Celebrating the top five Platinum Jubilee campaigns

As the bank holiday weekend in honour of the Queen’s reign comes to a close, here at The Bigger Boat we’ve kept a keen eye out for the best brand campaigns of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. From big budget campaigns by McDonalds, to exclusive menus and social media content by The Ivy, this Jubilee has been embraced by brands around the world. With 70 years of inspiration to draw from, let’s explore our top five campaigns to celebrate Her Majesty’s reign.

McDonald’s – Royal Philharmonic jingle and limited edition packaging

McDonald’s celebrated the jubilee in a three-part campaign that gained huge media attention. Starting on social media, the brand added a crown to each of its profile pictures and updated its iconic tagline to “one’s lovin’ it” on all its r channels and in a striking billboard campaign.

But the campaign didn’t stop there. Next, McDonald’s teamed up with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to add a regal touch to its classic five-note jingle. The 35-piece ensemble re-recorded the familiar chime including brass, strings, woodwind and percussion. The jingle added a royal note to all the brand’s TV and radio ads over the jubilee weekend. 

Finally, to complete the campaign, McDonald’s launched a limited edition bone china version of its iconic packaging. The three-piece sets featured a fries sleeve, the famous milkshake cup and the burger clamshell. Each set was hand modelled and glazed to create one-of-a-kind items fit for a queen. McDonald’s truly rose to the occasion on this one and we love the creative touch it brings to its reactive marketing campaigns.

Baked by Steph – exclusive Platinum Jubilee cookie collection

We all know food is at the heart of every British celebration and the Jubilee was no different. Bespoke bakery Baked by Steph launched its royal cookie collection in April to celebrate Her Majesty’s reign. The three-part collection included corgis, crowns and a cookie featuring the Queen herself. The fun, eye-catching designs provided a personalised way to celebrate the Jubilee and enjoy delicious desserts at the same time.

The East London-based brand saw sales skyrocket as the bank holiday weekend approached, with the Corgi Party Letterbox Cookies selling out. The new collection was well promoted across the brand’s social media channels, with behind-the-scenes reels and exclusive competitions to entice hungry customers into making a royal purchase.

We love the creativity of this campaign and we can’t wait to see how the team at Baked by Steph plans to celebrate other events this year. We’re getting hungry just thinking about it.

Marks & Spencer – Corgi and Queen Connie, the caterpillar cake duo

We all remember that caterpillar cake controversy, but this year Colin had a royal transformation by the team at Marks & Spencer. To celebrate the Jubilee weekend, M&S temporarily replaced its famous caterpillar with some new famous faces. Corgi and Queen Connie caterpillar were available to purchase in the run up to the celebrations and are the most British way we’ve seen the Jubilee celebrated. This really wouldn’t make sense anywhere else in the world! 

With the same iconic ingredients, Corgi and Queen Connie were a hit on social media and  complemented the host of Jubilee-related items that M&S created for the celebrations. A one stop shop for all of your royal-themed food supplies, there’s nothing more British than Marks & Spencer.

The Ivy, Spinningfields – Platinum Jubilee event and social campaign

If hosting a street party wasn’t for you, The Ivy Manchester provided a whole host of options for you to celebrate the Jubilee in style – with exclusive royal-themed cocktails, including the Virgin Queen mocktail and the Lilibet champagne cocktail, and limited edition menus only available over the Jubilee weekend. The Ivy went all out with its very own Ivy Guard, standing to attention to welcome guests inside.

This was complemented by the most aesthetically pleasing social media campaign on Instagram. It featured limited edition product highlights and a dynamic promotional video highlighting everything you could expect if you visited The Ivy over the bank holiday weekend. This was a really well-rounded campaign that tied in well with the traditional British heritage associated with The Ivy.

Marmite – limited edition Ma’amite campaign

A brand with as much history as the Queen herself, Marmite celebrated the Jubilee by launching an exclusive version of its iconic product. Rebranded as Ma’amite and with new purple packaging, the exclusive item caused quite the stir on social media. Marmite used a simple video to showcase the change in its product over the past 70 years, with each tub adorned with a different hat of the Queen.

Fans of the brand may remember its first edition of Ma’amite in 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee. A decade later Marmite stayed true to its heritage and re-released the product for this year’s celebrations. With a lot of media attention, the new edition was quickly bought by fans to commemorate a British celebration with a truly British product. We love the simplicity of this campaign and this is the perfect example of how to tie in current events with your brand’s own heritage. 

With brands under more pressure than ever to stay relevant and keep up with current events, taking inspiration from these successful campaigns could help you to get ahead with your next reactive marketing campaign. Get in touch with us now to explore how we can keep your brand ahead of the curve.