Hordes of product manufacturers, marketing directors, and entertainment property owners flooded Manhattan’s lower Broadway in February for the annual American International Toy Fair, to (hopefully) identify the next unstoppable kids’ property, explore tie-in possibilities, and announce upcoming programs.
While the show’s trademark elevator lines seemed a little less interminable this year, there was still plenty of marketing scuttle-butt to be heard. Here’s some of what PROMO saw as it made the rounds.
Cat Calls
Universal Pictures, Universal City, CA, will release the live-action remake of popular 1970s children’s cartoon Josie and the Pussycats this month with a trio of promotional partners on board.
Josie, which Universal senior vp-worldwide promotions Beth Goss calls “a trend-setting movie for young girls,” will be released April 11. The film boasts a retooled plotline and popular teen actresses Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid, and Rosario Dawson.
To help get the word out, New York City-based Revlon will link the gals to its Streetwear cosmetics brand. On-pack and in-pack materials in mass-merchandise and drug stores will sport $2 discounts for tickets to the film. P-O-P supports.
Los Angeles-based hair care product manufacturer John Frieda will run a sweeps offering top winners a makeover at its flagship salon. The Purrrrfect Rockin’ Hair program will be supported by a print campaign, P-O-P in 6,000 to 10,000 mass merchandise stores, and a special offer at salons stocking Frieda product.
Shoe retailer Steve Madden, Long Island City, NY, gets involved with an in — store sweeps serving various prizes and one winner a trip to the movie’s star-studded opening. P-O-P and online elements support. The promotional partners join a roster of more than 20 licensees.
On the Road — Again
Los Angeles-based Saban Entertainment has recruited a new retail partner for its annual “Power Rangers” tour. Late next month, Saban hooks up with Paramus, NJ-based Toys “R” Us on a traveling virtual reality show linking on-air programming with in-store merchandising.
Saban earned numerous industry accolades for the Power Rangers tours it ran with Wal-Mart in 1998 and 1999, each of which attracted more than 100,000 participants and dramatically increased sales of licensed merchandise. (Saban did not run a tour in 2000, a year that witnessed the departure of promotion guru George Leon to Sony.)
Toys “R” Us is forking over dedicated ad dollars, something Bentonville, AR-based Wal-Mart never did. “Wal-Mart was tremendous to work with,” says Saban Consumer Products president Elie Dekel. “But we were a small priority to them.”
The Power Rangers Time Blaster tour will visit TRU stores in 20 markets between May and October. Activities center on a “3-D/4-D” virtual-reality ride for kids and parents. Participating kids receive a free Fox Kids magazine, a 3-D poster, and a pair of 3-D glasses. The retail portion will be supported by a national on-air sweeps breaking in April that dangles an exclusive party with the ride and the Power Rangers. On-air and in-store advertising support.
Other upcoming Ranger efforts include a back-to-school gift-with-purchase program at Hoffman Estates, IL-based Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Crazy like a Fox
Los Angeles-based cable channel Fox Family and its sister Fox Kids programming block should get extra juice from a variety of upcoming promotions tied to new and existing TV series.
Digimon begins its third season in August heralded by a kids’ premium program in Cost Cutters haircare salons and a fourth-quarter consumer packaged goods program that was still being finalized at press time. (A QSR effort will run in summer 2002.)
Angela Anaconda gets a push this fall with a tie on two million boxes of Kraft Foods’ Post cereals. The property will also be involved in a 13 Days of Halloween effort Fox Family will execute in Blockbuster, Inc. stores.
Other campaigns include a spring 2002 CPG promotion for the animated series Totally Spies (teenage spies infiltrate a high school) launching this fall, and QSR and CPG programs for the new live-action kids show Los Luchadores.
Book ‘em, Dough Boy
New York City-based Golden Books Family Entertainment and Pillsbury Co., Minneapolis, are expanding the partnership that has already brought such properties as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Peter Cottontail to the refrigerated aisle. The companies in fourth quarter will put Rudolph and Frosty the Snow Man on SKUs of shaped cookie dough. P-O-P and FSIs will support, says Mitchel Fried, senior vp-marketing with Golden’s entertainment unit.
The two partners are currently in the midst of a CD-ROM giveaway linking Golden properties such as The Pokey Little Puppy to the Pillsbury, Hungry Jack, Tostinos, Green Giant, Progresso, and Old El Paso brands. Shoppers who buy three products from any of the six brands receive a free Fun with the Family CD containing games and puzzles starring Golden characters, loads of Pillsbury recipes, and other features. Some 10,000 P-O-P displays and a 40 million-piece FSI drop support.
Action Figures
Cypress, CA-based Bandai America will hype its Gundam Wing animated series and toy line with an Original Mobile Suit Gundam Invasion Tour rolling out this month. A traveling 52-foot tractor-trailer will invade 25 top markets through fall. The monstrosity features seven interactive areas including model kit-building seminars led by experts, gaming outlets where kids can play Gundam videogames on Sony PlayStations, and video screens offering clips from the TV series (which airs on Cartoon Network).
Gorilla Marketing
20th Century Fox this July unleashes Tim Burton’s remake of the classic sci-fi film Planet of the Apes backed by what executives call the most aggressive marketing campaign in the studio’s history. Expect the film to get near-ubiquitous coverage through a crafty, three-tiered ad campaign that has already launched and a host of special media coverage on TV and in entertainment magazines.
Los Angeles-based Fox will use online initiatives including viral campaigns to get the word out. The film has more than 45 licensees, but deliberately recruited few promotional partners because of its adult-focused theme, Fox Licensing & Merchandising president Steve Ross told PROMO at an Apes teaser party at the show. (Star Mark Wahlberg and a few of his primate friends crashed the shindig.)
The movie opens July 27 and co-stars Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, and Michael Clarke Duncan.
They’re Baaaack
Pepsi returns to summer movie tie-ins with Tomb Raider.
Somers, NY-based Pepsi-Cola jumps back into movie tie-ins this summer with a consumer promotion linked to Paramount Pictures’ Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie.
Although Paramount is trying to keep marketing details top secret, news of Pepsi’s plans began circulating early last month. The effort, the company’s first Hollywood tie-in since its massive Star Wars: Episode I blitz in 1999, will reportedly run across several core brands and feature a major sweepstakes. The movie is based on the successful videogame series.
Other partners backing the film include wireless phone maker Ericsson, Triangle Park, NC, which is rumored to be putting together a package equal in size to its 1997 James Bond-flavored campaign for MGM’s Tomorrow Never Dies including extensive media buys, a sweeps, and in-store efforts. Dallas-based Taco Bell has signed on as QSR partner, and will no doubt work the film into P-O-P and premium offers. Detroit-based Land Rover also gets involved with programs highlighting its Destination and Freelancer trucks, according to published reports.
In all, the partners are reportedly providing somewhere near $35 million in promotional support.
Licensing
Sleep Over
Burbank, CA-based Warner Bros. next fall lets its favorite canary fly on its own.
The company is teaming with Girl’s Life, a national magazine produced specifically for girls nine to 14, for Tweety’s Hollywood Slumber Party, a contest handing one winner a night to remember in Tinseltown. Ads teasing the program begin running in the magazine’s June issue. Full details break in the back-to-school issue. Readers enter via mail.
Top winners head to Los Angeles for a weekend tour of the city highlighted by a run through the Warner Bros. studio and a salon makeover. Other winners receive subscriptions to the magazine. The effort is handled in-house.
“Tweety’s clever humor, irreverent style, and bright appeal make him the ideal character to ‘host’ this party,” says Rob Gruen, Warner Bros. Consumer Products’ executive vp-worldwide marketing and retail business development.
It’s Star Power Time
The Promotion Marketing Association’s annual Star Power conference will be held in Los Angeles May 22-23 at the Universal Hilton.
The annual conference for entertainment marketing will offer a variety of educational sessions as well as opportunities to network — the latter highlighted by the now-famous Schmooze-A-Rama cocktail party on May 22. Details on the agenda will be available shortly. For more information, visit pmalink.org.
PROMO, Star Power’s media sponsor, will be on hand to present its 2001 Entertainment Marketing Awards, which recognize the best and brightest entertainment tie-in campaigns across a variety of categories.
With Pulp
The Minute Maid Co., Houston, TX, last month joined forces with DC Comics, New York City, to make crime fighter Wonder Woman a spokesperson for the company’s new vitamin-infused orange juice.
A licensing deal between the comic book maker and Coca-Cola Co.’s juice division puts Wonder Woman print ads into 18 publications this month. The ad will also be affixed to P-O-P displays in 375 heath clubs and gyms nationwide to “strengthen our message,” says Minute Maid vp-refrigerated beverages Brad Goist.
Ads feature copy reading, “With Vitamin C and E plus Zinc, it’s no wonder Minute Maid Premium Orange Juice helps support your natural defenses. It only takes a minute, but the feeling lasts all day.” Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, handles.
