Social | July 23, 2013

The Royal baby: A business and social media boom

After the Duchess of Cambridge went into labour yesterday, millions of users on Twitter waited with bated breath for the arrival of our new Prince or Princess. For the first time, Brits could celebrate a Royal birth on social media.Trending topics such as #RoyalBaby and #RoyalBabyWatch emerged as Twitter users tried to predict the sex, weight and even the arrival time of the special sprog. Tweets came in thick and fast as companies and individuals across the globe joined in the Royal baby conversation.

Heir we go

As with the announcement of the labour, many people first found out about the new Prince as word spread across Twitter.

Almost immediately, trending topics changed from baby predictions to congratulatory tweets with hashtags such as #RoyalBabyBoy and #RoyalBabyNames emerging as users began speculating the name of the future King. News spread like wildfire to other social networks with Facebook timelines, and even LinkedIn, buzzing with the news.

The sheer volume of tweets and social mentions that went live yesterday was astounding – and the speed at which the news spread showed the true power of social media!

Royal baby branding

As well as making the most of the chatter on social channels, many brands tried to capitalise on the arrival of the noble new born with some strategic branding:

Starbucks:

The coffee giant’s UK Twitter account showed their support of the new Prince by tweeting a picture of two Starbucks coffee cups labelled with ‘Kate’ and ‘William’, accompanied by a mini coffee cup – all decorated with crowns!

Oreo Cookie:

Oreo celebrated the Royal baby by tweeting ‘Prepare the royal bottle service!’ They further branded the tweet with the slogan: ‘Long live the crème’.

Coca-Cola:

Coke made use of their current marketing campaign to show their support of the Royal news – they tweeted ‘Time for a Royal celebration’ with an image of two coke bottles ‘Kate’ and ‘Wills’.

Domino’s Pizza and Pizza Hut:

Pizza Hut took the arrival of the Royal baby as an opportunity to sell more pizza! They offered customers a free side or dessert with any medium or large pizza by using discount code: ROYALOFFER – whereas Domino’s tweeted a picture of a baby grow that had been branded with their colours and logo, and read: ‘Another great delivery’.

Souvenirs and memorabilia

Many brands will also look to jump on the baby bandwagon with souvenirs and memorabilia to mark the event. Companies such as the Royal Crown Derby and the RoyalCollection Trust are already working on collectables to celebrate the Royal birth, but they certainly won’t be the only ones; we’re certain to see a broad range of businesses rolling out baby-themed products over the coming weeks!

What’s been your favourite example of baby branding on social media so far? And will you be buying into the Royal baby memorabilia? Let us know on Twitter @_libertydigital

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