M+E Daily
‘Dragon’ Deal Signals Evolution Of Entertainment Merchandising At Wal-Mart
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Entertainment merchandising continues to evolve at Wal-Mart, with the retailer having struck an exclusive deal with DreamWorks Animation for toys, apparel, and other licensed products based on the studio’s “How To Train Your Dragon.”
Wal-Mart is selling “Dragon”-themed products from brands such as Kraft, Kellogg, Pepsi, and Spin Master in specially-designated areas of some 2,500 stores in the run-up to the film’s theatrical release March 26. The program was more than a year in the making, Wal-Mart says, with the retailer taking on a greater role in product development.
The agreement with DreamWorks Animation does not give Wal-Mart an exclusive on the “Dragon” DVD or Blu-ray, according to The Wall Street Journal. But the partnership builds on previous deals with bands such as AC/DC and Kiss, as well as videogame publishers Electronic Arts and MTV Games, which saw Wal-Mart devote store-within-a-store spaces to market packaged entertainment products alongside limited-edition themed goods such as t-shirts, razors and snacks.
Exclusive packaged entertainment SKUs are nothing new to big-box retailers, who began cutting such deals with studios and managers of high-profile talent long before DVD reached its sales zenith. But at a time when a new-release DVD, CD, or videogame is no longer guaranteed to bring shoppers into stores, the entertainment properties most likely to secure floor space at retail are those that carry with them a sales hook for other consumer product categories.
To this end, a Wal-Mart divisional merchandise manager recently met with music and movie executives to discuss potential deals for 2012, according to the Journal.
