Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been urged to form a “long-term bond” with their fans and followers on social media, according to a PR expert, to avoid their exclusive partnership with Netflix coming to an end. The duo signed a massive £80mn ($100mn) five-year deal with the streaming giant when they stepped back from the Royal Family to become financially independent.
The Netflix deal will reportedly run out next year, and PR Expert, Ryan McCormick said this is a deal “they cannot afford to lose”, but was surprised they had no social media following to help boost popularity.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Mr McCormick said: “Meghan and Harry would have been able to interact directly with those followers and foster a long term bond with them. It’s such a squandered opportunity.”
So far the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have released a Netflix docuseries highlighting their personal relationship with wider members of the Royal Family.
They also released the Heart of Invictus documentary, released in August 2023, which followed six people competing in the global sporting event in 2022. It showed the Prince’s efforts to help wounded service members and their families.
The PR Expert added: “When Meghan and Harry were royals, their Instagram page had 9.2 followers. There hasn’t been a new post since 2020. I couldn’t find another official Instagram page for the two nor could I find accounts for them on twitter.”
Mr McCormick believes it is crucial for Meghan and Harry to interact directly with followers and foster a bond with them to help keep their Netflix deal.
While the couple’s revelations about the Royal Family were a commercial success they received criticism for their attacks on Harry’s family, and their other content failed to set Netflix alight.
The expert concluded: “I don’t think Meghan and Harry realise how truly vulnerable they are right now in the court of public opinion. Yes people are still giving them their attention but, for how long?”
He added: “Regardless if Harry and Meghan are seen fighting to save the Netflix deal, at the end of the day it’s more important that the deal gets salvaged. If Netflix drops them, I think it’ll be difficult for them to get a sweetheart contact with another streaming platform.”
Despite the £19 million deal it was announced last year that Archewell and steaming giant Spotify had parted ways after producing one 12-episode series of Meghan’s podcast Archetypes.
