• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, July 23, 2014

Americans' fascination with all things British — including the royal family and tea — has never been stronger, and Tetley is making the most of what almost seems a made-to-order opportunity.

The brand has just run its third successful social promotion related to royal media darlings Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George.

This time, to celebrate George's first birthday, Tetley offered a coupon for a free box of Tetley British Blend to all U.S. residents who have "George" somewhere in their legal name (first, middle or last) as shown on their Facebook profiles, and who posted a baby photo of themselves on Tetley's Facebook page during the prince's birthday on July 22.

The 24-hour giveaway was promoted — on that day only — through the Facebook page's cover graphic, as well as a Facebook post and a tweet on @TetleyUSA. The only other outreach was a press release issued a few days before the promotion went live.

Results: 1,377 new Facebook "likes" for the brand (which is currently showing more than 126,400 likes), and a 543% increase in posts engagement, reports Denise Blasevick, CEO of The S3 Agency (Boonton, NJ), which developed and implemented the promotions.

Tetley's first royally themed promotion, which celebrated the royal couple's first anniversary in April 2012 by offering free tea to U.S. couples named Will and Kate, drew significant media coverage, in addition to increasing posts engagement by 417%.

When Prince George was born last July, the brand followed with a tea giveaway for U.S. mums and dads with babies named George. That one boosted posts engagement by 165%.

"Tea is a social connector, and this [latest] promotion continues our social media tradition of connecting our U.S. fans with the royal family in a personal way," Marc Birnbaum, marketing executive at Tetley USA, tells Marketing Daily.

But the promotions are "more than a fun way to engage," he adds. "They also provide brand differentiation, reminding fans that Tetley is the quintessential British tea" and spotlighting Tetley's "British heritage with a modern accent."