Last month, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge launched their new keen YouTube channel, for all of their keen vlogging. If you’ve been following William and Kate’s social media over the years, their YouTube channel wasn’t any kind of surprise. They’ve leaned into “creating exclusive content” for their social media ever since… um, 2018. Before then, the Keens’ social media looked amateurish and half-assed, big surprise. But as soon as they had competition, well, you know the rest. Now, suddenly, KateTube is a challenger for “MegFlix” and royal commentators are suddenly excited about the kind of revenue Will and Kate might make from their channel. Will and Kate are also trying to get credit for seeing the wisdom of social media and vlogging *before* Meghan and Harry. I sh-t you not. From Grazia:
The Cambridges’ strategy has been years in the making. ‘This has long been on their agenda, for William and Kate but also for the whole family,’ says Katie Nicholl, author of Kate: The Future Queen. ‘There has been a plan in place for the royal family to go digital for some time. Those changes have taken place at a relatively slow and stable pace, but the pandemic really moved things forward. Engaging with a young audience is a way of safeguarding the family.If you can get the masses behind you, then the future of the monarchy is secure.’
Whether W&K are copykeening Harry & Meghan. ‘Digital and social strategies predate Meghan’s arrival in the family,’ insists Nicholl. ‘A source in the household said years ago that they knew that social media would be the way of the future, and that they would have to embrace that digital medium. But the Sussexes were so hot on social media that it accelerated things. You have to give credit where it’s due: Harry and Megan showed how successful it could be.’
Kate is the one hiring their social media team? Kate was so impressed with Meghan and Harry’s work that she hired David Watkins, their digital head, when their move to the US made his role redundant. And last month the Cambridges advertised for a senior communications officer, skilled in telling stories across all platforms, to join their growing team of savvy advisers. ‘When it comes to recruiting new staff, digital skills and being fluent on social media is absolutely top of the list as far as the Cambridges are concerned,’ Katie says. ‘They’re investing in it and, so far, it has been proven to be a success.’
A royal source insists Kate is directing the communications strategy: A royal source, however, makes it clear that despite the support of experts, Kate is very much leading the charge when it comes to deciding on concepts and settling on the right tone. ‘The Hold Still phone calls where the Duchess of Cambridge spoke with participants in the photography project were firmly her idea,’ they explain of the first series of videos to hit the couple’s YouTube account. ‘And the videos showing her leaving copies of the book for members of the public to find was inspired by something actor Emma Watson has done in the past: the duchess has watched and learned from past successes, taken advice and improved on ideas, and has thoroughly enjoyed it. We’re really going to see her grow and evolve in the coming months and years: expect intimate video diaries, light-hearted behind-the-scenes clips and informal new ways of marking royal milestones and birthdays.
Nick Rogers, founder of PR and influencer marketing agency The Cast, on the Keens: ‘The most successful people, generally, on social media are those who behave and conduct themselves with integrity and with truthfulness. The younger audiences are very savvy to authenticity, so William and Kate won’t want to stray too far away from who they really are. There is a tension. There are people who believe that the royal family shouldn’t necessarily be the next Kardashians, and that we don’t want to see the ins and outs of their lives. They are treading a fine line when it comes to relatability, but so far they’re doing it well.’
Katie Nicholl kissing Kate’s ass is nothing new, but crediting Kate with the Cambridges’ social media strategy entirely and with their online communications? Well, that’s going to come back to bite. Not that I doubt it entirely – the social media projects around Kate’s sad little Five Big Questions showed a frivolity and superficiality which I completely believe came from Kate. Her staffers were trying to put a bow on Kate’s lazy f–king project and all they could come up with were cutesy little videos and pie charts!! And the very idea that Kate was super-keen about social media before Meghan came around? LOL. No. She wasn’t. She got keen in a hurry when she saw what Meghan was doing.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, social media.
These people really have no idea that “the youths” do not care about the Cambridges, do they?
Why is that last paragraph of the article talking about them as if Generation Z has the same attitude towards the royals as some Victorian family in 1901??
The younger generation simply does not want to hear from a monarchy. Period. It is something that belongs in a history book and in a history book only.
The only ‘royals’ the ‘yoof’ resonate with are the Sussexes.
They also think that if they keep saying “Social Media!” a lot, young people will suddenly think they’re cool and relevant. *eyeroll*
I seriously think that is the strategy here!
Yep I had dinner with 3, 60 something white women (my age) who all adore Kate and Meg is the devil who should just disappear. Very uncomfortable.. That’s the Kween demographic
The youth aren’t attracted to the Cambridge because they are too bland the perfect family brand of Cambridge has nothing to do with youth & their aspirations just look at the reaction Meghan got in that high school visit compared with the Cambridge around the youth
Honestly, the Cambridges shot themselves in the foot (Feet?) by going all in with the image of the perfect family. That sells to an older generation, maybe. It doesn’t sell to younger generations (including myself in that as I am the same age as the Cambs) because we know that its just an image and not reality. It’s blatant PR and its harder to hide that fact from younger people. No family is perfect and that’s okay.
And the idea of Kate and William being so “hardworking” and so “hands on” is also harder to sell – everyone knows they have staff, the fact that Kate may put the kids to bed isn’t really enough either anymore. You have people who work 40, 50, 60 hour weeks and handle all the childcare when they’re not working, or full time SAH parents who dont have multiple nannies – what do they have in common with the Cambridges?
Maybe we’re not supposed to have anything in common with them, because if we did, then the next question might be “why are we supporting them” but it means they’re certainly not relatable.
Older people still believe what the media says. My mum is in her 60s and used to hate Meghan because she followed what everyone on itv were saying about her. Older people generally don’t understand the concept of PR and that public figures have a carefully crafted image to portray, and that things are never as they seem. She sees a broadcaster on tv trashing Meghan and thinks they must be right because that person Is a well spoken, educated journalist.
She is now starting to see Meghan was stitched up, but still believes William is great and is reluctant to admit he’s behind the smear campaign, no matter how many times I explain to her.
But yes there is definitely a generational gap here, and unfortunately for the Keens, there fanbase is much more likely to die first.
I’m in my 60s and I love Harry and Meghan. I loved Diana. I can’t stand the Cambridges.
We get it, you’re going to be the keenest Kween Consort someday. And you need to vlog instead of pod because your work needs subtitles for the peasants.
And you’re helping to ensure that by keeping the camera rolling to capture the real PWT in all his mediocre glory with all his racial and classist gaffes. Good luck.
I expect nothing less from the TOP CEO and JEWEL IN THE CROWN OF THE MONARCHY!!!! She is the savior of the Royal Family. So, we expect this of her.
😴🕸
I love that even in praising her videos, which honestly weren’t that good, they admit she got the ideas from other people. So she’s not doing anything groundbreaking at all
Exactly…well least they actually credited others with the ideas for once. Wonder how the stans will cope with a mouthpiece admitting Cambridges copying others including the Sussexes.
Pretty sure it was Harry & William who were bigging up social media. I remember when the press were going hard on the Cambridges back in 2016 one motivation was because it was felt they were tying to circumvent the rota by posting on SM & sending exclusives to US outlets like People. Thankfully they have a healthier relationship now..
I wouldn’t say KP’s SM is much better than Clarence House’s though. One of the best posts KP did was for Louis bday last year though
It’s so funny how the U.K. press goes on about Meghan being a narcissist but who are the royals with weekly fluff pieces about how great they are.
I actually think Clarence House is better at social media a lot of the time. There’s fewer cutesy videos, sure, but I think CH does a better job of highlighting Charles’ work especially when he travels. I remember in…2019, maybe? he was in Cornwall at some sort of food festival and CH posted various recipes of traditional Cornish foods. And they’ve done similar things before, I think one time they posted different recipes from different regions of the UK, so it was interesting for an American like me to see. Or they realized one thing that people like about Camilla is that she is such a reader so they started her reading room on IG, and it’s been an interesting insight into her as a person.
I mean a lot of the time its just “the prince of wales traveled to this site and did X” but I do think their SM team makes an effort to make it as interesting as possible without seeming like they are trying to be “hip.”
@ Becks1 I agree. I find CH posts much more interesting than KP. C&C manage to look as if they are on the same page and actually enjoy being around each other also which helps. Most of KP seems the same over and over: Kate overdoing the laugh, cute pix of children, Will with the cheesy grin or jaw clenching.
@BECKS1, I have to disagree. I think Charles does better/more effective work than William, but the message isn’t getting out. The older white people I know who support the monarchy always argue that William (not Charles) will be a great king, and wish the throne could just skip over Charles. So when it comes to PR, William is doing a better job. And maybe that’s *because* William leans into empty work, just doing fun things and having Kate play dress-up for photographers. Those are the kinds of things that appeal to the empty-headed stans of the royal family. Glitter and displays of wealth over substance.
@MrsKrabapple – but I’m not talking about PR in general. I do think William is winning that one just because no one has challenged him yet and no reporter is willing to tell people why William should not be winning the PR war (if that sentence makes sense.)
I’m specifically talking about their social media accounts, I think if you are indifferent to both of them and follow both accounts, the clarence house one is a lot more interesting and you learn more about the actual organizations that they are visiting or working with.
My mom hates charles and camilla bc of Diana (which is funny bc I dont remember her being a Diana fan at all really) and thinks the crown should skip Charles and go to William (she saw this on Facebook and is now convinced the Queen gets to pick and she’s going to pick William lol) so if she looked at both social media accounts she would def prefer KP’s. but just in terms of how their teams handle social media, Charles’s team is better.
At the very least they didnt start a YouTube channel in 2021 and act like it was something cutting edge lol.
I’m still baffled they didn’t do a book hiding video for their channel.
I mentioned it before but it would have been so cute if she had dressed in a ball cap and a sweatshirt and gone around some areas like Brixton or Soho with cute music before the crowds descend, like a “follow me around” video.
The video of Kate with Mila only has 124K views. Pitiful! And so sad that poor little girl has to be roped into their publicity…
The only thing these type of articles show is how “keen” they are to compete with meghan and harry.
Also their youtube isn’t really taking off. What was it again? 500K subscribers for a family that supposedly millions of people LOVE.
They also continue to highlight another problem for the keens: their failure to connect with a younger demographic but im afraid that that window has sort of closed already.
Before Meghan, W&K only had 2 million followers. Meghan had more as an actress. The Cambridges Instagram was boring and have absolutely no information nor context for what was posted which is why it was stagnant for years. Meghan running the Sussex royal account changed the game and now all of the royals copy that strategy. Once again they are trying to give Meg’s attributes to Kate.
The authenticity they are talking about in this article is something that could be felt through the posts of Sussexroyal. With the Cambridges you can sense that its a bunch of try-hard staff.
The Cambridge’s have never been able to balance being public people and having private lives which is why they are so bad at social media.
@Mac – you got it in one. Kate and William, along with hundreds of millions of sane people across the globe, are outside of their comfort zone on SM platforms. They don’t want to be there to begin with and it shows.
No shade on them here. IDK, maybe they stop doing so many joint events if they don’t want to, and find a way to maximize each platform’s strength w/o focusing / selling their marriage/image. Work with some SM brilliant minds and let someone else formulate the strategy.
I don’t like Kate but it’s sad they’re putting so much on her shoulders as if she was this great strategist….she has no vision and she is just a follower not a leader and it’s ok…
Pretty sure she’s doing it to herself. It’s all PR puffery. No one expects her to come through on anything.
Brielle. Please don’t worry. She’s a top CEO. Most likely a nobel prize scientist in her spare time.
Kate is all PR spin, nothing is being put on her shoulders. Nothing. I don’t feel sorry for her.
Are we seeing more praise keen and less hate Meghan articles these days? Perhaps the crisis managers have convinced them to pull back on the daily hate as it has backfired so badly? Although they are after Harry all day every day.
I think they are pulling back because that bullying accusation right before the Oprah interview was so transparent. First they got rid of Jason Knauf who made the claim. Then they will play the long game by letting some time pass and distancing themselves from it. Then I think the employees will make the accusations themselves. I don’t think they are going to stop trying to discredit her until Harry leaves her and comes back to the royal family.
As someone who works in communications and is involved with content strategy across comms channels (including social media channels), there’s so much hooey to unpack from this.
Most of all, yes, putting together a good social media plan takes effort and some time, but FFS it does not take years!!! How audiences use social media is constantly evolving, and good sm strategists are really nimble thinkers and are able to work quickly. They look for future trends. They’re always thinking about what’s next, not necessarily what’s popular now, and they also work incredibly hard. The best ones I work with…well, they work like Meghan. So the notion that Keen Guevara has been slowly, patiently watching and learning about social media for years (while actually launching NOTHING) before Meghan even came onto the scene is just laughable.
Also, the Keen’s new social media rollout is nothing cutting-edge. It’s not something I’d point to as a case study on launching a sm strategy.
And STILL Keen Guevara is ‘growing’ and ‘evolving’. She’s almost 40! So crazy.
Thank you, that’s what I was thinking but couldn’t articulate so clearly, surely the pace of digital change in the world means you have to constantly learn and evolve your approach.
Likewise on her ‘growing’. Now I’m totally into lifelong learning and everything in that space (I’m a business psychologist, it’s literally what I do), but at some point on that journey you need to figure out who you are!
Thanks for this—all their talk about ‘learning’ and ‘growing’ never made much sense to me. Also, successful YouTubers create a lot of content; I can’t see these two ever wanting to work that hard. The thing is, if they stopped talking about working and actually did some work, they’d be much better off.
Yes, this. Social media is changing every minute and they’re all “No hurry, we’ve got plenty of time before we hit the Bronze Age.”
Rusell brand did very insightful analysis on the keens channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zU0o2_4YdM
Dang!!! Thank you.
The things that keep them from being relatable or even appearing to be is this perfect family image they created. When all articles about you are about how perfect you are, everything that derail from that will sound like a big deal.
I agree with K that putting every new strategy on Kate will come back to bite their asses.
Kate was really keen on social media before Meghan but just never did anything about it? Is she that lazy that she couldn’t even hire someone competent to run their account?
Also why are they acting like the Cambridges youtube is some groundbreaking thing? the royal family has had a YT channel for years. So even in the confines of the Firm, the Cambridges are still behind.
Everytime they talk about the YouTube channel like it’s some new concept, I want to say “Who’s going to tell them?” 😀
Well she tends to be keen for years and years and still not do anything.
Even Nicholl admits that it was the Sussexes that showed how successful it could be and that Kate liked the SussexRoyal Instagram. So much for the “it’s breaking protocol” every time they posted.
Also: gen z do not care much about the royals. At all.
I wonder if they’re waiting for H&M to get on social media so they can see what to do next. They’re going to continue to copy H&M even though they’ve left. All they did when the Sussexes quit was hire their SM guy and copy their Instagram template. A YouTube channel is not groundbreaking and the content isn’t all that excited. Will they come up with a new strategy on their own?
“I wonder if they’re waiting for H&M to get on social media so they can see what to do next.”
I think that is exactly what they are doing. We’ve seen time and again that they are completely uncreative and lack original ideas. I still can’t get over how they switched to doing their video calls in a family room couch style setup after the Sussexes started doing it.
The way Team Cambridge talks about social media is so cringy. *Insert “Hello_Fellow_Kids.gif”*
They talk like they are so proud to be doing something so ‘modern’. Reminds me of when my mum started using WhatsApp. Who’s gonna tell them YouTube has existed for 16 years already?
Kaiser’s photo game is always on point but she has really brought it these last few weeks. Loving it.
I don’t know anyone young who gives a care about these two. Their popularity is limited to old people. People so old they are scandalized by bare legs without hose
Not really because kate has flashed her tush more than once but it never seemed to bother them. Only when the legs have a brown tinge it becomes a problem
That photo of Keen and her ground-breaking pie chart will never not make me laugh.
Me, too!
I know, it’s like those ads that say, “Glo-wax is 75% better!”
Come on, Kate’s only experience with strategy comes from her mean-girling every woman who enters her sphere. She’s not subtle, and she’s not complicated.
I have genuine questions about this. With exception of her sister, kate was mean to every girl that,like you said, came into her sphere. From harry’s former girlfriends, to beatrice and Eugenie to (let’s be honest) Meghan. If there’s a bully, its kate.
Also, i’ve seen multiple people on twitter saying that when they met her or her mother they would be kind of snobbish and rude. And i’ve never seen kate with an actual friend, while meghan has friends she’s knows since high school/college.
DOES kate have actual friends? Friends that are entirely her own and not wife’s of williams friends?
I remember seeing years ago, leading up to W&K’s wedding I believe, a very interesting video on Youtube about Kate. It was a compilation of clips from interviews with different correspondents (not sure of they were RR’s or not, I can’t recall who they were) talking about her lack of girlfriends. Another man in the video I remember distinctly saying, “I think William cares about Kate a lot. I think he loves her. But he’s not IN love with her–but he can trust her.” That always stuck with me. That video is nowhere to be found now. But it’s been talked about for years the fact that Kate made herself a fixture in W’s life and has no life of her own. Or friends.
The two names that are put out there as Kate’s friends are Emilia Jardine-Patterson and Sophie Carter. One of them went to Marlborough with her, and the other I think she met as part of William’s circle? I’m not sure. We usually see one of them (I can’t remember which, I think its EJP) for the typical church stroll around Kate’s bday in January.
But those are really the only two names that we hear as being “Kate’s friends” and not “Kate and William’s friends.”
@L84Tea that video clip is still on YouTube; I recently saw it. I believe it was James Whitaker who said Wills loved but was not in love with Kate at the time of their wedding.
@Harper, is it? I hadn’t been able to find it for the longest time. Thanks! I am going to try to find it!
@l84tea you can see a link here https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/james-whitaker-listen-to-his-frank-insight-686771
iirc clips from the video are on YT under Kate Middleton Unfit Princess.
The expert quoted at the end of the article articulates their biggest problem (which we have been pointing out for months): In order to be successful on a revealing social medium like YouTube, you have to have to have some degree of authenticity and also a point of view, it’s not just pretty snapshots and emojis.
If they are not careful, they could end up alienating their conservative base AND not ever reaching their intended audience.
I do wonder if the new gardening hire at Anmer means we will get some house/grounds tours?
Yes- this exactly. The keens lack either. I mean it is good to have socials at this time but the very thing there brand is built on(not standing up for anything, being purely middle of the road, lots of fabricated family perfection) keeps them from being original, engaging, and authentic.
yikes, the monarchy is doomed. this sh*t is really just so sad.
If Kate is driving force being their social media strategy and savvy, what’s the explanation for KP’s and the press’ negative reactions to Harry and Meghan’s Instagram page?
LMAO this makes it sound like “haha the Cambridges did their own YouTube FIRST, suck it, Sussexes!” Like bish, they don’t need YouTube, the got a wholeass Netflix backing them.
Why is her mouth always open in pics?
Embiggen me lol
The Cambridges and their minions really are out of touch with reality, aren’t they? It’s not enough to have a YT channel with some cute videos and serious pie charts. Anyone can have that. You have to have something unique to say or be someone aspirational to stand out from the crowd. One reason people, especially those in their 20s and 30s, like H&M is because they are aspirational: successful 30-somethings with a beautiful house and a cute family who are out in the community making a difference both personally and within their positions.
Kate could have been seen as aspirational at one time: an educated middle-class girl from a typical English family who marries the heir to the throne and then uses her position and interest in arts or sports to give back to the public (or at least is seen more than once a month). But no, she and Willnot hid away from the world and expect to be respected and beloved because he is the FFK and Son of Diana and she’s the FFQC and FFFQM. They don’t realize that, while Gen Z and Millenials may not want to dissolve the monarchy, they aren’t as impressed by the “Mystique of the Monarchy” as previous generations were.
The Middletons sue whenever something negative is posted about Kate. The fact that they allow public “comments” from her drug-dealing, wife-beating lout of an uncle tells us all we need know about the ambitious Goldsmiths. They have the Crown in their sights. They’ll never let go.
But they haven’t even done anything on their channel
They keep posting these calls that Kate had with the photographers of the Hold Still book. That’s it. It’s so sad.
I’m putting that picture of Kate looking at her own pie chart as my screen saver. I used to have M&H under their farewell tour umbrella as an inspiration to stay happy, but I’m changing for Kate and the chart as an inspiration to keep laughing.
The YouTube channel must be bombing or the Cambridge’s wouldn’t take this tact. If Nichol is admitting this is from the Sussexes playbook it’s buyer’s remorse for siding with the palace.
After 4 weeks they have posted 6 videos, the intro video and 5 about Hold Still. Their playlist links go back to the RF channel. There is nothing on there they haven’t posted on Twitter or Instagram. There are 563K followers in comparison to RF 860K followers. I’m thinking it must be harder to buy followers on YouTube. I don’t think they have fans so much as they have those who post for them as H&M haters.
You can’t buy followers on youtube because you can earn money if you have a big enough base. YB is very careful in monitoring things like that. Because it affects their bottom line.
I like that even the Grazia writer says Nicholl “insists” lol
These pictures! The shade 🤣
I cackled at the pictures, especially the main one LOL
lmao at the first and 2nd pic. never seen those pics before. goodness, one really need to be very careful when you are in the public eye. they might end up taking a pic of your nose hair .lol
“We’re really going to see her grow and evolve in the coming months and years ..”.
Are we, now? How many times have we heard this.
And as for thinking their dreary YouTube channel will attract a “young audience”, they really are clueless.
lol. this is like me saying , oh my son will walk soon. he was 7 months old. then walked at 9 months old . goals. then i waited for his first words. its was papa, then shoes, cause he will point to the door and say shoes. he was 11 months. then catch ball. goals, he was great . but as he got older, the more i worry. he will out of my eye sight when he starts school. watching his personality , planning . life got more and more worrisome for me as he got older, and the word*goals*became scary. each steps during his life, he grew.he learned, school, uni. job. always new things to learn. he found his path, he already had his voice, and knew where his feet will take him, when he was 16, he knew what he wanted,and did it . after 3 decades i can say GOALS without being scared .Catherine is still on a crazy path, she has no plans, no other goals than being queen. the press is trying so hard to help her out to do things ,and she is still stuck in some fantasy land..playing dress up is not a job. there is no substance to her at all. she will soon be 40 ,living in a fantasy world.
The rest of the BRF ‘went digital’ years ago, oh W&K PR hack Nicholl. They’ve had SM accounts for years.
Jeez, give it a rest already. Twelve months on and they still trying to out-Sussex Harry and Meghan. They should get it through their heads, they will never have what Harry and Meghan have.
Just stay on your little salty isle. You are never going to win over the younger generation.
And what with the binders. She doesn’t have an iPad or some digital device for note-taking? But yeah right she really is the person in that family putting their media presence together.