How Dirt & Glory Media Helped True Royalty TV Find the Truth Behind the Gossip

To date, Netflix’s hit show The Crown has had 73 million viewers across the globe since its premiere; it’s also in the top 3% of all the shows in the US. It’s within the context of this resurgent interest that True Royalty TV, a streaming service dedicated to all things royal, launched in 2018 with a helping hand from Dirt & Glory Media, who created their content marketing, social media, and communications strategies. The two have worked together ever since.

Interest in the royals cannot be underestimated - 1.9 million watched Harry and Meghan’s wedding while the British Royal Family is regarded as the world's fifth biggest brand. It's then almost difficult to believe that there wasn’t already a dedicated content platform curating and presenting information about royalty before the arrival of True Royalty TV. And while the British Royal Family is often the main draw, the platform also hosts programmes about other royal families from around the world and through the ages.

The challenge for Dirt & Glory was working out how to reach the various tribes of royal fans without resorting to tabloid gossip and clickbait. “With so many fantastic and informative documentaries on the service, we decided to market True Royalty TV as a source of truth - a platform that gets behind the headlines and the gossip,” says Leo Kent, partner and creative director at Dirt & Glory Media. 

Leo points out that there are currently two main rival camps: there is team Cambridge and there is team Sussex. One of the challenges for Dirt & Glory was to appeal to both sides. “Following the announcement that Harry and Meghan were stepping down as senior royals, it’s become a rather binary landscape and we were worried it would be tricky to build a community of royal fans with such opposing views. However, our non-tabloid approach has ensured True Royalty TV has earned the respect of all royal fans, whether they adore Harry and Meghan or William and Kate,” he adds. 

Another challenge was explaining exactly how True Royalty TV worked to an older demographic. Bearing in mind a large proportion of this demographic are interested in royalty, it was key to explain to them actually what True Royalty TV is. To explain the proposition, Dirt & Glory Media came up with a simple and effective shorthand: the Netflix for Royal fans, which was then used consistently across social and advertisements so that those targeted would instantly understand the proposition. 

When it comes to cultivating an active and engaged community on social, Dirt & Glory Media has always been careful to provide a balance between brand awareness and the direct sell.  “By providing content - from rarely seen archive footage and photography of the royals behind the scenes to explaining the subtle nuances of royal tradition and protocol, we have fostered a highly engaged community of royal fans. Of course, we want to ensure we are using social to gain subscribers to True Royalty TV but we’ve been careful not to put people off by being overly salesy. ''Reaching fans and building a community isn’t easy but, done well, it ensures long term brand health and growth.  

Ultimately, Dirt & Glory Media is supporting True Royalty TV’s very reason for existing - the world’s fascination with royalty. “It would be fair to say we’ve learnt a lot going on this journey with True Royalty TV. For example, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that a large swathe of the younger generation who are interested in the modern royals are also engaging with our social posts about royal history. And it’s these kinds of learnings that in turn, have helped inform the type of documentaries the service is licensing on an ongoing basis. So in many ways, social media has become a place both to speak and to listen.” says Leo. 

Reeled in by the type of social content royal fans thrive on, audiences are flocking to True Royalty TV where gossip and hearsay is done away with. “Of course there are always going to be disagreements between our followers but on the whole we’ve successfully managed to grow a large following of royal fans who have been able to both engage in their passion and discover all that True Royalty TV’s subscription service has to offer.”