Best of British: How brands upped their social efforts for the Diamond Jubilee

For years I have been a lover of the Royal Variety Performance. The only problem is that before the days of PVR it coincided with my annual end of year festivities. So as I sit back and watch the Diamond Jubilee with old favorites like the two Ronnies, it brings back fond memories.

On 4 and 5 June the UK (and the rest of the world, clearly) celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It’s been interesting to note how companies residing under Her Royal Highness’ rule have taken advantage of the (uncommonly) lifted mood of British citizens.

Turn that frown upside down
With the recession still looming over many British pockets, the Jubilee celebration is an excuse for the average UK citizen to forget the doom and gloom and join in the festivities, as one of the fundamental reasons for any Jubilee is to uplift the nation’s spirits.

And so, with this in mind, it offers brands an opportunity to capitalise on a nation’s festivities, and perhaps to keep this in mind when the glitter settles and things return to normal. Perhaps we can learn a trick or two from the Brits about how they stretch their pennies a little further. Innit?

Buy British
Instead of looking at an event like this in isolation, businesses would be wise to treat the royal celebration as a way to boost patriotic sales throughout the year.

On a serious note, brands could use the theme around an event like this and tie it into their online communication quite easily. For example, a theme that could work for a British business all year round is ‘Best of British.’ Brands could tap into the demand for heritage products and interest in “buying local” to boost sales during the celebrations.

Bob’s your uncle
It goes without saying that social media is an excellent means to promote British products during the Jubilee celebrations. The #buybritish hashtag is popular at the best of times, and with #diamondjubilee trending on Twitter, it makes sense to jump on board.

The Diamond Jubilee isn’t just a time for the British public to celebrate their heritage or pay homage to Queen Elizabeth. It’s an opportunity for marketers to drum up brand engagement through creating royalty-themed ad campaigns.

Facebook has proven to be a popular tool for brands to show off their patriotic side, with many revamping their pages in honour of Her Majesty the Queen.

Maybe local brands in South Africa for instance can step things up a notch on Africa Day 2013? Here are a few examples of some cool British brands who have taken the lead in and showing us how it’s done.

Queensmill
As part of its sponsorship deal with ‘The Big Jubilee Lunch’, Kingsmill rebranded and launched a Majestic Makeover app. The app allows users to superimpose their face onto the body of a royal, and then post the image to their wall or set as their profile picture.

It’s a fairly basic app, but on the plus side, it requires very limited personal data and you aren’t forced to ‘like’ it.

Ma’amite
Marmite has also rebranded for the occasion, even going so far as to alter the product name in-store.
The brand has already built a huge online community of more than 850,000 fans, and keeps them engaged with daily posts of videos, images and user-generated content.

The jubilee forms part of its ongoing community management strategy, with content relating to the occasion posted daily over the past few weeks.

Waitrose
While it hasn’t rebranded (royalty-themed puns involving Waitrose aren’t easy), the food retailer has been running a jubilee competition. It has been crowdsourcing picnic treats such as Pimms, cupcakes and cheese, for its ‘Best of British’ street party competition.

People could enter on Facebook for the opportunity to win all the goodies. Waitrose has also been using its Facebook page to promote its Heston Blumenthal range of Diamond Jubilee recipes.

Sainsbury’s
The food retailer has launched a Jubilee Family Festival app crammed with information to promote its two-day event in Hyde Park this weekend.

It shows teaser clips, has links to ticket purchasing sites and allows the Facebook community to comment on what they are looking forward to. The app offers a huge amount of information and there are no barriers to get through before you can use it — it’s a good example of what can be achieved using Facebook apps.

Fairy
Fairy has also launched a new app, this time giving users ideas for a jubilee party. Fans can download the pack to get everything from bunting templates and party tips to recipes and instructions on creating a rocket from a fairy liquid bottle.

The app will also host a fan photo competition after the jubilee weekend, and encourages users to take ‘plenty of pictures of the celebrations.’ Like Ma’amite, Fairy has launched a limited edition bottle for the jubilee.

John Lewis
The retailer has been posting patriotic images every day for the past few weeks, including pictures of products, food and even Buckingham Palace. Earlier this week it also hosted a Q&A on its Facebook wall with a cake chef to give its fan tips for jubilee tea parties.

Examples courtesy of econsultancy