPER SNACKS ‘SNACK LIKE A QUEEN’
The Marketing Magic: Harnessing user-generated content for awareness.
The snack company kickstarted the Jubilee weekend by teaming up with an artist and graphic designer, Little Fish Design, to bring a fun twist to a royal portrait. The designer is known for blending Renaissance paintings with branded packaging, and in this case, the artwork in question was Mrs Thomas Scott Jackson by George Romney. This unique collaboration was used to launch a social media competition and campaign that gave fans the chance to win six months’ worth of snacks. The entry mechanism: tag Proper Snacks in a picture of how you “Snack like a Queen.”
4. Making Space for the Missing: JUBILEE STREET PARTY FOR GRENFELL TOWER
The Marketing Magic: Leveraging celebrations for a worthy cause.
Grenfell Tower campaigners harnessed some of the limelight of the long-weekend celebrations by creating a stirring, silent, unattended Jubilee-themed street party scene. The activists set up one long table with 72 empty seats, one for each victim of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and with paper plates with all the names of the deceased. This was done to protest the lack of justice for the victims and their families, and it served as a stark reminder of the terrible event.
5. Raking in the Dough with Jubilee Joy: KRISPY KREME PLATINUM JUBILEE DOZEN
The Marketing Magic: Tapping into the sweetness of sharing.
Celebrating with doughy creations filled with sugary goodness is a global tradition, so this brand tie-in was never going to fail. The three royal-themed doughnuts: Celebration Crown, Platinum Sprinkles, and Jubilee Joy. Fans could order their dozens for delivery to homes, parks, and street parties around the country, and even better, Krispy Kreme made these limited-edition treats available after the weekend (for a limited time only).
Wrapping things up…
Ready to turn your next event into a celebration worthy of royalty? We’ve got you – let’s meet for a real or virtual coffee. We’ll help you harness tactical marketing to unlock higher ROI, and we can also add some high-tech firepower through the latest in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Virtual Atoms (VATS), Augmented Reality (AR) and more. Ready for a live sample? Hit us up for a FREE Masterclass.