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Ann
Marie Dumais
VP, Integrated Marketing
Nielsen Entertainment
The entertainment industry permeates the life of every American.
Radio, television, movies, videos, sporting events, books,
magazines and newspapers all contribute to the fabric of American
life. Americans love to be entertained and are willing to
spend heavily for it. Entertainment spending per household
has grown at twice the rate of inflation and increased by
almost $1000 per household over the past 10 years. For example,
- 681 million units of music were sold in 2002;
- $9.2 billion in movie ticket sales, up 13% over prior
year;
- 1.57 billion movie tickets sold, up 9% over prior year;
- 6 million videos are rented on a daily basis;
- $8.1 billion videotapes/DVDs sold in 2002, up 50% over
prior year.
Why is this information important? Entertainment products,
such as films, videos and musical artists, are a virtually
untapped vehicle for marketers to reach their target audience
in an era where there seem to be fewer effective ways to reach
the consumer. And having your brand associated with a specific
entertainment product can create an added appeal and "coolness"
for the consumer, an added incentive to buy it.
Some CPG companies have already started to entrench themselves
in the entertainment industry. For example, several brands—including
Pepsi, Hershey, Kraft Foods, ConAgra and Glad Products—have
tie-ins with Universal Pictures' upcoming release "The
Hulk."
And General Mills is partnering with DreamWorks SKG for promotions
tied to several animated film and home video releases, including
"Shrek 2" and "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven
Seas." Promotions from numerous General Mills food categories
will be featured.
Finding the Right Path
But even finding the right entertainment path can be daunting.
There are so many choices available, but it is not easy to
determine the best fit for a given brand or retailer. As a
marketer, should you look for a movie product placement? Should
you use cinema advertising in conjunction with, or in place
of, other advertising? Would a partnership with a hot musical
group be the best way to promote your brand? Which group?
As a retailer, how can you find the video titles that will
sell best in which stores? What video format(s) do your customers
prefer?
In the past, this process has been hit or miss—some
product matches have proven to be very good fits, while others
have been less than ideal (and sometimes even detrimental)
to the brand.
Until recently, there has been little usable information available
to help marketers and retailers determine the best entertainment
partnerships for their brands and stores.
However, that is changing. Today there are resources that
can help marketers with these decisions. Nielsen Entertainment—with
its own informational sources, partnerships with other VNU
companies and industry expertise—can help marketers
and retailers sift through all the available options and possibilities
to choose the right mix of entertainment vehicles for them.
A Look at the Movies
To understand the potential for marketing successfully in
this arena, it is important to understand the consumer's experience.
After they purchase a ticket and enter the theater lobby,
the patrons' senses are awakened with the sights and smells
of the concession area. What will they buy? Popcorn? Candy?
A soft drink?
Is your brand included in this product mix? Should this be
one of your distribution points? [See chart 1]. As a theater
owner, are you stocking brands your customers want?
In order to answer this question, the marketer would need
to know which specific movie chains and which specific theaters
in that chain would likely produce strong sales of his brand.
The theater owner/manager, on the other hand, needs to understand
the snack/beverage preferences of his customers.
The consumers now enter the theater. It's about 10 minutes
to show time. They find seats and stare at...a blank screen?
Not likely. Those minutes before the show have been purchased
by smart marketers who know they have a captive audience and
intend to make the most of it. Is your brand represented?
Does the audience in this theater represent your target audience?
Should you consider cinema advertising?
Cinema advertising is the fastest growing medium year over
year. It is an estimated $200–300 million business annually.
Furthermore, it is projected that within ten years, cinema
advertising could grow to a $1–2 billion industry.
With the technology to zap out television commercials, marketers
need to find other avenues to reach their potential consumers.
With cinema advertising, marketers have an audience focused
on the big screen as they await the start of the feature film.
Additionally, cinemagoers tend to be young, up-market opinion-formers
and trendsetters in the 18–49 year age bracket—in
other words, the target market for many consumer products.
In terms of recall, research shows that those consumers who
watched an advertisement at the cinema experienced three times
the recall as those who saw television ads for the same product.
Additionally, consumers were more likely to purchase products
seen on a cinema ad versus those seen only on television.
Successful cinema advertising differs from television advertising.
It offers entertainment value and fits the environment of
the movies. Movie patrons come to the theater to be entertained
and may become annoyed with poorly executed advertising.
Finally, the feature film starts. The characters in the film
drive cars, go into malls, supermarkets and other stores and
use identifiable brands of food, beverage and healthcare products.
Perhaps a box of Cheerios was on the table. Maybe a bottle
of Coke was in the fridge. Can you envision your brand in
the film?
Product placement is yet another element to consider in the
overall media plan. It can be a valuable tool to promote a
brand, but it can be forever linked to the movie property
in which it is featured, so great care must be taken to ensure
the right fit. Who will ever forget ET gobbling up the Reese's
Pieces so carefully dropped by Elliott?
Decisions about product placement can be difficult. While
ultimately, it is the studio's decision on what products will
be placed, the brand marketer must do his homework to ensure
the placement is right for the brand. Who is the target audience
for the film? Does it match the brand's target market? Or
does it fit with a potential new target market for the brand?
Does the product placement seem natural to the characters
and plot? Do the film's stars have an image that will enhance
the brand?
Consideration of these and other issues is a must to ensure
the marketer does not make a mistake. A good product placement,
while costly, can provide huge benefits, but an inappropriate
placement can be very expensive in terms of its potentially
negative impact on the brand.
Plans for brand partnerships with movies need to start about
two years in advance, as most films are conceived and developed
that far in advance of release. The marketer needs to know
what is on the horizon in order to accurately assess if there
is an opportunity for his brand. Nielsen Entertainment's movie
calendar lets markers know the film titles being released
in the next two years, as well as the stars, the movie genre
and date of release.
Reviewing viewer information on past films of a specific genre
and with specific stars and correlating this information to
demographic and purchase information of a specific brand will
help the marketer to predict which upcoming movie products
might be a good fit for his brand.
If you are a retailer, how close is your store to the theater?
Is there more than one in your trading area? Do you know what
films are playing there? Do those theater patrons also shop
at your store? Would the theater audience likely purchase
movie product tie-ins from your store? For example, if a new
Harry Potter movie was shown in that theater, do you know
if your customers would be likely to purchase Harry Potter
toys, games and t-shirts from your store? Would they come
back to purchase the video/DVD?
The retailer who is armed with the right sales and demographic
information will be able to make smart stocking decisions.
For example, knowing which theaters did well with which film
titles can help the retailer predict which titles are likely
to sell in-store. Demographic information can help determine
which format (DVD vs. VHS) is likely to do better in that
particular store.
Marketing Via the Music Industry
The music industry offers many opportunities for partnerships
with consumer brands. Featuring a popular musical artist or
band in a commercial can really get the attention of the target
consumer base.
Marketers need to know which musical categories best suit
their product category. They would want to understand the
various artists' fan bases and how they correlate to their
target population. Using musical consumer profiles developed
by Nielsen Entertainment, marketers can determine which artist
would be the best sponsor for their brand. They would also
be able to determine who would be a next best fit, should
they be unable to obtain their first choice.
Importance of Timing
Major film studios use the calendar to determine film release
dates. For movies geared to youth, the school calendar is
an invaluable tool for knowing when the kids are out of school,
so those films can be timed for release during student vacations
[See chart 2].
Timing is just as important for retailers making stocking
decisions on entertainment vehicles, especially music products.
Since 22% of music products are purchased by youth ages 12?19,
it makes sense to feature a popular music product when the
kids are available to purchase it—school holidays and
vacations. Every area of the country will have its own school
calendar, so the retailer will need to understand the school
calendar for his own trading area. Stocking the right music
products during these school holidays can have a strong positive
impact on store sales. Teens love to shop, they have the money,
and they are likely to spend every dollar they have.
Entertainment will continue to play a significant role in
American life. It is up to marketers and retailers to leverage
the opportunities entertainment presents to the advantage
of their brands and stores.
For marketers and advertisers, it's important to embrace entertainment
vehicles as creative ways to reach customers. However, they
must carefully select those entertainment products that fit
their brand. They should analyze any previous entertainment
partnerships to understand what value they brought to their
brand and what level of increase in consumption occurred among
the targeted consumers.
Retailers should work to optimize their entertainment product
inventory. They need to have a clear understanding of which
video/DVD/music products will sell where. They need to think
about shelf mix and placement. Which artists should be grouped
together? Even more important, which artists have the greatest
appeal to that store's buyer base?
Retailers also need to know if their customers are buying
their entertainment products elsewhere, and if so, devise
ways to lure them to their store.
Navigating the road to Hollywood can be a challenge, but smart
marketers and retailers will learn to use the available tools
and resources to make the best decisions for their brands
and stores.
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