The Duchess of Sussex should make moves to "create excitement" around her American Riviera Orchard brand after soft-launching last month, and influencers could play an important role in its success, an entertainment expert has told Newsweek.
Meghan launched her new label on March 14 with a slick new website and Instagram page featuring luxury branding and an abstract 16-second video trailer.
Both the website and social media presence launched the brand with only its name, with no further details on product, events or marketing so far revealed.
What little is known about the brand's prospective offering has been garnered through trademark applications, which register the "American Riviera Orchard" name against a range of products from tableware and stationery to jams, jellies and pet food.
Now, as the brand approaches the one-month mark from its soft launch with no further details shared, Meghan needs to be proactive if she wants to make it a success, entertainment expert and founder of MarkMeets, Mark Boardman, has told Newsweek.
"Meghan's launch of American Rivera Orchard created the initial awareness that was needed, but now the next steps will be to create excitement with something original that people can identity with, and with Meghan being the face of the brand—it is solely her image that could lead to success or failure," he said.
"With Meghan we often see minimal comment but for a new brand I would expect a more media savvy launch as Meghan has spent over 12 months working on it and should look to target not only her loyal supporters, but the brand's [potential] affluent demographic."
Boardman highlights that timing could prove crucial to American Riviera Orchard's overall success, with a speedy product launch being desirable to "capitalize on the summer market, following what could have been a busy Easter period."
A key way to market products that do eventually come to market, he says, could be celebrities and influencers, something Meghan has tested in a smaller way in 2021 after she invested in coffee brand, Clevr. The duchess sent the coffee to her friend, Oprah Winfrey, who showcased it on her Instagram account to her 20 million followers.
"The trademarked brand could see runaway success with items that consumers believe that Meghan uses," Boardman said. "From a PR perspective I believe that sending out items to celebrities and influencers could make the brand go viral and sell out some lines, thus creating a bigger buzz and demand.
"The relevance of Meghan being the face of the brand is important but recruiting several brand ambassadors to advertise it, with a food expert for her home range or a supermodel for clothing accessories, could ensure the financial investment is worthwhile, opposed to a multi-million loss."
Newsweek approached representatives of Meghan Markle via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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