The Photoshopped Royal Image - What Can We Learn From It?
A summary of what happened (skip if you know the details already)
PLEASE NOTE THIS BLOG WAS WRITTEN BEFORE THE NEWS THAT THE PRINCESS OF WALES WAS BATTLING CANCER. THIS BLOG WAS WRITTEN IN THE BEST FAITH AND WITH RESPECT TO THE ROYAL FAMILY. MY THOUGHTS GO TO KATE AND HER FAMILY WHILST SHE BATTLES CANCER.
Two days ago on mothering Sunday, Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales took the wrap for a badly edited family photo posted to the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Instagram, wishing everyone a happy mother’s day. On posting, followers quickly noticed inconsistencies with the image and a furore has ensued. Legacy media outlets such as Reuters among others ‘pulled’ the image due to its doctoring. Kate has not been seen in public for the last two months - recovering from abdominal operation - so conspiracy theorists were concerned about the possibility of a ‘deep fake’.
Since this involves social media and falls under the ‘marketing gaff’ category, here’s what I think…
Context matters
As many have already pointed out, the response wouldn’t have been anywhere near as dramatic if Kate was being seen in public - it is only because she is not present that it is causing such a storm. So, this reaction is largely about context. In marketing, when we’re not operating as normal (in this case, she was absent when she is normally very visible) the reaction to mistakes is magnified.
So, if you’re not in ‘business as usual’ take extra care with your communications. This is because people who care about what you do will really care if something goes awry during a sensitive time. It’s likely to be a minority who care, but as we live in the age of the algorithm, those people are able to shout out loudly.
The good news is, with most gaffs, the majority of people won’t care. That’s why small blunders don’t end businesses (I’ll talk about big ones another day). Inevitably, gaffs arise and the vast majority of the time, everyone moves on. Even the media.
Don’t lose the ones that love you most
As marketers, however, we must be scrupulous. If you examine the minority of people who do care - let’s say it’s 20%:
10% of those will be upset (they are highly engaged and really care about you)
the other 10% will be annoyed - you can ignore this group - a percentage will have already decided to lose trust before the incident and were simply waiting for a reason to move on. Don’t waste time and energy on these people.
The first 10% were not about to walk away, they are the ones to rescue - they want to be won back.
The cynic or the lazy person in you might say, “why bother? It’s 10%. Let’s forget about it and move on.”
Here’s two simple reasons to bother - you may have heard the first one before - turn around a disgruntled fan and they will become a major champion - their loyalty and trust will significantly increase. You have the option to really engage these people and get them on-side if you choose to, and it’s worth taking the time to do it.
And the other reason? If you don’t bother to win back that 10% this time, you will chip away at your audience bit by bit; and when another gaff arises, you won’t have those you could have won-back to defend you.
How to win them back? Well it depends on what has happened. Assuming it was indeed Kate experimenting in Photoshop (which I find hard to believe), one thing I would say is (and yes, it seems obvious with hindsight):
Make rules for when to use experts and stick to them
We have endless tools at our disposal - in the current landscape the average marketer has hundreds if not thousands of tools for every marketing task imaginable.
That means anyone can have a go at editing a photo. Does that mean anyone should? Well, when you’re the royal family and you have 15 million followers on Instagram and a global audience to contend with, the answer is almost always no.
The royals are essentially ‘a luxury brand’ - so to maintain trust, they should behave like one. That means no “moonlighting”. Whoever edited that photo - stick to your day job (providing it isn’t editing photos).
Does François-Henri Pinault (CEO of luxury group Kering) suddenly decide to put his hand to stitching the leather on a pair of Gucci loafers because he has some spare time whilst recovering from an operation? Hell no. They wouldn’t let him near the Gucci loafers.
The thought of Kate Middleton “clone stamping” (which is a tool in Photoshop that looks like it was used for these experimental edits - also suggested in this Wired article) is somehow quite unbelievable. I would never have expected Kate Middleton to sit down and attempt to learn Photoshop. I am impressed if not a little incredulous that she gave it a go. Good on her if it was indeed, her.
Assuming it was her, sharing these nascent skills with the world when the world isn’t seeing her in any other light is definitely not advisable. The good, thing is, she quickly held her hand up and apologised with humility. She showed she is more than human - she’s (possibly) a budding Photoshopper…
Social media management 101 - when you make a mistake, quickly own up to it and explain. And do not delete! So far, so good.
The niggle - the admission is slightly far-fetched - most people who know how to use Photoshop aren’t buying that it was Kate; but there is an outside chance that it was, and if it wasn’t, she covered for William or someone in her team, which reflects well on her either way.
So, what next? Without really understanding the royals and what is happening behind the scenes, or what really happened, it’s very hard to say, but from the outside looking in, I would say:
Mistakes make us vulnerable, what is the best coping mechanism for overcoming vulnerability? Make a joke…
This is incredibly hard for the royals to do. It’s not in their playbook to outwardly laugh at themselves (yet). When Queen Elizabeth II died, many stories of her sense of humour were shared (remember the cheese story told by Theresa May?!). You could confidently argue it warmed the public to both women in the most spirited and genuine way. I would venture that there is an argument for sporadic, well executed humour in the royal playbook, especially at a time of need.
So, how to do it? Do luxury brands ever laugh at themselves for mistakes they’ve made? And when is that appropriate to do? Increasingly, luxury brands are finding their way with humour, I like this article for a dalliance on the topic.
And luckily for the royals, we have the perfect upcoming opportunity for humour: April Fools Day. It is long enough after the gaff to let the dust settle and around the time that the Princess is expected to return. It is also one of the only days in the calendar that everyone, even luxury brands have licence to make a joke.
Perhaps the whole family is gathered round Kate whilst she inexpertly shoehorns an image of a Corgi into a family picture in Photoshop…? “No, no, to the left mum. No, over to the right Kate. Urgh I give up! This will have to do…” Cue badly photoshopped image is posted on Instagram with a swipe right to a video of the family group editing the image ‘3 hours earlier…’
Something playful, light-hearted and warm that melts the nation’s worries and reassures fans that all is well in the prince and princess’ family home. It could be the ultimate antidote to the chaos that is currently reigning and the perfect seduction for fans to fall back in love.
Final words
The job of communications and marketing is to build trust and win hearts and minds - we want to reassure our audience that we are credible - that we are who they think we are. Knowing what character you are playing and keeping to that character is key. This is why Kate’s moonlighting has unsettled people - she wasn’t playing the character people know or expect her to be. I talk to my clients about when to use experts and when you can get away with not, and this was undoubtedly one of those instances when it clearly wasn’t worth the shortcut.
The royals face huge and complex challenges in their marketing, but they stand to gain a lot if they can loosen their grip (in the right places) and show the world that Kate and the family are in fact, OK.
Could they give a rare shot at humour a go? It would have to be done right, and humour executed correctly is one of, if not the hardest gamble to take in marketing. But if it lands, it would be a golden moment for them.
Thank you for reading, if you got this far!
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