Lionsgate Films and Starbucks (SBUX) partnered this past Spring to promote one of the (seemingly endless number of) spelling-bee-themed rockyesque films recently in production, Akeelah and the Bee. (Read: Video Business Online: Lionsgate and Starbucks get educated.) Starbucks has had good cross-promotion success in the past, notably with music CD's (not only with repackages of well-known artists like Ray Charles, but also, promoting niche acts like Sonya Kitchell) but this maiden attempt to tie-in with a film fizzled. The film has grossed just around $18.5 million through last weekend-- some 70+ days since opening. I myself never caught spelling-bee fever from the promotional sleeves featuring obscure words and definitions that came with my cups of joe during the promotion. Evidently others felt much more than indifference.
The movie studio, naturally, prefers to show the experience in a positive light.
Remember 'Akeelah and the Bee'? -- neither do I
Posted Jul 13th 2006 6:36PM by Michael Canfield
Filed under: Bad news, Starbucks (SBUX), Marketing and advertising
The VBS article quotes Lionsgate marketing VP, Anne Parducci, saying the Starbucks partnership added a "classy presentation" to the film's release, and may yet help with DVD sales. For the moment, "A and the B" materials may seem to have disappeared from retail outlets well in advance of the DVD release, but SBUX and Lionsgate haven't given up. They are moving the promotion into a different phase -- offering a writing contest for kids 8-12 with America Scores, a literacy advocacy group. Blogging Stocks' Sarah Gilbert has written here about questions over whether Starbucks is rescinding or revising its "no marketing to kids" policy. This literacy promotion would seem to be another indication that they are.
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