Meghan Markle’s (Second) Brand Launch
This Week:
A Few Things to Check Before Choosing a Name
How to Be Remembered
The One Thing
Before We Go…
1. From American Riviera to As Ever: Lessons on Launching a Brand (The Hard Way)
Meghan Markle's lifestyle brand is now on launch #2. What can we learn from these high-profile repeat brand introductions?
Quick Background
The Initial Launch: American Riviera Orchard
In March 2024, Meghan introduced American Riviera Orchard, a lifestyle brand inspired by her California residence. The brand aimed to offer products reflecting her passion for cooking, gardening, and entertaining. However, the launch encountered challenges:
Trademark Issues: American Riviera Orchard faced significant trademark issues. In August 2024, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected the trademark application, citing that the term "American Riviera" was primarily geographically descriptive. By September, it was reported that the USPTO found the term too vague to patent, giving Markle three months to clarify the application. Then, in October 2024, Harry & David, the owner of the "Royal Riviera" trademark, filed a complaint, raising concerns about a "likelihood of confusion" between the two brands, adding further legal complications.
2. ICYMI: How Strong Branding and Strategy Makes the Difference for an Organization
Scenario: Two organizations are created around the same time decades ago. Both do amazing work and serve a similar type of audience. One is well-known; the other is not. Why? It's like the old saying: "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" The same goes for organizations. No matter how exceptional the work, if an organization doesn’t have visibility, it risks being overlooked. To maximize impact, an organization must not only do great work but also ensure its efforts are recognized and known.
Here’s a list of key factors that could contribute to an organizational name becoming well-known in a positive way.
3. The One Thing
Each week, we’ll share one task that takes about five minutes to complete and can make an impact on your communications strategy.
Today’s task is in the spirit of our feature story. It’s important to have awareness about the branding of organizations with similar names, logos, etc.
Your Task This Week: Do some quick research. What organizations have similar names and brands to yours? Do a reverse-image search on Google with your logo—who has a similar one? Do you see any reputational risks to your own brand based on them?
4. Before We Go…
From The Verge: Our friends across the pond had a rare media moment last week - every major paper across the U.K. shared the same cover, protesting government proposals “that could eviscerate copyright protections against artificial intelligence.”
From Forbes: In a continuing trend, you can expect more sports to be exclusively available via streaming services in 2025 and beyond.
With TikTok’s longterm future uncertain, YouTube is making a push to woo influencers to the YouTube Shorts platform, advertising their monetization capabilities on TikTok. Digiday shares more.
Forward this to your friend who lives for the royal drama.