American Riviera Orchard and Meghan Markle

[Anonymous]

My take is MM is casting a wide net with a home/lifestyle brand because she doesn't know what will "stick" yet.

I think it's okay. Goop certainly was not an overnight success. It was launched in 2008 and went through many iterations before evolving into what it is today.

Selling products seems a pretty safe bet if you have a large social media following. If the Real Housewives can make a living doing it, there is no reason MM shouldn't be able to. You probably only need to convert a tiny fraction of your audience for it to be profitable.

But she does need to commit to this business and do all the social media / MSM press events and push hard to figure out the brand, product offerings, and audience.

I don't think they have many more pivots left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Theory:

It appears hastily thrown together and random because it is.

Why?

Someone like Oprah or Tyler Perry is bankrolling them to launch a product that will bd successful…even if it means anonymous purchases of the inventory…to demonstrate they have a viable brand that consumers will buy.

If everything quickly sells out when it is properly launched, then they can claim success (even if there’s a plan for anonymous bulk purchases).

Why go to this trouble?

Because their Netflix venture was a flop and nobody is interested in investing in their brand. They desperately need to demonstrate success in order to get their next paid gig.

There’s no way ARO will be as commercially successful as Goop.

She can’t build a brand on motherhood and homemaking on her own. Heck, Tori Spelling is better positioned to do that since her kids are more in the public eye. Ditto for the Kardashians. Nobody thinks of Meghan as a mother or homemaker.

Plus, her style doesn’t have mass market appeal. Martha Stewart exuded WASP old money vibes and shrewdly opened her home to underscore the brand: East Coast traditional kitchen, home, and yard.

Meghan dresses sorta waspy. She could easily put a fresh spin on that aesthetic: thin; high quality, tailored clothes in understated colors; expensive but not flashy jewelry; clean face/sleek hair). But her house is very bland: it looks like a RH catalogue. It’s not inspiring or relatable.

Well said!

No it's not. This is just a bunch of chat GPt babble. OPrah has launched her friends before this is not Oprah. Don't blame Oprah for this mess!

[Anonymous]

MM threads make me laugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Theory:

It appears hastily thrown together and random because it is.

Why?

Someone like Oprah or Tyler Perry is bankrolling them to launch a product that will bd successful…even if it means anonymous purchases of the inventory…to demonstrate they have a viable brand that consumers will buy.

If everything quickly sells out when it is properly launched, then they can claim success (even if there’s a plan for anonymous bulk purchases).

Why go to this trouble?

Because their Netflix venture was a flop and nobody is interested in investing in their brand. They desperately need to demonstrate success in order to get their next paid gig.

There’s no way ARO will be as commercially successful as Goop.

She can’t build a brand on motherhood and homemaking on her own. Heck, Tori Spelling is better positioned to do that since her kids are more in the public eye. Ditto for the Kardashians. Nobody thinks of Meghan as a mother or homemaker.

Plus, her style doesn’t have mass market appeal. Martha Stewart exuded WASP old money vibes and shrewdly opened her home to underscore the brand: East Coast traditional kitchen, home, and yard.

Meghan dresses sorta waspy. She could easily put a fresh spin on that aesthetic: thin; high quality, tailored clothes in understated colors; expensive but not flashy jewelry; clean face/sleek hair). But her house is very bland: it looks like a RH catalogue. It’s not inspiring or relatable.

Well said!

No it's not. This is just a bunch of chat GPt babble. OPrah has launched her friends before this is not Oprah. Don't blame Oprah for this mess!

I can't see Tyler Perry getting involved, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My take is MM is casting a wide net with a home/lifestyle brand because she doesn't know what will "stick" yet.

I think it's okay. Goop certainly was not an overnight success. It was launched in 2008 and went through many iterations before evolving into what it is today.

Selling products seems a pretty safe bet if you have a large social media following. If the Real Housewives can make a living doing it, there is no reason MM shouldn't be able to. You probably only need to convert a tiny fraction of your audience for it to be profitable.

But she does need to commit to this business and do all the social media / MSM press events and push hard to figure out the brand, product offerings, and audience.

I don't think they have many more pivots left.

Everyone is selling stuff, though. I can watch a podcast or Youtube video to learn something and be willing to put up with their ads and product promos. There are lifestyle, organizers, interior designers, cooks, etc. hawking wares in-between original content. It sounds like she wants to be the next Williams Sonoma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just want it to be The Tig 2.0

https://meghanmaven.com/thetig/

https://thetig.com/

So chic! Dancing in Africa! ‘Spensive wine! Please teach us how to love and live as graciously.

You are not the target audience.

Yeah, I can afford the wine and reputation repair via shallow charity photo ops ain’t the business.

I wrote that she should have followed a model more like Tabitha Brown— you cannot successfully, historically, shill “classy” while selling cheap sh!t. Goop works the nerves, but those clothes are cashmere and other decent fibers and made in Italy. It’s consistent. Her messaging is already a mess, and she’s already in “a fashion show with no fashions? How dreadful” zone. Silly, unforced errors.

Exactly. It's brand identity. She doesn't have one. The name isn't great, doesn't flow off the tongue, it doesn't sell a particular thing, Too bad H&M is already taken. The product photos I have seen look like bad mockups. This all seems terribly rushed and ill advised.

Good point on the Goop Italian cashmere. She'll have to go high end merchandise.

[Anonymous]

If she brings her kids out in order to help her 'brand' then we won't hear the end of it - Merchie and Lillibucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she brings her kids out in order to help her 'brand' then we won't hear the end of it - Merchie and Lillibucks.

That's probably why they are having trouble finding their niche. They want to keep their family private but sell their unique royal-adjacent lifestyle. There is no family besides them and maybe her mom to show if they keep those boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: they like their community

Their community doesn’t like them, sadly.

[Anonymous]

They gotta make money! It might as well be from apple lipgloss or whatever. I don’t know why people hate on them. I loved the wedding, and I was entertained by the Netflix show.

[Anonymous]

I don't see them staying in Montecito once the kids get to 5th grade. All the top schools are in LA and they will want their kids hanging with the children of entertainers, politicians, industry executives, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: they like their community

Their community doesn’t like them, sadly.

Probably prejudiced against their precious babies in such a homogenous community 😢

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: they like their community

Their community doesn’t like them, sadly.

Probably prejudiced against their precious babies in such a homogenous community 😢

Nope, that's not it.

[Anonymous]

This is amazing. MM is brilliant. This is exactly what has been needed for so long. A new luxury brand that sells table napkins and small bottles of expensive marmalade. And to call it "American Riviera Orchard" when there is no such thing as the Riviera in America, and the reason the founder is known to anyone is that she is the Duchess of Sussex (I mean, we kicked British nobles out, and with a war no less) even though she is American. So creative!

I for one can't wait to order. I'm going to add my name to the "waitlist" (this is very exclusive ... I'm sure we will have to wait a long time to be allowed to buy this marmalade) on the website that has nothing but a cheap and basic looking logo that seems to play more into the Duchess stuff than the American stuff. Yeah. Definitely giving them my email address. I want ALL of that marketing coming at me.

So exciting. Nothing like this has happened since the Sister Wives opened their online boutique "My Sister Wife's Closet."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: they like their community

Their community doesn’t like them, sadly.

Probably prejudiced against their precious babies in such a homogenous community 😢

They've brought unwanted attention and traffic to the neighborhood. It isn't the same. Many celebrities have moved out.