Traveling Toons
You don’t need a TV to watch Scooby-Doo anymore — or Blue’s Clues or Sesame Street, for that matter. They’ll all be coming to a town near you soon enough.
Live shows based on popular kids’ TV or film properties — like the current Scooby-Doo in Stagefright or Disney on Ice’s Toy Story 2, to name but two — serve multiple purposes: Although they provide a nice piece of ancillary revenue for entertainment companies, the greater benefit comes in the opportunity they provide to expand awareness for the franchise as a whole and get the property right in front of consumers.
“In the world of licensing and promotions, there are easier and better ways to make money,” says Jonathan Hochwald, president of New York City-based Clear Channel Family Entertainment, which currently produces the aforementioned Scooby-Doo for Warner Bros., as well as Blue’s Clues Live and Rocket Power for Nickelodeon. “[But tours] bring a new level of exposure to the property, especially on a local basis.”
They also provide a new level of opportunity for property owners to play nice with marketing partners — again, especially on a local basis. While the magnitude of theatrical releases and TV series generally demand marketing partners to be of the national variety, live shows allow for hometown tie-ins from major brands activating on a grass-roots level or even some local yokels.
“It’s a very expensive and high-risk industry,” says Nancy Bindas, vp-sales and marketing with VEE Entertainment Corp., Minneapolis, which produces tours for Sesame Workshop, New York City and the Jim Henson Co. “You have to head into a tour with definite goals.”
What are the ingredients to success on the road? Good story concepts and popular characters — in other words, a strong property, says Stuart Rosenstein, director of theatrical development for New York City-based Nickelodeon. The property “first has to be a hit on the air for one to two years,” he suggests. “[Initial] ratings spikes won’t necessarily be long term.”
Local Backers
Most live tours do gain national sponsors or at least partners who sign on for activity in multiple markets, although some seek different tie-ins for each city. Either way, the emphasis is on customized marketing to suit the individual market, regardless of whether the sponsorship is national or regional.
Activation varies, although the core objective generally is to get people into the concert hall while giving a plug to the partnering brand. “It’s everything from traditional sweeps to specific one-of-a-kind promotions you can do only with an event, such as allowing winners to be a part of the show,” says Hochwald.
“A live show opens itself up for more interesting promotions,” says David Chatoff, director of client strategy at Vertical Mix Marketing, New York City, which handles promotions for Scooby-Doo in Stagefright as well as the Nickelodeon shows. “There are tons of ways to create integrated marketing plans using local radio stations, cable affiliates, and mall events.”
The Scooby experience includes advance visits to malls and other retail locations by the cast in a replica Mystery Machine bus. The tour, which marks Burbank, CA-based Warner Bros. Family Entertainment’s first live show, will visit 28 cities over eight months through May.
Warner was comfortable with giving the evergreen Scooby a live try because of the property’s track record, which includes 32 years of continuous TV airing, sometimes-staggering merchandise sales (videos are especially strong), and the fact that sister unit Warner Bros. Pictures is releasing a live-action film in June, explains Karine Joret, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment’s senior vp-worldwide p.r. and live events.
Joining the ride are AOL Time Warner relatives Cartoon Network (home to the cartoon) and America Online, along with Morristown, NJ-based Bayer Corp.’s One-A-Day, the show’s “official chewable kids’ vitamin” sponsor. “We wanted to keep a focused effort with key partners, since this is our first venture into a live event of this size,” says Joret.
Supporting promotions include on-site photo ops with a Scooby standee hosted by One-A-Day, and a Stagestruck Sweepstakes hosted by Cartoon Network (which also operates the official tour Web site) in conjunction with local cable affiliates; one winner in each city gets a role in the show, along with a ride to the theater in the Mystery Machine, eight VIP tickets, and a meet-and-greet with the cast.
AOL, meanwhile, offers tour information, rotating banner ads, and special content to members (as well as to non-members through its Netscape.com operation). “It’s a classic example of synergy,” says Chris Geisert, AOL director of brand promotions and sponsorships.
Atlanta-based Cartoon Network also helps host a Cable Affiliate Night in each market, ingratiating its customers with discount tickets to a special performance. “It’s a unique opportunity to give our customers a tangible experience,” says Tom Alexander, Cartoon Network’s vp-trade marketing.
The three sponsors receive logo placement in all advertising and on-site signage. Local print, TV, and radio ads break six to eight weeks before the performances as the hosting venue drops a direct-mail campaign to regular attendees.
In another example of synergy, a trailer for the Scooby-Doo movie runs during the stage show’s intermission, while an on-site sweeps dangles tickets to a special screening.
Old Dog’s Tricks
If Scooby finds life on the road hard, maybe he can call Blue for advice.
The now-veteran Blue’s Clues Live tour, Nick’s first, launched in fall 1999 and has played to more than 1.5 million people in 80 markets, according to Rosenstein. The latest version, Blue’s Birthday Party, premieres this month with a minimum 80-market tour that will run into 2003.
Detroit-based Ford Motor Co. upgrades its alliance this go-round as the tour’s presenting sponsor. (The enhanced status is part of a three-year, $20 million marketing deal the car maker signed with Nick in early 2000 to deeply align its Windstar mini-van with the property.)
Ford will spotlight its Clue into Safety education program on site with interactive lobby displays and an on-stage skit at intermission; staffers will hand out stickers and auto safety information. It will also hit local malls in 10 tour markets about a month before the curtain rises to host auditions for a walk-on role and offer photo ops with Blue.
Meanwhile, Nick and its cable affiliates are teaming on a sweeps offering a backstage party with the cast for a winner and 10 friends. Local TV spots will drive consumers to participating retail locations to enter. Online, tour attendees can download a birthday card for Blue at Nickjr.com and deposit it in a lobby mailbox; one card will be read during each show.
The Pioneers
If three years seems like an impressive lifespan for a stage show, consider that Sesame Street Live has been at it for 22. The longest-running children’s tour plays to an average of 2.5 million fans in 150 markets each year.
Based on the beloved 32-year-old PBS series from New York City-based Sesame Workshop, Sesame Street Live actually encompasses three different tours: Everyone Makes Music, Let’s Be Friends, and Big Bird’s Sunny Day Camp Out. Each is on a three-year run, playing 11-month stints in venues ranging from 800-seat theaters to 20,000-seat arenas.
Hyundai Motor America, Fountain Valley, CA, signed on as presenting sponsor for 10 markets through October 2002. The car company will display vehicles on-site and host a sweeps for a Santa Fe SUV in a campaign built around its cause work with pediatric cancer organizations; Hyundai will solicit donations at venues and host character visits to hospitals.
“The show audience is exactly who we want to be talking to: young families,” says Paul Sellers, Hyundai’s director of marketing communications. Activation will also feature dealer events including offers for free tickets with test drives.
Sesame Workshop also is on the road with Dragon Tales (also airing on PBS), which VEE Entertainment will bring to about 50 markets in a nine-month run concluding in June. Keeping things familial, VEE also operates the Bear in the Big Blue House Live tour for the Jim Henson Co., New York City, which likewise will reach about 50 markets.
Sponsors for all three of VEE’s tours generally alternate by market. For example, New York City-based game maker NewKidCo (a Sesame Workshop licensing partner) is presenting sponsor in about 20 markets each for Sesame Street Live and Dragon Tales, and typically activates with product giveaways on local radio stations; Minneapolis-based General Mills’ Yoplait Yumsters, meanwhile, sponsors Bear nationally with print, TV, and online advertising and on-site sampling and couponing.
Putting it on Ice
A distant second behind Sesame Street Live in terms of longevity is Disney on Ice, which is now in its 20th year. Produced by Feld Entertainment, Vienna, VA, through a license with The Walt Disney Co., Disney on Ice encompasses five shows touring nationally and two more overseas. The star tour right now is Toy Story 2, which is in the midst of a 10-month, 32 market-run ending in May.
The ice shows average three to five partners in each market but no national sponsors, according to Feld senior vp-marketing Eric Stevens.
“We stay regional because [those partners] are excited for us to come into town,” says Heather Lockhart, Feld’s director of brand marketing. Relationships with Disney corporate partners such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola Co., however, are leveraged on both regional and local levels. Plus, Feld is exploring the possibility of obtaining national partners for the future, Lockhart says.
One staple of the current plan is tie-ins with local supermarkets. When Disney on Ice: 3 Jungle Adventures visited Bakersfield, CA, for eight performances last October, partners Coca-Cola and grocery chain Vons teamed on a sweeps offering four tickets to the show and a meet-and-greet with the cast. Coke conducted the sweeps in exchange for P-O-P displays in nine Vons stores, says Doug Aitken, sales center manager for Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Bakersfield.
Bedminster, NJ-based Verizon Wireless, meanwhile, is serving as the “major local sponsor” for three Disney on Ice tours in Boston through next December, and has established a special hotline for advanced ticket sales to customers. P-O-P displays in Verizon retail locations support.
Local stages should be especially crowded in 2002. Lombard, IL-based Big Idea Productions heads out on a 40-city tour for Veggie Tales this month; Nickelodeon will take Rocket Power live beginning in March; and Barney’s Musical Castle will put the purple dinosaur back in greasepaint in the fall.
Who needs TV anymore?
