Meghan now flogging clothes for commission.

[AtIusvue]

Commissionable links- means when a potential customer clicks on the link, it's attributed to the affiliate, allowing the brand to record the source of the traffic. If someone buys a product using an affiliate link, the brand will pay the affiliate marketer commission on the sale

But she’s not an influencer?

This is really sad actually.

I remember reading that Catherine POW gave the Queen a jar of homemade chutney on her first Christmas at Sandringham.

@MaturingCheeseball from what I understand after reading about spread, calling something spread in the jam making world signifies the product is a cut above the rest of the toast toppers manufactured by the company.

The jam is really odd and I don't get it, but she's basically aiming for Goop-lite ultimately isn't she? she'll be selling food and recommending clothes, beauty and lifestyle stuff. I expect Gwyneth Paltrow got a lot of hate/ criticism early on but has risen above it and clearly done extremely well. I looked at her Instagram just now, it's a very similar 'vibe' to what MM is offering. MM will make a good go of it and it may well work, and good luck to her I say,

She puts jam on strange things!

Didn't she put jam in with ice cream on her show?! Never in my life have I seen that before. Jelly and ice cream, but not jam. I wondered if the mix up was because jam is called jelly in American, and perhaps she had come across jelly and ice cream being a quintessential British dessert without realising they are actually completely different products.

Yes, there's only so much you can get away with charging for boiled fruit.

And as I said above, she hasn't even attempted to tell us why her 'spread' is going to be worth the presumably 'elevated' price.

The profit margin on products such as perfume or cosmetics is way higher, especially because, as you say, you can create a sort of 'mystique' around them. But instead, her own brand is selling basic food products and she's affiliate merching random beauty products, some of them on Amazon. That's not really how you go about building an exclusive brand image.

Gwyneth isn't selling basic jam though is she? It's mainly 'wellness' woo, with some beauty and home stuff thrown in.

Her site is also very professionally done and has a clear brand identity, which can't be said for 'As Ever'. I don't think it's a similar vibe at all.

Gwyneth has other things in her favour. She's successful in her own right. She's a likable person, bright, witty and funny.
That's the big difference between her and Meghan.

Thing is in all seriousness, I can see people maybe using the shopmy storefront to buy items….but who’s going to have As ever products in their home? It would be like having Tesla on your driveway. It would mean you will be seen as making a statement….even if you aren’t. So be prepared for a reaction. Who wants that for the sake of a pot of jam?

Die hard Meg stans will lap it up, but cannot see ordinary people want the hassle of all that the jam brings.

The other thing with GOOP, which I could be wrong on, is that I thought it took a long time to turn a profit. This might be for tax purposes, VB also didn't post a profit until recently either. MM sticking power isn't great at projects. The show and ARO/As ever seems to at least be something she is sticking to a bit better even if it feels very disjointed.

As an aside, I've just realised that both companies start with an A. It reminds me of AA taxis trying to be first in the Yellow Pages.

Not sure about the 'likable' but agree on the other points. Gwyneth has the credentials to back up a high end brand, and Meghan doesn't. Being married to the 5th in line isn't enough.

Also, Goop was founded 17 years ago which was a different era. People are much more cynical about celebrities flogging stuff now, even if they had the money to spend, which most people don't. This is a really terrible time to be launching an 'elevated' celebrity brand.

Yes, I agree. Maybe "likable" is a stretch, but she's not such a negative and divisive figure as Meghan.

Agree.

It’s all in the name. You can expect the price point for a top end jam or a preserve to be higher as you would with a quality butter.

To have to call it a ‘spread’ puts it with butter substitute, margarine and the likes of Nutella

I can’t see it keeping her in the style she is accustomed to.

Maybe spread works better in the US market. I'm sure she is aiming there rather than here with her marketing.

GP is the cool, icy blonde that’s two years above you at school. You know she’s a bitch, but you’re still going to run home and beg your mum to buy you the same bag as she wears to school.

I think by law jam has to have a certain ratio of fruit and sugar which gives it a "preserved" quality so that they last for weeks/months and do not need to be consumed within a few days.

Fruit spreads in the US are often made with mashed up fruits that are combined with concentrated fruit juices (pear, grape, pineapple, apple) and pectin. So they may be "no added sugar" or "reduced added sugar" but obviously have a fairly high sugar content from concentrated juices. Some fruit spreads are made with artificial sweeteners.

So a fruit spread is more of an industrial product that the type of jam you make at home - sometimes it is marketed as "all fruit" and a slightly lower sugar content. Jam has bigger chunks of actual fruit or whole fruit.

We don't know yet what Meghan's Raspberry spread contains.

I’m quite sure she is aiming for the US market, (which is probably just as well 😁) but why not make it a Jam? She refers to it as Jam and I would imagine she could sell it at a higher price if it was. Does Jam sell well and for more in the US? I have to confess it’s not an area I know anything about 😁

The word ‘spread’ though. Raspberry spread. Makes it sound like a UPF item you’d find next to marshmallow Fluff, or biscoff spread

Why not call it compote? What’s the difference?

I do like St Dalfour, they call it a spread and I do prefer it to jam. But seen as it’s a French product, sold for the UK market….I just thought it was a translation thing.

All her products seem UPF. Correct me if I'm wrong, but look at the pancake mix. These are quick products, not really for those keen on cooking, more like hostessing.

https://www.stdalfour.com/our-story

This video shows you how they make the spread, but you can see the history of the region and the reasoning. Megs video of the jam in the factory doesn’t give quite the same vibe!

Catherine told the story herself, but that's actually an interesting point that hadn't occurred to me

I'd wondered "why jam?" myself, but while choosing chutney may have been just TOO obvious, perhaps the image of that little pot signalling "acceptability" appealed?

Also Highgrove aka Charles and Camilla sell organic jams

Although they make interesting jams such as Strawberry Champagne rather than bog basic - also they donate their profits to charity.

I think she will really struggle with a high price point if she doesn’t have any clear rationale to justify it - other than her own name of course.

you can get away with it, to an extent, if you’ve got a good story about origin - using local produce, making the products by hand, organic, paying fair wages etc.

that in the run up to launch she hasn’t talked about any of this (and it would be easy to do - she could show meetings with the suppliers, visiting the farms, talking about the principles of production) suggests it’s exactly what everyone thinks - mass produced on a budget, all show and no substance. But that will make it very difficult for her to get away with charging high prices - only the super fans will pay it, after the first flurry of curiosity purchases.

only the super fans will pay it,

Something tells me that the profile of the superfans is not 'High Net Worth'......

Agreed. It’s good marketing if you have a good story about the product that you’re trying to sell. If high end customers can get behind the story, they’d buy the product. I assumed that that was what Meghan was selling – a locally produced jam with natural ingredients etc. But some posters are now saying that it’s factory made so that’s left me a little confused.

That's a good comparison and unfortunately for GP now all of this furore has shone a light onto other aspects of her life in a negative way eg I saw reference yesterday again to the incident where her daughter Apple was at a debs' thing in France and allegedly pushed another girl out of the way. I recall it at the time. Now it's reared up again as the Apple not falling far from the tree and being a right b word too. She's been Markled.