Tricon splits with Star Wars

[Jedi Master Carr]

I found this on theforcenet yesterday and found interesting
Ad Age reports that Tricon (who owns Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut) have chosen to do a promotion with Spider-Man over Star Wars Episode II. Talking about Spider-Man:
"It's the most-hyped movie for next summer," said one studio marketing executive.
Sony could also add a wireless phone and an automaker as partners for Spider-Man, according to movie-marketing watchers. Nokia has done a product-placement deal in the film; a Nokia phone is clearly seen in its teaser trailers.

Neither a Sony spokeswoman nor a Taco Bell spokeswoman would comment about the deals. Kellogg's could not be reached for comment. By signing with Sony, Tricon apparently will depart from Lucasfilm's Star Wars franchise; Star Wars: Episode II gets released next summer.

Tricon put together a massive multimillion dollar tie-in with Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace in 1999. A major part of the promotion was a sweepstakes where consumers needed to go to all Tricon restaurants -- Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut -- to enter the contest. To many executives, both at Tricon and at Lucasfilm, the deal was a failure.

Second thoughts

Lucasfilm had been considering not doing any Star Wars partnership deals after the problems with Tricon, according to people familiar with the situation. But now, marketing executives said, Lucasfilm has signed on General Mills and PepsiCo's Frito Lay, which are worth, collectively, about $16 million in paid-media, according to some executives' estimates. Frito Lay had been a partner in the Phantom Menace. Lucasfilm executives didn't return phone calls by press time.

The following was also mentioned:

Still undecided is major movie corporate tie-in player Burger King Corp. One executive said the Diageo restaurant chain is leaning toward Men In Black 2, and that Star Wars and Austin Powers 3 weren't a consideration. Another studio marketing executive believes Burger King is looking for more of an adult-targeted promotion.

I am not surprised and not really upset about Tricon sucks anyways I hardly eat at any of their restaurants. At least Star Wars still has Pepsi, I wonder if they will still do the cans, they were a big seller last time. That was the only thing that did well as far as promotions go, Pepsi sales went up by at least 10% and they actually inched closer to Coke.

[DaBoSsNaStY]

In a way I do find this good!!

In a way... it is not going to over hype SW EP. II. People will not be sick of seeing it, and hearing it all the time. Also, SW really does not need this kind of promotion at all:)

[Jedieb]

I believe that Pepsi use to own Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut. At some point they sold them off to focus more on their bottling operations. As for the Tricon TPM promotions, it was kind of a bust. Sales didn't increase nearly as much as Tricon would have liked. The promotions were too large drove many collectors nuts. I mean how many of thought it would be nice to collect all of those cups and toys? Were you able to? I was able to complete my set but it was BRUTAL! I don't see how anyone beside an adult collector with their own set of wheels and an obsession with collecting could complete a set. And if that's what it takes to complete a collection then you've failed somewhere. Kids should be your target audience. If kids are unable to get what they want then you're biting the hand that feeds you. I welcome a smaller promotion this time around. I just wish BK would get into the mix and sell SW glasses again. The OT BK glasses are a favorite part of my collection. I've got great childhood memories tied into those glasses.

[JonathanLB]

I think Lucasfilm, understandably, was quite displeased with the job that Tricon did. Also, Tricon did lie about their success with the promotion (it's always a lie when a company says a promotion actually DROVE CUSTOMERS AWAY -- LOL!). I'm still pissed about that. They are a bunch of dishonest, lying A-holes.

I'm glad they won't have the opportunity to share in Star Wars' success next time around. Those idiots.

I also agree with Jedieb. I tried my best to get everything, and of course, since their promotion was SO UNSUCCESSFUL, they were always sold out of several items, even though, in total, I went to five different Taco Bell's, two pizza hut's, and three KFC's. If every store is sold out of the same ones, obviously it wasn't that bad of a deal for them. They were definitely making money (as the managers themselves said). I wasn't too happy that I couldn't complete my collection, though. I gave up finally after getting about 20 o the 28 toys. I got all the cup toppers, though. I got the four posters. That's pretty good.

[Darth23]

The whole thing was annoying and idiotic. We were expected to go back EVERY WEEK to Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, AND KFC to get the new Star Wars stuff, and probably half the stores (I'm guessing) werent even on this schedule. I used to go to Taco Bell regularly, but I haven't been to KFC in ages and I only occasionally order a pizza from Pizza Hut (I never go to the place to pick it up).

Tri con thought they were going to make gobs of cash by making people go to every store over and over again, and they got totally burned. After going to Taco Bell 3 times and finding out that they still had the same stuff I gave up on getting any of it. The only 2 cup toppers I have (which are really cool, btw) are from a co-worker who gave them to me.

[Jedieb]

Intially, the toys and cup toppers were easy to get. But towards the end of the promotion managers at KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut actually began to drastically CYT BACK on the amount of product they ordered. Which made the subsequent waves of toys VERY difficult to get. In a sense, Tricon wasn't lying when they said the toys didn't sell well. I think it's an exaggeration to say that customers were driven away, but I do know that many stores still had TPM toys as late as fall 2000. (That's not a good sign.) The problem was that these left over toys were early waves that collectors were able to score easily. Kids weren't buying the early waves in large numbers because they'd simply already spent their allowance. Oversaturation of the market is the MAIN reason sales of the fast toys were low. If a kid sees DOZENS of 3 3/4" Hasbro figures, 2 pod racers, multiple 12" figures, playsets, beast figures, and tons of Galoob playsets then HOW THE HELL CAN HE AFFORD TO BUY ALL THOSE CUP TOPPERS AND TOYS?!

For EP2, less will actually be more. A tighter focus will make merchandising much more successful this time around.