Meghan Markle was warned by a PR expert, who said she faces a big “ strategic issue” regarding her lifestyle brand, As Ever, just days after its viewing figures were revealed. The Duchess of Sussex launched As Ever in April 2025 and has since released several collections and products.
This week, reports claimed the website has seen a 36% growth since October. Data from SimilarWeb, gathered by Newsweek, showed that As Ever’s website saw an increase in visitors, with 196,831 visits in October and 268,200 in January. The growth appeared to be steady, with 245,982 visits in December.
But despite the “solid growth”, a PR expert stressed that Meghan needs to focus on one key factor if she wants to truly establish her brand in the long term.
Renae Smith, founder of PR and branding agency The Atticism, told the Daily Express: “A 36% traffic increase from October to January is solid growth on paper.
“For a relatively new lifestyle brand without a traditional retail footprint, that’s respectable. However, traffic is not the same as traction. What matters more is conversion rate, repeat purchase behaviour, and inventory management.
“We’ve seen items sell out in minutes, including the recent bookmark that reportedly went in under a minute. That can mean high demand, but it can also mean extremely limited stock. Without context, a one-minute sellout is just a headline.”
Ms Smith added that, from a business standpoint, artificial scarcity can work in the short term; however, it can signal a planning issue in the long term.
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She said: “If you are repeatedly caught short, that’s not mystique, it’s mismanagement. Is the brand heading in the right direction? In terms of attention, yes. In terms of structure, not yet. The biggest challenge is cohesion. A serious lifestyle brand needs rhythm.
“Clear drop calendars, consistent engagement between launches, and a defined point of view. Right now, it still feels reactive rather than disciplined.”
She added: “The bigger strategic issue is alignment. If Harry is doing humanitarian travel and Meghan is scaling a commercial lifestyle brand, those two narratives need to feel complementary, not parallel.”
However, the Daily Express understands that the brand is extremely satisfied with its progress and overall development, with its eyes set on continued growth and possibly expansion in the future.
The general idea is that, despite any mistakes as an early-stage business, Meghan is keen to keep on learning, improving and maintaining momentum for her brand.
It is understood that Meghan’s team is satisfied with the brand’s organic growth over the past few months and remains optimistic about the future.
An As Ever source told the Daily Express: “It’s still early days for As Ever, but the trajectory so far gives us confidence in the long-term potential if we continue to build it in the right way.
“We remain focused on growing the brand carefully and sustainably, while listening closely to the community that has shown such enthusiasm for it.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
