Warner Home Video Sets Stage for 'Prisoner' Release

Burbank, Calif. -- The merchandising team at Warner Home Video wasn't worried that retailers wouldn't accept P-O-P for the much-anticipated Nov. 23 street date release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Instead, its challenge was to distinguish this release from the previous two in the series while keeping the overall flavor of Harry Potter alive. As it had done for past programs, the company utilized "the standard displays that we do for a mega-title rollout like this," says Jennifer Dunlap, senior director, merchandising and P-O-P, including gravity-feed displays, small and large A-frames, half-pallets and club pallets. The difference with this release, Dunlap says, is in the graphics. "Any time we have a franchise like this, where it is the same characters year after year -- in particular this one where the cast has stayed the same -- we try to differentiate the look of the displays to make it clear that it's the latest movie," she says.The current program, Dunlap says, incorporates the best aspects of the previous two releases. For the first movie's release on DVD and VHS, for example, the team's main goal was to introduce customers to the characters. For the second release, they incorporated some other elements from that movie on the P-O-P, such as the flying car and Dobby, says Dunlap. For this release, the graphics feature a montage and three large characters, which Dunlap says creates a big impact and is fun for kids to see in stores.Buckbeak, for instance, a special creature of Harry's world, and the Knight Bus that picks Harry up for school, are featured on this year's P-O-P.The latest P-O-P displays are different from their predecessors in another respect: The main characters, entering adolescence, are looking more grown-up, says Dunlap. "The photos we're using of them are in their play clothes as opposed to their school clothes. They look older, and it definitely helps make this program feel different than the other two."Dunlap says there are strict graphic constraints because author J.K. Rowling is very protective of the franchise. Every piece needs to be approved, which means Dunlap and her team work far in advance of street dates in order to complete a project. All of the pieces in the program were litho-printed, mounted to corrugate and die-cut, which Dunlap says was the most effective choice for the temporary campaign. "The four-color litho process allows us to have rich artwork that grabs customers' attention for an inexpensive price. It's a very crowded fourth quarter in the stores. Spider-Man 2, Shrek 2 and others will be coming in around the same time, and although we're the only huge title coming out on this date, another will be out the next week. Although we'd like our displays to be up longer than a week, it's really about the stores and what they can take and fit on their floors."Origin LLC, Burbank, Calif., was responsible for designing all of the pieces and for some production. Ivy Hill, Glendale, Calif., also produced some pieces. The smallest displays hold six DVDs and the largest accommodate 700 DVDs and VHS tapes.Although final numbers weren't available at press time, Dunlap says hundreds of thousands of displays in all would be produced for the worldwide campaign, which will hit virtually all classes of trade. "The P-O-P and display execution is the same all around the world," says Dunlap. "A lot of the territories customize and change the language for their territories. Our international offices make the changes and then produce the materials." The in-store P-O-P is just one arm of the fully integrated campaign, including print, TV and radio, as well as an on-line promotion that began pre-street and offered consumers a chance to win a walk-on role in the next Harry Potter film. P-O-P kits are also available for retailers to order that include buttons, window clings, counter cards, convertible signs (shelf talkers/danglers), headers and mini posters. The displays and kits don't come together but are available to everyone."Not every retailer takes all elements -- we allow them to mix and match," says Dunlap. "We don't want to send anything in that is going to get thrown away or put in someone's kid's bedroom. We polled our customers and asked them what they would use, and now we're doing more customized P-O-P so it actually gets put up."

Warner Home Video Sets Stage for 'Prisoner' Release

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