Saturday, March 28, 2009

3-D in Film could mean big Partnerships for other Industires- EYEGLASSES

DreamWorks SKG+Intel+PepsiCo+Super Bowl= The first ever 3-D commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3941cuHoNw&feature=related

That was just the beginning, every magazine we've been picking up lately- Time, Sports Illustrated, etc. have their own "3-D sections" touting how this new and improved technology is going to revolutionize the film industry. And what better time, Home Entertainment (DVD's) has finally matured and Theatrical (box office) only grows significantly when ticket prices go up (we do have to point out that right now sales have increased due to the reverse relationship wth economy and the entertainment industry tends to have).

With 3-D, studios have more justification to charge a premium so the industry will be able to continue to grow. In addition, there is a whole other industry that can benefit- eyeglasses. When you think of 3-D glasses you almost get embarressed by what you would look like in those red and blue cardboard things, but as studios produce more and more of these 3-D films, people are going to want to get more stylish and express themselves through their glasses. Like a tennis racquet, a bowling ball, golf clubs, etc, people will bring their own 3-D glasses with them everytime they go to see a film.

So if 300 Million people live in the US and lets just say 2% of them would invest in buying designer glasses at $200 a pop you have over a $1 Billion industry. So come on Kate Spade, Calvin Klein, Vera Wang, you license out your name to the Luxxotica's of the world, now it is time for a line extension to 3-D glasses to partner with the films. We want to look stylish in front of our friends, dates and anyone else we are watching a film with.. it is after all a group experience.

Plus there could be opportunity for studios to create limited edition collectors glasses for the next "Gladiator," "E.T.," "Independence Day," or "Harry Potter." We buy the figurines and other merchandise why not the glasses??

Now come on U2 looks pretty cool for their 3-D premiere in those sleek glasses.



To put it in perspective actual eyeglasses are worn by 126 Million people in the US at a total industry worth of about $7 Billion (Source: First Research, Inc.)

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Master of Design Collaborations- Junya Watanabe


Maybe it comes from the group think aspect of the Japanese culture, but Japanese designer, Junya Watanabe, continually amazes his fans with creative ways to bring two unlikely brands (ahem... Levi's and Brooks Brothers) together to create a cutting edge and progressive line.

If brands already are iconic in their own way and have mastered the art of the suit, the jeans, the leather, the retro... okay you get it... why not take that knowledge and collaborate with them. It saves time, money and effort, plus you are guaranteed the quality you need to solve the equation.

Think about something you would have to completely learn fresh in order to meet your vision or goal... got it, well now think of someone out there that already is doing it well, approach them and see if you can collaborate. If you have an equally good product or at least an equally good proposition, they would be foolish not to. Not everyone is this savvy, but believe me you can convince those who are, to work with you, and all come out on top.

Especially with the fashion industry hurting these days, more collaboration will be key to stay cost effective and get the people what they want.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The Art of film Partnerships... for no money??

Go on a subway, walk down an aisle of a grocery store, flip through your TV or page through a magazine and chances are you will see several ads for an upcoming movie or TV show. Now part of that is with the help of the big studios’ marketing budgets to support the film—on average about $35 Million is spent on marketing (or about 1/3 the cost of making a film). But another major part is through media exchanges with manufacturers that want to tie into the film.

Every studio is different, but many times if the brand is the right fit the studio will provide the following in exchange for the brand to incorporate the film into its advertising (usually about $1 MM worth of advertising):
  • FREE licensing of the film
  • FREE licensing of the characters (every actor has different contracts so sometimes you can not use them in any advertising, but the studio will give you an idea of the availability to use the actor’s character licensing… note you very rarely can get the actual actor to endorse a product—you have to go through their agent for that)
  • Fulfillment of a sweepstakes (maybe tickets to the premiere of the film, posters, hats, and other merchandise)
  • Private screenings for key customers, clients or part of a sweepstakes

Here are just a few examples as of late where a brand and a film tied together to make a compelling reason for a consumer to buy the brand and spread more awareness of the film.... a true testament of a win win partnership in marketing.

WATCHMEN and Night Owl Dark Roast Coffee
A limited number of commemorative cans of Night Owl Dark Roast coffee were sold by the Organic Coffee Cartel, which is actually owned by Clay Enos, the unit photographer on the set of the “Watchmen” film.

Organic Coffee Cartel (OCC) is selling the coffee through a number of online outlets and its own website. Only 10,000 collectible cans will be produced and sold. To promote the movie, they also ran a sweepstakes contest offering a chance to win 2 tickets to the LA premiere, which was held on March 3rd.

The Night Owl Coffee brand is marketed as a product of “Veidt Enterprises,” and some of the proceeds will go to charity to play homage to the superhero, Adrian Veidt, who becomes a millionaire global philanthropist.

Doing good, tying into a cult film and creating a sense of urgency, what else do you want from a promotion?

'Confessions of a Shopaholic' and Cotton Inc.
The target of Confessions of a Shopaholic is young teen girls, the target of Cotton?...well probably everyone, but to many fashionistas, it is oh so unfashionable. Tying into this film, Cotton was able to give itself a refreshing face lift and get the message out to young shoppers that products made of cotton are not just natural and comfortable but can be quite fashionable.

So what did Cotton and Disney do to get the message out?
  • EVENTS- Mall events held to communicate the message from January 26th until the film’s opening on February 15th (included a photo booth centerpiece where those who participated were taped stating their “confessions of shopping” and then were uploaded to www.fabricofourlives.com website-the winners voted by the public received a video camera, a cotton shopping spree, and confessions merchandise)
  • ADVERTISING- hanging banners and floorgraphics, TV spot called Runway to Everyday
  • PROMOTION- spend $200 or more on cotton products, get a $20 gift certificate to buy more cotton items PLUS, win a chance to win tickets to the film premiere
  • DIGITAL- sent out an e-blast to retailers to alert their consumers of the promotion, promoted "confessions" on website that was put to a consumer vote



**Note: some of the information provided in this post comes from content on PROMO MAGAZINE, www.promomagazine.com, a great source for inspiration and ideas when it comes to consumer promotions, events, digital campaigns and guerilla marketing strategies

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Importance of Alliances- United Nations University Survey

We all love statistics and even more so when other people conduct them for us.

So the United Nations University MERIT conducted a survey that resulted in 75% of companies believing that strategic alliances were of very high importance for the realization of their company's strategy.

Further most companies expected contribution of alliances to the value of the company to increase from an average of 19% today to 47% in 5 year's time.

So why is this so important and how can this apply to your company. Well strategic alliances will:
  • Create greater value for customers
  • Leverage new sources of innovation
  • Enter new markets or lines of business
  • Establish new revenue streams
  • Reduce costs or harness economies of scale
  • Share risks and rewards in new ventures
That's great so how do I find these alliances that fit? Well it takes dedication and time to finding the right partners as it relates to marketing, distribution, innovation, etc.

The first step is figuring out what you do best and what you need to move forward with the business. From there you can determine if internal innovation is best or if it makes more sense to utilize someone else's strong capabilities to achieve those results. My argument is why use your own resources to innovate something that is NOT your core business, when someone else is already doing it and probably achieving better results.

Dedicating an individual to these alliances and working internally throughout the organization will help to best understand the needs. If you don't want a full time employee or department dedicated to this because of the high overhead cost, having an outside agency or freelancer might be a better option. They will bring other networks and knowledge from other companies to help determine partners as well as provide an outside view of the places where the company needs to innovate.

Monday, March 2, 2009

What Would Google Do?

So I'm reading "What Would Google Do?" and I'm sure I will be referencing it a few times over the course of the next couple of weeks, but here is a little food for thought. In the words of Jeff Jarvis:

"We have shifted from an economy based on scarcity to one based on abundance."

"Enabling customers to COLLABORATE with you in creating, distributing, marketing and supporting products is what creates a premium in today's market."

The more we collaborate, partner and form strategic alliances the more efficient we will all become in the way we conduct business and we might not be in the situation we are currently in, in the future. We will be efficient and lean relying just as much on outside partners as inside employees.

Learning from the FOOD NETWORK South Beach Wine & Food Festival

Last weekend, what I think is one of the most brilliant ideas in the ways of creating a sponsorship platform, broke another record. Of course I am speaking about the eighth annual Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival organized and founded by Lee Brian Schrager. This year they had over 53,000 participants, $4 Million in Ticket sales and raised over $2 Million for the Florida International University School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.


So I would argue food lovers in the US is one of the last group of masses, the only other that would come close would be sports. Now of course there are different types of food lovers and different types of sports lovers, but that is why the Wine and Food Festival is brilliant. It brings in more mainstream chefs like Rachael Ray, Martha Stewart and Guy Fieri and mixes them with some of the most world renowned chefs at 5-star restaurants like Le Bernardin’s Eric Ripert and Daniel, CafĂ© Boulud and Bar Boulud’s Daniel Boulud.


It is a platform where sponsors ranging from Amstel Light to Veuve Clicquot to Delta Air Lines to Barilla Pasta to the luxurious Fountainbleau Hotel can relish in their sponsorship and feel there is a true fit. So why is this a perfect platform and how can we learn from it:
  • ENGAGED TARGET: The target market is plentiful and one that has proven to support the subject through shows like Top Chef, Ace of Cakes, Everyday with Rachael Ray, etc.
  • ACCESS: With the engaged target market, people want to meet the chefs that are on their favorite shows--fans are invested in these celebrities and they want to see their "friends" in real life
  • BRAGGING RIGHTS: Like any event there is a sense of bragging rights that is appealing to customers—guests want to be able to tell their friends that they went and saw the chefs that they watch everyday. Plus by going to this type of event you can be seen as more of an expert in the field.
  • VARIETY: While sometimes less is more, in this case the variety allows for events that are appealing to everyone. You can attend a Burger Bash or a high end Grand tasting-this allows for choice for customers and choice for sponsors
  • ENTERTAINING EDUCATION: I would argue entertaining continuous education is the most important aspect of the festival. People are actually learning more about wine and food through these festivals. This gives the festival its mission and its purpose and it ensures that people will come again because they will learn something new and see something different each year.
Now of course the food industry feeds this event. If there wasn’t an engaged target already the scale of the festival would be much smaller, however, the festival didn’t start out with 53,000 attendees 8 years ago, it was a slow build. In other industries, like film and fashion they have their own festivals and many are a huge success like Sundance, Fashion Week, etc.; however the one thing that the Wine and Food Festival does that the others do not is that the Wine and Food Festival EDUCATES and MOVES THE INDUSTRY FORWARD to the general public, whereas the film and fashion festivals only educate those in the industry. If these other festivals would incorporate and reach out to those beyond their “network” they may see the same kind of return and support.