Leveraging the Royal Kiss
I admit it; I watched the Royal Kiss. Actually, there were two. I didn’t get up early to witness the vows, but I did just catch the video. How times have changed. But let’s get back to the Kiss. I tuned into the Today Show and the countdown had begun. The countdown? I couldn’t believe it, but there I was leaning over the kitchen counter, sipping on my coffee, with a huge grin on my face. I was loving this. Pathetic? Maybe, but I was in good company.
Very often, it’s simple human nature that evokes a response that no amount of slick advertising or well-placed PR can hope to capture. Maybe it’s the history involved. Tradition and all that. And who knew that so many Americans would still find all of this so compelling? Well, not just Americans but the world. People are weighing in (with surprisingly descriptive analyses) on the Kiss (mostly the first one) on Facebook, Twitter, all over. Even people like me, not a big Royal watcher on a normal day, find the whole thing sort of compelling.
But what happens now? The throngs at Buckingham Palace are being asked to go home and while we can watch (over and over again) the royal nuptials the door will close as the couple prepare to honeymoon is some, as yet, undisclosed location. Now, it’s time for the Princess Catherine advisors to get to work—those operating officially and the tongue-in-cheek folks doing their best to keep everyone’s interest alive. Here’s a gem from the clever people at The Drum. They’re offering “Five media relations tips for Princess Catherine following the Royal Wedding”—here’s number two: 2. “You will now be one of the world's most famous women. Yet you need more than that, you need to capture the hearts of the people. For this, you need to adopt a charity. Stay away from land mines (it's been done) and avoid Aids. That's good general advice, by the way. I would recommend considering the Injured Bankers' Benevolence Fund, as this is truly close to the public imagination.”
Not a bad way to leverage the biggest wedding of the century. Humor, if you can pull it off, goes a long way. And then there’s the semi-imaginative though, in my humble opinion, negligible press release with this for a subject line: “Tips for Planning a Royal Wedding on a Pauper’s Budget.” Okay, well, maybe some writers will run with this one.
The idea here is how to draw as much life out a world event as possible. I have to hand it anybody who takes the risk, no matter how much it might cheapen today’s royal wedding. On a smaller scale, think of what happens in your own community or within your industry that you may be able to leverage. It doesn’t always work and the opportunities might not be as obvious as William and Catherine getting hitched, but it’s worth trying as you continue to find ways to stay in the news.
For more, follow me on Twitter @LeslieLevine.
