Meghan Markle is likely to make six figures within weeks of the official launch of American Riviera Orchard, a brand expert has claimed.
After the Duchess of Sussex, 42, made an explosive return to social media last night, launching the account for her lifestyle and cooking brand, royal fans have been sent into a frenzy.
And while little information has been released about what American Riviera Orchard will offer, brand expert Hayley Knight says the anticipation of its products and content will benefit the business in its opening months.
She added that it was “no coincidence” that the Duchess launched the brand on the same day her husband Prince Harry was due to appear via video message at the Diana Legacy Awards, teasing fans with a “glimpse” of information. she was building expectations of what the brand will offer.
Hayley also said it ‘makes sense’ that the Duchess has decided to launch a lifestyle brand following the success of competing A-list brands such as Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and Kourtney Kardashian’s Poosh, adding that the Duchess ‘wants to place herself amongst celebrities’. .
The Duchess of Sussex, 42, will ‘make six figures’ within weeks of the first products being released from American Riviera Orchard, a branding expert claims
Speaking to FEMAIL, Hayley said: ‘We’ve seen in the past that everything Meghan wears, promotes and sells sells out instantly and there are websites dedicated to ‘What Meghan wears’, showcasing her brand power.’
She added that Meghan had ‘incredibly strong’ instincts when it comes to PR and marketing and ‘wouldn’t have launched this if she didn’t think it would work’.
So far, little has been shared about what American Riviera Orchard will look like when it officially launches, but Hayley believes it’s safe to assume it will target the ‘mid to upper market’, where Meghan ‘leans get into the brand and her personal style’ .
American Riviera Orchard was officially launched on Instagram and via a website on Thursday evening
The Duchess’ new lifestyle and cooking brand was launched on Instagram last night with a glossy Instagram video
Hayley predicted: ‘I’m sure we can expect homely yet stylish, unique, modern designs for the stylish and contemporary home, with undertones of spirituality and mindfulness.’
The brand expert admitted that it is difficult to say how much the Duchess will earn from American Riviera Orchard because no products or prices have yet been released.
But she predicted: ‘Meghan will definitely see success quickly once the store is launched. We have seen with previous celebrity launches that demand is incredibly high and the products sell quickly.’
She added that Meghan is likely to continue to sell her ‘own range’ of products that she will claim to use herself, which will be ‘a hot selling point’.
“I can’t imagine Meghan will make less than six figures within the first few weeks of opening, if not in the first week, if the business sells globally,” she said.
Regarding brand collaborations on social media, Hayley said Meghan is unlikely to make money through paid partnerships because the Sussexes are likely to only use social media to promote the brand, rather than returning to platforms with their own accounts.
But she added: “However, there is a chance she can do interviews and IG live with other people in the industry and if they get paid opportunities, she could get up to $1m per post.”
American Riviera Orchard was launched on Instagram and via its new website on Thursday evening with a clever video for the brand, where Meghan mixed the dough in a bowl in her kitchen.
Another frame showed her picking plush roses from a posy.
Insiders told the Daily Mail that the company was to be a ‘lifestyle and cooking brand’ which would focus on things Meghan cares about.
It’s fitting that the Duchess’ venture will feature cooking and food, something she has shown a passion for in the past.
In 2018, while living in the UK as a working royal, Meghan bonded with survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire when she joined a community kitchen in the area and had no qualms about volunteering to help prepare meals.
The Sussexes’ explosive Netflix series revealed that Meghan remains in touch with society today, even though she now lives in California.
The Duchess has also previously contributed recipes to charity cookbooks – including a lemon cake in The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope, which was published last year.
Brand expert Emily Austen advised Meghan to ‘remove herself from the brand’.
“It should come as no surprise that Meghan Markle has jumped on the wellness brand bandwagon, despite her apparent aversion to neutral tones throughout her time in the UK,” she told FEMAIL.
“Meghan and Harry as a couple have encouraged a family narrative and Meghan has dabbled in kitchen-based brand moments, such as her cookbook; Together. She has been known to wake up at 5am to do yoga at Buckingham Palace and write in The Tig (her previously blog and lifestyle website) about taking Ashwaganda in the early days of her relationship with Harry to keep her calm.
‘LA, the clean living aesthetic has been thoroughly thought through by wellness titans such as Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow and Poosh. Less than 24 hours after her new brand announcement, the dedicated Instagram page had just 350,000 new followers, although there’s no product teasers yet.
“Instagram is a hugely lucrative platform for celebrities and it has been widely predicted by brand experts that Meghan would return to it. Especially in the US, home furnishings as a category has exploded, more so since Covid. Baking, table setting, flower arranging and other healthy home activities have dominated social media and have become lucrative additions to high street retailers such as Zara and H&M.
‘Meghan is a divine character and public opinion lands differently depending on your geography. The success of her brand will likely depend on the positioning and price of the products. The original branding suggests that it leans towards the higher end of the cost of these products. The market is incredibly competitive with many brands taking ownership of specific categories rather than the entire home. Success stories include Our Place, which recently collaborated with Selena Gomez. Markle can expect to see a lot of initial interest in her brand, but the reality of achieving long-term success will require considerably more than a press release and a sneak peak on Instagram.
“It is understood that Meghan will sell her own products on the website rather than other brands, but can expect to see a lot of interest from brand collaborations and partnerships. This will bring big fees, but will also dilute the purity of the message on her own brand My advice, which I will give despite not being asked, would be to remove Meghan as much as possible from the images and the brand.
“Regardless of what you think of her, she’s incredibly divisive and not very well-liked. It’s risky to integrate yourself so intrinsically with a brand given the relationship she has with the public.
‘I’d change the name too – it’s hard to spell, long winded and looks like a country club wedding invitation. Perhaps she got the inspiration from sitting in Rosewood in Montecito, which also has a permanent Goop store on site…
‘Notoriety is undoubtedly a huge driver of short-term success; Kylie Cosmetics, Skims, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode. However, it does not guarantee long-term success. Celebrities like these can earn millions of pounds from posting on social media and driving huge sales as a result of their cult following.
‘For Meghan to make money on Instagram, she needs an engaged, interested audience with purchasing power. A product that is actually needed, strong images and messages that actually connect with those who see it, rather than inauthentic attitudes.
‘I wouldn’t expect a company like this to see a profit in the first 12 months, but it’s unclear at this stage if there’s been any outside investment, who’s actually running the business or what the launch plan is, e.g. e.g. D2C up to the website.
‘A smart move would be to partner with the established people in this space, to ensure an audience share and to increase credibility. Whether others would be on board with this remains to be seen, she added.