People who work in creative fields, particularly animation, can't afford to overlook the critical importance of a strategic alliance opportunity for product marketing. It's an imperative for creating a successful product in today's over-crowded, intensely fragmented marketplace, primarily because it allows you to put moneyor valuable promotion and exposure behind your product.

Your goal is to attract a distracted, fragmented audience to your product, and convince them that their investment of time will pay off in entertainment valueand that yours is more worthwhile than any of the myriad of daily entertainment choices they have.

These advertising posters for Warner Bros. feature film Space Jam were so well-liked by the fans that they were stolen from the bus stations they were displayed in, faster than they could be replaced. © and 1996 Warner Bros.

In fact, second only to creating the product, strategic marketing is the most important element of your total package. It has become so important that very often the marketing and development of alliances begins before there is even a final script.

Today, the buzzword in animation, entertainment and licensing is "branding." But it's much more than a buzz word; building a brand is the only road to long-term survival and financial viability. Whether you are looking to create a one-time event or a series for network or strip syndication, you need to build a brand consciousness and a brand preference among your target audience. In today's marketplace, entertainment and animation has to be approached strategically similarly to traditional packaged goods. While it may, understandably, upset some sensibilities to consider creative product in the same vein as dessert toppings and bathroom tissue, you have to differentiate your brand in the marketplace. Otherwise, your product is merely another commodity and very easy for consumers to pass by.

Long-Term Strategies vs. Event Marketing
These are currently the two dominant strategies in animation marketing. The major studios Disney, Warner Bros., Fox, etc.tend to create events, especially for theatrical releases. They front-load the entire marketing effort with a multi-month, multi-million dollar effort. (In fact, many in the entertainment and licensing fields believe that the opening price point for a theatrical film to make a "blip" on the consumer radar screen is a combined $100 million for promotion and marketing.) The objective is to drive consumer awareness and desire to see a film over a short period of time, usually six weeks. Disney is the undisputed master of this strategy, creating events and tie-ins which are seen worldwide.

Long-term strategies are more appropriate for video releases and series. Arguably, each of these has a longer "shelf life," and the objective is to build an ongoing involvement between the consumer and the property which will result in repeated viewings and increased sales of merchandise as a franchise expands.