The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 9: August 2023 -

[Sister Morphine]

Gwyneth Paltrow's business is successful if you consider that the only people who can afford to buy her overpriced crap are people with more money than common sense. Jessica Alba, on the other hand, makes decent products for people of a middle-class income. Honest Beauty is some of the best makeup I own. I don't like Meghan even a scintilla, but if she's going to emulate one of their business models, she'd be smarter to be more like Jessica Alba than Blythe Danner's daughter.

 

[Lee-Z]

But surely when you launch a brand and back it up with pictures of products (jam, dogbiscuits), you'd want to have actual products to market?
I just don't get why she launched ARO in march 2024 if there wasn't anything marketable yet?
Why not wait and launch in the fall (or whenever you're ready)?
Why did it needed to be done in March?

 

[Toledo]

Meghan has always been an ardent lover of dogs-before and after her marriage to Prince Harry. Recall that one of her first patronages as a new Duchess was Mayhew. So that one of the of the first products of ARO brand is dog biscuits is not the least bit surprising.

Business is very tricky and risky. However what Meghan is trying to do has been successfully done in the past. Who's to say that she has not or is not educating herself on what it takes to successfully build a lifestyle brand. Brands don't have an overnight meteoric rise- sometimes it takes many years. Ask actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba.
Only time will tell if ARO will be a success.

This I like, anything that involves pets and hopefully given part of the profit to support animal charities. Our two cats were rescued kittens in 2013 and 2015 and when I was in the office and member of a team of Affirmative Action volunteers, we had annual events to support charities and I always included animal rescue presentations.

If Meghan get her steps in the right place, she could accomplish the support she needs, and craves, by finding the right charity group most would gravitate to. We'll see if this goes right this time or if it turns out into another half (dog cookie) baked project.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

Business is very tricky and risky. However what Meghan is trying to do has been successfully done in the past. Who's to say that she has not or is not educating herself on what it takes to successfully build a lifestyle brand. Brands don't have an overnight meteoric rise- sometimes it takes many years. Ask actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba.
Only time will tell if ARO will be a success.

Meghan can do it. She has done it before. But it is not possible to build a profitable lifestyle brand without something to sell. I can't imagine she has made any money so far so what is the point.

 

[Muhler]

Meghan has always been an ardent lover of dogs-before and after her marriage to Prince Harry. Recall that one of her first patronages as a new Duchess was Mayhew. So that one of the of the first products of ARO brand is dog biscuits is not the least bit surprising.

Business is very tricky and risky. However what Meghan is trying to do has been successfully done in the past. Who's to say that she has not or is not educating herself on what it takes to successfully build a lifestyle brand. Brands don't have an overnight meteoric rise- sometimes it takes many years. Ask actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba.
Only time will tell if ARO will be a success.

Success is absolutely a possibility.
But success does not come easy.
First and foremost you need to focus and work very hard.
You can't just get an idea and think: that's it, perhaps it will take off, perhaps it wont. You need a plan and a strategy in place, otherwise you might just as well hope to win the lottery.
So when you launch something and people look into it and may wish to buy a sample, the products needs to be there on the shelf, be that online or in stores, right away.
And your competitors won't show mercy, they are not going to stand idle by while you take over some of their costumers.
They'll do what made USA such a commercial powerhouse: look at an idea, develop and adapt the concept/product and take over.

I don't see such a business plan from M&H.
And as I have stated many times before, they are running out of time. Their window of opportunity is closing.
Right now their strongest selling point is that they are globally well-known and that will/may reflect on any product/service/concept they wish to market. But once they are forgotten they will be relegated to ordinary entrepreneurs who will have to compete for investments and venues who may sell/market their product with many thousands of other entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs who would happily sell the souls of their children to the Devil for the public profile H&M has.

So basically H&M needs to step up or go extinct.

Unfortunately for H&M I doubt that has dawned on them.

 

[tommy100]

ARO shouldn't have been launched until they had some products to sell, even if it was only a limited edition small collection. The issue now is they've effectively launched a company but no one really knows what it is or even what it sells - it is just jams, preserves and dog biscuits? Candles? Home ware? Right now it looks like Meghan is making small batches of preserve, that is hard to scale up unless you really want to go in to food production which is complicated.
This is IMO even more important with ARO because there are people with very strong opinions either way about Harry and Meghan, right now every time one of Meghan's jars of jam (peeling label and pretty basic hessian wrap and all) appears on insta from an influencer it just gives room for those who aren't fans to pile on. If they could show actual homeware products, candles etc the media would not doubt review them and - if they are decent products at a sensible price (sensible for whatever "level" they are going for) then some of the media would report this and the tide would start to turn - even those who don't particularly like Meghan wouldn't be able to use the products as another thing to pile on about.

Harry and Meghan seem to have a habit of making big announcements followed by not much. Rather than announce and reveal a brand Meghan should have worked quietly to build up the collection of products and then allow them to do the talking rather than getting her influencer friends to do so.

 

[Sun Lion]

Well I wouldn’t write Meghan off just yet.

I didn’t realise so many celebrities had wine for sale … and were so successful at it.

Nor did I know Netflix was involved in selling spin-off products from its shows.

Details in the article.

Meghan's REAL money-spinner. Not jam but something much more lucrative

Her latest 'drop' of goods, bearing the faux-heraldic 'ARO' crest of her not-quite-launched brand American Riviera Orchard, comprised just two jars of raspberry jam and a container of dog biscuits...

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Hallo girl]

I haven't read this article as it is behind a paywall so I am not going to comment on this in particular but I am assuming it is something to do with wine. I am sure I read somewhere before about wine, Meghan and Gavin Newsome. I have possibly got it mixed up and if so I apologise.
If they are going down this route well good luck to them, it is an honest living and does not prey on others.

 

[Sun Lion]

I haven't read this article as it is behind a paywall so I am not going to comment on this in particular but I am assuming it is something to do with wine. I am sure I read somewhere before about wine, Meghan and Gavin Newsome. I have possibly got it mixed up and if so I apologise.
If they are going down this route well good luck to them, it is an honest living and does not prey on others.

Strange it’s behind a paywall Hallo girl … it’s the Daily Mail.
The gist is Rose wine, long associated with Meghan, and the Netflix cooking show.
Netflix makes money from Chinaware, pizza and icecream associated with different shows it produces.
Some London stores stock some of these items.
And many celebrities make money from wine … not just Brad Pitt.
And without owning the vineyard.
Sarah Jessica Parker’s successful wine is grown in New Zealand.
Once upon a time you had to be wealthy to have an item from a French couture house, then the designers started to license their names for watches, luggage etc.
Celebrities have caught on and wine is the thing.

 

[Chimene]

From the article:

Front and centre of the new brand will, of course, be Meghan herself. According to a source with intimate knowledge of the launch, it will sell Meghan as a beacon of inspiration, aspiration and attainability.

Her style will be sold as affordably elegant, while her image will be centred on her status as both a family-orientated and ‘regal’ figure - no laughing at the back, please.

Unless they’re making fun of her, what does that even mean? I really hope she finds success, I really really do, but this here isn’t a business plan.

 

[Muhler]

Well I wouldn’t write Meghan off just yet.

I didn’t realise so many celebrities had wine for sale … and were so successful at it.

Nor did I know Netflix was involved in selling spin-off products from its shows.

Details in the article.

Meghan's REAL money-spinner. Not jam but something much more lucrative

Her latest 'drop' of goods, bearing the faux-heraldic 'ARO' crest of her not-quite-launched brand American Riviera Orchard, comprised just two jars of raspberry jam and a container of dog biscuits...

www.dailymail.co.uk

The main difference being that most celebs who sell other kinds of good, do that as a secondary income - and to some degree also to get publicity. Most celebs already have earned a considerable fortune before beginning what I will label a hobby-business and most still have a career as movie star, singer, whatever.
In contrast H&M need a business as their main-income in order to maintain the lifestyle they have today. What secondary income they have today is, I'm certain, to put butter on the bread.
But they still need to buy their daily bread, let alone have a house where they can eat their bread.

They cannot maintain their current lifestyle for the next 40 perhaps 45 years without a main income and a high income at that.

 

[Sun Lion]

From the article:

Front and centre of the new brand will, of course, be Meghan herself. According to a source with intimate knowledge of the launch, it will sell Meghan as a beacon of inspiration, aspiration and attainability.

Her style will be sold as affordably elegant, while her image will be centred on her status as both a family-orientated and ‘regal’ figure - no laughing at the back, please.

Unless they’re making fun of her, what does that even mean? I really hope she finds success, I really really do, but this here isn’t a business plan.

I think the powers behind the scenes will ensure money is made Chimene … Meghan doesn’t need to come up with a business plan, just be the face and sign the contracts.

 

[GondorHasNoPants]

Here is an archived version of the Daily Mail article, for anyone who wishes to read it.

 

[GondorHasNoPants]

The main difference being that most celebs who sell other kinds of good, do that as a secondary income - and to some degree also to get publicity. Most celebs already have earned a considerable fortune before beginning what I will label a hobby-business and most still have a career as movie star, singer, whatever.

The actor Sam Neill runs his own winery in New Zealand, and says he could never afford to run it if he didn't make money from film work. It's an expensive business, especially in the start-up years. But if Meghan is looking to attach her name to an established winery, that might be an easier route.

 

[Muhler]

I think the powers behind the scenes will ensure money is made Chimene … Meghan doesn’t need to come up with a business plan, just be the face and sign the contracts.

You can only be a (well-paid) face if you are known and interesting enough. How long will that last?

Will Meghan remain known and interesting enough for many years to come?
What will her percentage of the profit be?
Will she have to cover any loss?
How about rights?
What demands will she have to adhere to? I mean she can hardly be the face for two competing brands of dog-food.
Can she suddenly cut the deal up?
- Yeah, she's got her layer to read the contracts for her. But canine-food companies (who can pay what she want) also have layers...
There are lot of things you can step on, if you pardon my pun, in the world of business.

 

[Chimene]

I think the powers behind the scenes will ensure money is made Chimene … Meghan doesn’t need to come up with a business plan, just be the face and sign the contracts.

Interesting… I sure hope so for our sake if not hers, she really needs to pick a lane and I not sure that’s how you become a billionaire, but hey what do I know.

 

[Sun Lion]

The main difference being that most celebs who sell other kinds of good, do that as a secondary income - and to some degree also to get publicity. Most celebs already have earned a considerable fortune before beginning what I will label a hobby-business and most still have a career as movie star, singer, whatever.
In contrast H&M need a business as their main-income in order to maintain the lifestyle they have today. What secondary income they have today is, I'm certain, to put butter on the bread.
But they still need to buy their daily bread, let alone have a house where they can eat their bread.

They cannot maintain their current lifestyle for the next 40 perhaps 45 years without a main income and a high income at that.

But who goes to an Idris Elba movie Muhler because he is in it. Look at the price his wine is selling for.

It makes me think the “fears” people have of the Sussexes failing are wide of the mark. They may end up having the last laugh as the massive consumer culture of the US is not Denmark or the UK.

 

[Chimene]

People love Idris Elba!

Netflix and Spotify gave them contracts and they just had to be the face. They signed and where are we?

You shop ideas and negotiate behind closed doors. They did just that with the two companies cited above, but what is being floated around now sounds to me more like manifesting.

Since someone gave the example of Gwyneth Paltrow, her company was born out of a newsletter and grew from there. Who launches a company with no products available for purchase?

I think they have already failed. They are now scrambling to make a go of something and good luck to them. I don’t think anyone is afraid, more like it would benefit us all if they were to make something stick without trampling on others.

 

[Alisa]

Success is absolutely a possibility.
But success does not come easy.
First and foremost you need to focus and work very hard.
You can't just get an idea and think: that's it, perhaps it will take off, perhaps it wont. You need a plan and a strategy in place, otherwise you might just as well hope to win the lottery.
So when you launch something and people look into it and may wish to buy a sample, the products needs to be there on the shelf, be that online or in stores, right away.
And your competitors won't show mercy, they are not going to stand idle by while you take over some of their costumers.
They'll do what made USA such a commercial powerhouse: look at an idea, develop and adapt the concept/product and take over.

I don't see such a business plan from M&H.
And as I have stated many times before, they are running out of time. Their window of opportunity is closing.
Right now their strongest selling point is that they are globally well-known and that will/may reflect on any product/service/concept they wish to market. But once they are forgotten they will be relegated to ordinary entrepreneurs who will have to compete for investments and venues who may sell/market their product with many thousands of other entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs who would happily sell the souls of their children to the Devil for the public profile H&M has.

So basically H&M needs to step up or go extinct.

Unfortunately for H&M I doubt that has dawned on them.

ARO was just announced back in March I believe. So development is just in its infancy. Nothing has been launched and or marketed. The IG page for the company remains blank. Meghan appears to be trying to garner interest in the company and that seems to be working.
It remains to be seen what avenue Meghan takes with the company for full development. Will she go the Goop/Gwyneth Paltrow route or the Jessica Alba/Honest company route? Time will tell. They have plenty of time to do whatever they want.
I am of the opinion that Meghan and Harry will always have a level of interest on both sides of the Atlantic because of who they are. If the products are quality and attain a measure of commercial success then that is also a win for them.

 

[Hallo girl]

That is fine if they hit it big in the States, nobody will be upset, but from a business point of view how many samples' or teasers are there going to be . We have had Strawberry Jam, not sure if the second lot was raspberry anyway there was a second lot. Then we had dog biscuits, now we have teasers about wine.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

I think the issue is that she received some publicity for sending 50 jars of jam to some celebrities, but didn't cash in. When she is actually ready to sell jam (if indeed that is the plan), will she get the same amount of attention? Even if she does, it seems like a wasted opportunity. If she doesn't get the same amount of publicity, she lost the opportunity. I just don't understand the plan.

Meghan had a very profitable (to me) brand before she married Harry. She knows how to make money. She is a lovely woman but I am not sure she is a trend setter and her style is not exactly affordable. It doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

The actor Sam Neill runs his own winery in New Zealand, and says he could never afford to run it if he didn't make money from film work. It's an expensive business, especially in the start-up years. But if Meghan is looking to attach her name to an established winery, that might be an easier route.

The Smothers Brothers (yes, I am that old) used to say that if you want to make a small fortune in wine, you need to start with a large fortune.

It sounds like they want to sell more than wine or even emulate Gwyneth Paltrow, it sounds like she wants to be Martha Stewart. She'll have her followers but will enough people buy her products?

 

[Toledo]

The Smothers Brothers (yes, I am that old) used to say that if you want to make a small fortune in wine, you need to start with a large fortune.

It sounds like they want to sell more than wine or even emulate Gwyneth Paltrow, it sounds like she wants to be Martha Stewart. She'll have her followers, but will enough people buy her products?

Seems the wine business is the one that attracts to most pretentious people Hollywood and Hollywood-adjacent celebrities because it gives them the bragging rights to pretend they are the Rothchilds, Domecqs or other family-owned brands.

When we go to the local package store, in the USA that's the name for stores that sell liquor, to replenish our home bar we see all these fashion brands ending up in the $5.00 a bottle discount bin of shame. That's where labels that don't move end up. If I ever see a bottle in that discount bin of shame of Sussex Royale Rosé, or Le Duchess du Montecito red or whatever name they'll use I let you know right away.

ARO was just announced back in March I believe. So development is just in its infancy. Nothing has been launched and or marketed. The IG page for the company remains blank. Meghan appears to be trying to garner interest in the company and that seems to be working.
It remains to be seen what avenue Meghan takes with the company for full development. Will she go the Goop/Gwyneth Paltrow route or the Jessica Alba/Honest company route? Time will tell. They have plenty of time to do whatever they want.
I am of the opinion that Meghan and Harry will always have a level of interest on both sides of the Atlantic because of who they are. If the products are quality and attain a measure of commercial success then that is also a win for them.

The problem I see is that the projects get a start and there's nothing to follow it up with. Like an interest in putting the work to compete the task. This brings to mind the Netflix executive's comments on the brainstorming meeting with Harry that left him completely frustrated. You can be full of ideas but also put some work into it to achieve what you wanted to do. Frankly, I only see Meghan doing the thinking in this enterprise while Harry polos around with Nacho or fills lawsuits every other month.

Let's hope for the best and see if the Montecito dog biscuits make it to the market or to that famous dog show at the UK as a sponsor.

 

[Muhler]

The core of the matter is that H&M need an X income to maintain their current lifestyle. And considering where and how they live that's a lot of money!
They also need that X income in 20 years, 30 years, perhaps even 40 years from now.

Their Netflix deals flopped. It could have been their main income for years if they had been more committed and worked a lot harder as well as having a more varied content.
I think Netflix and others will be a lot more hesitant about offering H&M lucrative deals. Businesses and investors will want to make sure they will get their moneys worth.
And that means they have to have a serious business-plan ready. Because they are too high profile to be able to flop more than one or twice more. After that point serious investors won't touch them. - Honest Mike or Jim Trustworthy may have a deal to offer, but that may be less palatable in a number of ways.

I don't know enough of H&M's finances, their talents and their interests to suggest exactly what they should be focusing on. But it sure isn't selling dog-food out of their garage.
Millionaires don't stay millionaires by being idle or at least making some very sound decisions.

The first indication that their economy if getting strained is when, in a few years, they sell their home in Montecito and move somewhere else because of the "dry air". To a house that just happens to be more modest, because that's "more practical."

We occasionally hear about people who won a large sum in the lottery only ending up having spend it all within a few years and that's how I see H&M right now.

 

[shady lady]

I agree entirely Muhler.

One thing MM hasn't earned IMO is respect. Look at how fast the King's jam sold out when ARO came along. Now there is a person who has given a life of service and earned respect; people want to buy his products - and show their support.

MM on the other hand is divisive, to put it politely. No matter what she thinks or pays people to try and make us believe, she is not universally liked or respected. She is a person who wants to make money fast and has shown she is willing to do so by whatever means she can, even if it means causing distress to the BRF, offending millions of people and telling an awful lot of lies - as she has proved. She lacks a conscience or understanding of other people's feelings; she can see nothing except her goal of being very rich (and very famous). That is going to turn an awful lot of people off.

Moreover remember the gentleman at Spotify who called them "grifters"? IMO he was spot on; H&M are lazy and don't want to do any real hard work, but they are desperate for the money to which they feel they are entitled. Am I the only person who suspects that should they ever materialise, ARO's products may be found to be lacking in the quality department? That MM will put her name - to be blunt - to any old crap as long as it makes money?

The labels are coming off MM's jam both literally and figuratively speaking. IMO ARO is a dead duck but as someone said, time will tell.

So, what is the long term plan? The real investment for the future? Well, I believe ARO does have a part to play of sorts; it serves as a filler, as proof of having "tried" other things that failed, before the time is right for her to tell her "truth" - her book, her documentary, etc. No doubt work on these has already begun.

 

[shady lady]

...

Let's hope for the best and see if the Montecito dog biscuits make it to the market or to that famous dog show at the UK as a sponsor.

This made me laugh!

That "famous dog show" won't touch MM's dog biscuits with a barge pole. Why would they? Now if the King were to sell dog biscuits...

 

[tommy100]

There are a few routes with "own label" wine -

-Either have your own winery like Brad and Angelina
-work with a winery helping with the mixing of the grapes to create a wine, which is apparently what Sarah Jessica Parker did
-simply be the name for a wine label having very little involvement other than maybe tasting two or three options and saying "that one"

Wonder which route Meghan will go down, doubt for a second its the first but the others require a winery who really wants you to be their "ambassador" as such who are willing to either bear most of the costs or pay you as an endorsement deal.

I thought Megan's favourite wine was the Italian red tignanello which her blog was named after?

Harry's friend has a winery in America doesn't he.

Like many of the things Harry and Meghan pursue this has a lot of potential, if they are willing to put the hardwork in and almost take a step back themselves and allow the wine to speak for itself.

 

[shady lady]

And if they are really smart, they'll call it "Sour Grapes"

I'll get my taxi

 

[tommy100]

So funny!

To be fair, on a serious note I was going to say they'd be best to make sure they make their links to its as discreet as possible. No picture of Meghan on the bottle, no signature on the front. To be honest they'd probably do better without the ARO branding on it. Their best way of making money is people not knowing its theirs until they've drunk it, liked it and decided to buy more.

 

[Hallo girl]

I think the issue is that she received some publicity for sending 50 jars of jam to some celebrities, but didn't cash in. When she is actually ready to sell jam (if indeed that is the plan), will she get the same amount of attention? Even if she does, it seems like a wasted opportunity. If she doesn't get the same amount of publicity, she lost the opportunity. I just don't understand the plan.

Meghan had a very profitable (to me) brand before she married Harry. She knows how to make money. She is a lovely woman but I am not sure she is a trend setter and her style is not exactly affordable. It doesn't make any sense to me.

That is so true she was a working actress with a regular role/ income stream. There was the TIG which appeared to be doing ok, another income stream. Maybe not making millions but good steady income, then it all went wrong.
Why did she not restart the TIG then build from there, or is the problem that she doesn't want to build up but start at the top. It doesn't work like that.