american riviera orchard - what was that all about then?

[Tenmus]

It seems to have gone the same way as their Sussex Royal site. I don't know much about social media or PR, but this all seems pretty odd and ineffectual.

The Tig was actually a really good blog. I was only interested in it when I found out Harry was dating Meghan and I wanted to know more about what she was like. It had this down-to-earth fun vibe about it and I loved trying out her recipes. It also help refine my palate and introduced me to some amazing wines (I now love Super Tuscans!). Even though she was semi famous at the time the content still felt relatable and I felt most things on it were attainable for a twenty/thirty something year old woman with the disposable income I had at the time.

ARO is clearly going for a different vibe. It seems more aspirational than relatable. I mean I get it, she is older now and needs to make money. But I feel like I’m not going to be able to afford most of what she is selling, I’m not her target market and it feels a lot of other people will be in the same boat. The name, layout and logo are overly complicated and pretentious. Whereas The Tig is punchy and has a story behind it, American Riviera Orchard is a bit of a word salad garble. She might be going for a more high income market but she will be alienating a lot of her fans if this is the path she is going down.

I’m not into cooking shows but if she puts recipes and fashion content up I will definitely have a nosey through it. It will be interesting to see how it works out when other big stars have failed to launch and maintain their own lifestyle brands.

Her USP is that she is royal, or at least that she WAS royal. But to me at least, royals are fascinating because they are a bit of a mystery. They keep a lot about themselves and their personalities private, so it’s fascinating when they do reveal a little about themselves. Social media has taken a lot of mystery away from celebrities when we know what they’re eating for breakfast every day.

But we know loads about Harry & Meghan. We know about Harry’s frozen todger, Meghan pissed in the woods and was throwing up after eating bad Calamari. I feel like I know WAY too much about them and that mystery has gone.

Her other USP is that she is an ex royal who is happy to spill the tea. But they’ve milked that to its fullest extent. I doubt there’s any further juicy tidbits to come out and if they do they risk alienating their family even more and the good will of ‘normal’ people. Plus they seem to want to distance themselves from this USP and prove they can be famous and sustainable in their own right. But with no obvious talents other than Meghan going back into acting, it will be interesting to see where they go.

@PrettyFlyforaMaiTai if I may, I am going to summarise your comments as follows: The Tig was authentic, ARO is not.

TLDR 🤣

I thought this was surprisingly in-depth https://pagesix.com/2024/03/30/royal-family/whats-going-on-with-meghan-markles-american-riviera-orchard/

“Lili bunny garden”??? 🤢

I actually follow several instagram accounts 😄. Mainly interiors and cooking but also some with beautiful clothes (far out of my price range). I would happily follow another one.

@PrettyFlyforaMaiTai I also think the Tig was authentic. Not sure about ARO, I hope it will be similar but more high end clothes, sunsets over the sea and orchards… I don’t like the placeholder and the launch could have been better. But I am hoping it will be good!

Do you regularly purchase from the 'lifestyle' sites you follow?

Honestly? Never… I am probably not the target group at all.

I look at pictures that makes me happy and try out the recipes. I occasionally try to find a high street version of some fashion.

That's the thing though. Simply ogling the photos isn't going to make money for anyone. It's the equivalent of window shopping in fancy designer shops you could never afford.

As I said upthread, I don't think people associate Meghan with 'high end' style. Women with that sort of money have options, and ARO is going to have to offer them something special to attract their interest, and their money. The sloppiness we've seen with the 'launch' doesn't suggest that will be the case. But I guess we'll see. Or not.

brand positioning is hard, isn’t it? I associate Meghan with that gorgeous engagement dress - so beautiful. But I really love her more relaxed style (jeans, shirt, simple jewellery).

I have no idea which income bracket and social /cultural niche ARO will be going for. I guess it would need to be aspirational for that chosen group?

I hope (selfishly) that it will be an account I like - but given my lack of funds to spend on luxuries, I am probably not the right target group.

I did buy myself a beautiful, more red lipstick than I usually use the other day. That was inspired by one of the accounts I follow - but nothing recommended there, more a vibe thing. Again, I am really not the target group 😂. But I can still enjoy beautiful photos.

I have no idea which income bracket and social /cultural niche ARO will be going for.

I suspect she doesn't either.

eau de desperation?

It’s very weird to launch to get max publicity as they did, by going out during the Diana awards, then let it sit there rotting doing nothing.

but then it’s Megan and Harry and let’s be honest, there is very little they’ve done that any sensible person would go, wow that was a good idea.

Honestly there is no probably about it. If you don’t have money then Megan isn’t interested in you. It will be aspirational and expensive for what it is. She isn’t going cheap and accessible that’s for sure.

clearly something has went wrong though, Launching and not being ready is very bad business and so it’s already a damaged brand , from launching deliberately to leverage negative publicity to get the brand out there, then having nothing to back it up

it’s weird though, everything They do, we all keep thinking they can’t be this thick It must be a mistake, they have access to the best advisors, then they do the next thing,and we think surely this will be right, and nope. Still thick.and so on through every single thing they do, we keep hoping they will do something smarter, and they just keep proving to us they are unable

O don't think either of them listen to advisers.

I get the impression that H and M don’t listen to advice . The guy from Spotify ( can’t remember his name) suggested this and look what happened there .
We were told there would be numerous programmes on Netflix but Pearl was dropped , we’ve heard no more about the film Meet Me at The Lake and now we’re told there will be Martha Stewart style stuff ! When ?
And what about Limonada which was announced some time ago ?
And rumours persist that H and M are difficult to work with .

Maybe she got the idea at this event.

Maybe too late to the market?

How do these people get away with copyright of whatever?

But I keep hearing that, when Meghan is seen wearing a particular item of clothing, it is guaranteed to sell out. It this is true, there are women out there with high-end taste and budgets who are buying into her brand. I'm not sure this is true, though.

@Prydddan Do we know if that has been verified by anyone outside the usual suspects on Twitter?

Also, she doesn’t tend to wear very current or unique pieces so it is quite difficult to tell how much of the sales are down to her or are due to the brand itself.

I have never seen sources for the claim, no.

I'm sceptical about these claims.

She's a pretty woman and wears some nice outfits, but her styling is often poor. The outfits don't fit, are wrinkled and often inappropriate for the event. So I don't think she's a good model for clothes.

In any case, I don't think ARO is intended as a fashion site? I thought it was more homewares and 'lifestyle'? Hard to know as all we have to go on are the trademark filings.

It will probably 'enjoy' the same degree of 'success' as all their other initiatives have. They don't have a clue what they're doing. They appear not to accept advice from experts and they are too lazy to put the necessary effort in.

Huge big flop already going on the actual lack of substance....