Direct Response Copywriter Details Marketing Lessons from the Royal Wedding
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1. SPEED
2. EVENTS CREATE OPPORTUNITIES
3. CONTENT IS KING...THE KING IS CONTENT
4. BUILD AROUND EVENTS
5. BUILD ANTICIPATION
5a. PUBLICIZE
At age 15, in 1981, my parents let me go down to Fleet Street in central London the night before Diana and Charles got married. I went with Danny Milan and we spent the night in sleeping bags along with seven punk rockers--with nose rings, purple hair, and poor personal hygiene. It was great fun, though, and I was in the front row along the route.
There's another big wedding coming up on Friday (I've heard) and while I can't think of any copywriting lessons, there are PLENTY of marketing lessons.
Speed. 60 minutes after the royal couple leaves Westminster Abbey, a company will have an MP3 of the entire service ready for download. The CD will be ready in stores in three days. "Speed is a strategy" as Andrew Wood says. Get to market quickly. Make decisions. Act. BE FIRST.
Events create opportunities. Use them. Write an email about the Royal Wedding and the marketing angles. A store I've worked with that sells home "stuff" has been going bonkers with the wedding.
CONTENT IS KING...In this case, the content IS the king or someone who might be king one day. Is YOUR content Royal Wedding brilliant?
Merchandise around events. The Royal Wedding has been a massive bonus for companies that make and sell everything from plates to beach towels. I still own a copy of NOT THE ROYAL WEDDING...a book/spoof from a popular comedy show, Not the Nine O'Clock News.
Build anticipation. The Royal Wedding has been a big event since the announcement of the engagement last year. Start promoting your "big event" weeks before the event--and promote it frequently.
Publicize like crazy. Even the most ardent royal hater in the UK will have to admit that 1 billion eyeballs on central London is pretty good publicity for the tourism business. In fact, the Royal Wedding will be on YouTube. It's easier than ever to publicize your events: take photos and post them to your Facebook page. Shoot video. Blog. PR is no longer about the local newspaper and TV stations--it's your website, your blog, your Facebook page. And TV stations and newspapers look for all this "stuff" when they're scratching around for stories.
The most important marketing lesson from this Royal Wedding is speed. Update your website quickly. Get your Facebook page updated FAST. Move. Make decisions. Eliminate decision making by committee.
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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte NC. My full website is here.
