 |
 # 240 |
KCase Study |
| Legends of
Entertainment Situation Legends
of Entertainment,
Inc., a division of Natural Choice Industries, markets a variety of
novelty products created around licensed
celebrity
and entertainment properties. Headed by licensing expert Gary Scaife
and head quartered in Hollywood, the company
is the creative force behind products that include Popeye Punch and
Pink
Panther Cocoa Mix. Problem Elvis
Presley
continues to be the most popular rock star in history. His fans,
estimated
to exceed seven million, had grown up with Elvis. Some felt Elvis'
celebrity
ended at his death; that any further exploitation of his legacy should
be off limits. Most understood that his legacy continues to live
through
his music and the many great memories that surround his life. And, most
of his fans are sympathetic with the aims and goals of the Presley
Estate. Solution The Quality Worthy of His Legend Campaign: The agency had tackled a number of assignments for Legends in the past. But, this one came completely from left field. Nothing like it had ever been done.Legends of Entertainment needed a campaign to strike the right balance and positioning for its new line. It needed a metaphor and a plan through which it could introduce Elvis Presley’s Love Me Tender Hair and Body Care (LMT), a product line consisting of a shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and bubble bath. Packaging for the line was created – consistent with his legacy -- against an intentionally garish gold field using original art lifted directly from the only portrait Elvis had commissioned of himself, which hangs in Graceland. After gathering information on Elvis, his fans, and his friends, the agency outlined a rough campaign strategy and work plan for campaign development. The Campaign positioned the new line as a straight forward, no nonsense, affordable, line of hair and body care products consistent with quality “worthy of his legend.” The agency created a media schedule, four radio spots, a sell-in brochure, POP display, two promotions and publicity throughout. Media Schedules defined and sequenced the press release strategies needed to create press coverage in Magazines, Tabloids, Newspapers, Radio, TV, and other entertainment media simultaneously one month prior to product launch. Publicity was the driving force for the campaign. It pre introduced the line, drove the promotions, and merchandised the marketing back to retailers and the media as the sell-in was in process. Press Tour #1 formally unveiled the line at The Heartbreak Hotel across from Graceland in Memphis, and carried the introduction to magazines, radio, and TV stations in the national press tour which followed. Before the line could be fully sold into representative distribution, the agency had already created “The Greatest Pre introduced H&BA Line in History” using publicity alone. Press Tour # 2 was a road show that featured Elvis memorabilia, protected by armed guards, at key venues as Legends was selling in. The Elvis Presley Traveling Museum leveraged local media coverage while making time for the agency to develop a major promotion and put its third tour in place: Elvis was as much showman as musician. The new line needed to use his idiom to establish its link with the Elvis’ identity. Elvis impersonators coming and going in and out of customized limos at special events was one plausible way it could generate local media coverage in tandem with the sell-in process. With this in mind, the agency called George Barris. Barris -- Hollywood’s legendary custom car designer, and a long-time personal friend of Elvis and Priscilla Presley -- had customized a number of Elvis’ cars. He was, himself, very much a part of the Elvis legacy. In talking with Barris the agency asked Barris if he had planned any projects left unfinished by Elvis' death, discovering that Elvis and Barris had once discussed customizing a ’65 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible. This was the epiphany and metaphor, that the agency and Legends |
of
Entertainment were looking for;
a unique fact in the Barris/Presley friendship that would bring
continuity to the Love Me Tender marketing campaign..Strategically,
this factual link with Barris gave the new line an authenticity it
would
not otherwise own. The agency immediately commissioned
Barris to follow through on the customized dream car he and Elvis had
discussed. Press Tour #3 was centered around Elvis Presley’s Dream Car and the Elvis Presley Dream Car Sweepstakes. George Barris unveiled the concept that he and Elvis had discussed to the world press in Hollywood five months later. Johnny Grant officiated and Buck Presley, Elvis' cousin, was there to introduce the new product line and the sweepstakes that would award the "Dream Car" to a lucky sweepstakes winner one year later. Elvis’ Dream Car is a Gold 1965 Cadillac Eldorado convertible that was bought used by the agency and "retro created" by Barris Kustom Industries for EP Cosmetics based on concepts George and Elvis had developed for the car back in the '60's. It featured forty coats of hand rubbed pure gold pearl essence paint containing actual flakes of 14 karat gold leaf and a 14 karat gold plated stearing wheel, gold plated front and back bumpers, grill, outside rear view mirror, racing wheels and a handmade E.P Cadillac hood ornament. Its interior is upholstered with Mouton fur carpets and features a gold plated TV, gold plated car phone, and an on-board Kenwood stereo and laser disc system. Its sun visors are the shape of guitars. Three gold 45 rpm Elvis Presley records are embedded in the rear head rest. Over 24 Troy pounds of 14 karat gold bullion was used in all. Legends insured the car for $ 250,000 and booked it for a one year tour that included over 100 major clasic car automobile events. The car was awarded to a lucky sweepstakes winner at Graceland after completion of that tour. See Elvis' Dream Car While creating consumer demand to force retail distribution isn't a tactic generally recommended in packaged goods marketing, it sometimes makes sense where a brand is already well established but the product is unknown. The agency was worried it could lose momentum and control of information in the media during the sell-in process after word leaked out about the line in the press. So, it decided to go directly to the press first. By going to the press first, before the line was ready for distribution, the agency was able to create “The greatest pre introduced H&BA line in history” using nothing but promotion and publicity. A line brochure highlighting the media coverage already attained was produced for the introductory retail sell-in promotion to substantiate this fact. Radio and Newspaper Advertising was ultimately used to support distribution once product was sold in and on the shelves. The agency initially created three :60 radio spots, featuring Elvis singing Love Me Tender. Another :60 spot featuring cousin Buck Presley was produced later in conjunction with the Dream Car unveiling. The integrated campaign rotated radio spot schedules in concert with local newspaper ads and radio remote venues as needed. Each spot positioned the LMT line as “an American original” concluding with the tag, “Quality worthy of his legend.” Results The Quality Worth of His Legend Campaign was about the most successful novelty promotion since Pet Rocks. Millions of people took home LMT products -- received them as gifts, gave them as gifts, and tried the product – which was the objective. Permanency in the competitive HBA category was neither realized nor expected.Virtually all entertainment media -- all the tabloids, all entertainment TV programming, all news media and even investment media -- picked up and followed this story. LMT received exposure everywhere. It was also a product placement in movies, including Earth Girls Are Easy. Fan club memberships have continued to grow among even those who were too young to remember Elvis. This is a phenomenon that can not be attributed to nostalgia. The market for Elvis licensed products has also grown. And, the propriety of remembering and celebrating the legacies of deceased celebrities, once questioned, is now accepted practice within our culture. Once mistakenly labeled “the campaign that resurrected Elvis,” The Quality Worth of His Legend Campaign extended a legacy not by reinventing or simply exploiting it, but rather by exposing it. Legends of Entertainment rode a highly profitable business curve in the novelty and gift business for almost four years. It established a pro forma followed by other celebrities. The Elvis Presley Dream Car Sweepstakes Promotion could not have gone better for the fans, for the winner, and for George Barris. The Dream Car was awarded to a lucky sweepstakes winner after appearing at over 100 automobile show venues. Two years later, the Car was reportedly sold to investors in Asia for an undisclosed amount that was well within the range of seven figures. Years later, in 1997, Mattel, Inc. included a miniature toy version of the car in their Hot Wheels Legends Series. Elvis' Dream Car is rumored to have been sold several times, and to be back in the States touring custom car shows continuing to draw in curious audiences and fans from every demographic. |