March 10, 2015

Cinderella extends movie tie-in possibilities

Tom Ryan

While movie tie-ins often include toys, Halloween costumes and video games, "Cinderella" appears to be a rare movie that extends its merchandising across a wide range of fashion categories.

Among the licensing deals connected to the Disney’s live-action movie, which debuts Mar. 13:

  • J.C. Penney is offering an extensive collection of "Cinderella"-themed merchandise in its in-store Disney shops, including a special deluxe ball gown costume and set of "glass" slippers. It also launched a "Cinderella"-inspired marketing campaign during the Academy Awards and a gown-design contest. The ball gown featured in the movie will be displayed in its Manhattan Mall location.
  • Disney and Saks collaborated with nine luxury designers, including Jimmy Choo, Nicholas Kirkwood, and Stuart Weitzman, to come up with an "enchanting collection of shoes that reimagine Cinderella’s iconic glass slipper." The line is also being sold Harrods, Galeries Lafayette and other international luxury shops.
  • Hot Topic has released a limited edition apparel and jewelry collection that features "accents symbolic of the beloved fairy tale, like clock and carriage prints and glass slipper-imprinted hardware."
  • HSN is introducing a Modern Princess Collection of footwear, jewelry, accessories, home and beauty from supermodel Coco Rocha in part inspired by the "Cinderella" movie.

Fashion brands got into movie tie-ins earlier in the decade in the beauty category with a slew of make-up, hair gel and nail polish deals tied to movies such as "The Hunger Games," "Twilight," "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Eat Pray Love," according to a 2012 article on the trend in the NY Times. In early March of this year, a limited-run cosmetics line tied to "Cinderella" virtually sold out within hours of its online introduction on the M-A-C Cosmetics website.

The licensing action comes as other Disney princess-inspired movies have scored big both on screen and at retail. "Frozen," the highest grossing animated film of all time, made more than $1 billion in box office sales and a similar amount at retail to drive Disney’s earnings last year.

"Maleficent," a Disney live-action movie with a gothic theme starring Angeline Jolie, was also a box-office hit and found some retail opportunities. But "Cinderella," starring Lily James as the princess and Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother, is expected to offer broader appeal.

"This movie has everything going for it," Phil Contrino, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com told Bloomberg. "Disney is on a roll with princess movies."

Discussion Questions

Is “Cinderella” a unique case or do you expect to see an increase in big movie tie-opportunities for retailers? Why do you think movie tie-ins are gaining more relevance with fashion brands?

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Nikki Baird
Nikki Baird

I think movie tie-ins have always been there. I seem to recall OPI putting out nail color palettes that matched movies like Shrek and the Muppets. But I actually think it’s easier now to achieve tie-ins because if you do something really cool with it—like designers re-imagining the glass slipper—you have a greater chance of it going viral and actually reaching the people who would buy that stuff without a super-expensive traditional media campaign. If it costs less to get the tie-in off the ground, then there is an opportunity for more and more creative tie-ins in the future.

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Max Goldberg
Max Goldberg

The difference is that everyone knows Cinderella and that Cinderella is a Disney princess movie. This makes licensees and retailers believe that the film is a no-lose proposition and greatly expands the product categories which will support its release. Most films do not come with these attractive pluses, and therefore are difficult to license. Disney one of the few studios that can pull this off, on this scale, but only for their princess collection.

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Chris Petersen, PhD
Chris Petersen, PhD

There seemed to be almost no movie tie-ins or retail merchandising for the recent Paddington Bear movie. Apparently a British teddy bear does not fit well as a fashion statement.

Cinderella has everything going for it to make it a huge tie-in success:

  1. Everyone knows the story of Cinderella, very well.
  2. Disney is a marketing machine for both movies and tie-ins.
  3. Disney owns their own stores and knows retail very well.

And the number one reason Cinderella will be tie-in marketing success for fashion: Find one woman who did not want to be Cinderella as a kid.

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Gajendra Ratnavel
Gajendra Ratnavel

I am not 100 percent sure, but didn’t the Great Gatsby do the same thing?

Based on the success of Frozen, this is a very smart move. The difference between Frozen and Cinderella is that it’s live action and more importantly, the older people know and love her story. Everyone wants to experience that.

I am a big Disney fan, they seem to know what they are doing when it comes to making motion pictures (animated or not). Betting on this movie to succeed is a good bet and to try capitalize on it is smart.

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Lee Kent
Lee Kent

As long as movie stars remain iconic, movie tie-ins will become tomorrows advertisements.

Costume designers in today’s movies are more like costume designers/stylists. If they can wrap the starlet up right and offer the public a way to get it, voila! Cha-ching.

That was my two cents in the register!

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