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Put the champagne on ice and get your Union Jack flags and confetti at the ready! Who will be the big winners when Prince William stops his bride-to-be, Kate Middleton, from waiting any longer and finally makes her his wife and future Queen?
With a little help from MSN, Bing and Microsoft Advertising you can get ahead of the curve today; set your travel or retail business up for success with these latest search insights and best practices to take full advantage of the Royal Wedding feel-good factor!
Wedding Planners Guide to Royal Wedding Online Growth
The Wedding Venue: UK Tourism
Millions of eyes will be on London on Friday 29th April as Kate Middleton makes her grand entrance through London's streets towards Westminster Abbey to take her place in UK history, yet, it will not only be London and Kate in the spotlight; the whole of the UK will also be on show.
People from all over the world have been fascinated with Will and Kate's love story, with interest intensifying since their official Royal engagement in November 2010. Since then many travellers have flocked to British shores to holiday in London, St Andrews in Scotland (where they first met while at university), and North Wales and Anglesey (where the royal couple currently reside while William completes his service as an RAF search and rescue pilot).
International tourists and amateur historians are fascinated by the longevity of the British Monarchy; with over 1,000 years of history and its well preserved ancient palaces and castles. The National Trust and The Royal Palaces; Hampton Court, The Tower of London, Kew Palace, Windsor Castle, and Buckingham Palace in SE England and Balmoral and Holyroodhouse in Scotland, are set to do a roaring trade this spring/summer as Royal Wedding fever grips the nation.
The Wedding Present List: Charities
Prince William and Kate Middleton will break with tradition by asking the public to make charitable donations instead of sending them wedding gifts. The scheme could involve millions of pounds being raised through online donations to the couple's favourite causes.
26 charities have been shortlisted including Zoological Society of London, Cruse Bereavement Care, RAF Benevolent Fund and Beatbullying, to name just a few. People can donate today at RoyalWeddingCharityFund.org.
The Engagement Ring: Jewellers
Many online jewellers have been inundated with customers wanting to buy copies of Kate's engagement ring. Online demand for the unique design, which was originally owned by Princess Diana, has rocketed. Searches for 'sapphire engagement rings' rose 138% year-on-year on Bing, between November and December 2010, after the proposal. Jewellers have been using online adverts to offer their rings to searchers across the world.
Source: Microsoft Advertising Intelligence
The original ring is an 18-carat oval blue sapphire ring, surrounded by 14 small diamonds in a cluster setting. It was chosen by Diana in 1981 from a selection provided by Garrard. Although the original is priceless, the online versions range from just a few pounds to several thousand for almost exact copies.
The Wedding Dress: UK Designer brand clothing
The lady who one day will be queen has already been getting many admiring glances from the fashionistas. With the £385 sapphire blue Issa dress that Kate wore at her engagement selling out within hours of her wearing it, it's a forgone conclusion that every detail of her wedding dress will be poured over and inevitably imitated.
One fact is sure; the Royal wedding dress will most certainly be a British bespoke designer creation with rumours that it could be created one of three of Ms Middleton's favourite designers: Issa, Bruce Oldfield or Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen.
Whatever UK fashion house is selected for the wedding dress commission, the British fashion industry is set to reap the collective benefits from the big day as their designer creations will be publically paraded by many of the wedding guests.
The Wedding Reception: Supermarkets, Pubs & DIY Stores
The traditional British community street or garden party is looking to be the most favoured way for the 'commoners' to celebrate the Royal Wedding and enjoy the extended weekend, as local town councils are urged to cut planning red tape and fast-track party applications to help foster greater community spirit.
Supermarkets, pubs and DIY home stores are set to do a roaring trade in the build-up to the royal wedding, with sales of party food, alcoholic beverages, party wares, trestle tables, garden chairs and barbecues (weather permitting), flying off the shelves.
Wedding Favours and Mementos: Souvenir shops
What is one person's rubbish is another person's gold is most definitely a universal truth when applied to Royal Wedding novelty souvenirs and collectibles. Since even before their official engagement was announced, many online and offline retailers have had a lot of fun with 'Kate & Wills' inspired merchandise. From the more obvious, understated China tea cups and plates, commemorative coins, t-shirts and Buckingham Palace endorsed tea towels to the downright wacky such as the Royal Wedding wardrobe doors! Whatever the demands of the customer, novelty souvenirs are here to stay!
Top 5 Royal Wedding Best Practices
1. Keywords: Carefully chosen and relevant keywords can really make an online campaign effective, especially when keywords relate to seasonality or a special one-off event. If you are offering products or services related to the Royal Wedding make sure you have these keywords in your account to capitalise on the moment. For information on generating great converting keywords specifically for Bing then please check out the Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Tool.
2. Tailored ad copy: Like with keywords, having the right, relevant message in ad copy is essential to driving online sales. Think about your target audience, special offers and unique selling points. For example, you may own a hotel or B&B in London which is near the Royal Wedding route. Or you may be an online retailer promoting a 3-for-2 offer on Union Jack bunting where you guarantee that your customers will have all their products in time for the big day. All of the above are great ways to keep you ads informed, relevant, fresh and interesting.
3. Negative keywords: If you are a business who frequently uses the terms 'Kate' or 'William' as a company name or forms the name of a popular product (William Hill, Just William, Kate Bush, Kate Moss) you might carry in your range, then ensure you have comprehensive negative keywords in your account when bidding on Broad and Phrase match. Negative keywords will help ensure that your ads are only showing up at the appropriate time and in a relevant place. For example, a person searching for 'Disney Cars Lightning McQueen' could be served an ad about 'McQueen Wedding dresses' if negative keywords were not assigned appropriately.
4. Special Offers: tempt customers in with Royal Wedding related special offers and other unique selling points. For example, a London, St Andrews or Anglesey based hotel or B&B might choose to tempt customers to book with them because of an offer of a free authentic English breakfast or afternoon high tea. A retailer might choose to give discounts on specially-chosen Royal related products or offer to make a charitable donation to one of Prince William's charities when a purchase is made.
5. Budgets: The Royal wedding is due to take place on April 29 which also happens to be one of the busiest months in the 2011 calendar due to Mother's Day and Easter also falling within it. Ensure you have sufficient daily and monthly budgets to see your PPC activity through the seasonality peaks without any costly interruptions or downtime. Microsoft adCenter and the Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Tool are both excellent resources for analysing and predicting Bing traffic volumes and pricing models for all your campaign budgeting needs.
Thanks for reading,
Kate
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Its not just charities, jewelers and brand clothing designers that are taking full advantage of this mega event, the graphic design industry is also right behind them. A US based website called MycroBurst.com is promoting an online "Prince William and Kate Middleton Monogram Design Contest" on its website. I found it while surfing the web.
Excellent article with wonderful ideas and opinions shared in this update. I truly enjoyed reading it.
Looking back on the royal wedding now... well it was a huge money spinner. I don't think that marketeers were that quick to respond but those that did certainly benefited