Gift titles spring eternal to meet seasonal demand - Brief Article

DSN Retailing Today, April 2, 2001 by Doug Desjardins

Studios are making their annual push to promote videos and DVDs as gifts for Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day, hoping to cash in on the last chance they'll have until Halloween to market titles around a holiday.

MGM Home Entertainment is mining its massive catalog library to promote titles around all three holidays. On March 6 it released "The Greatest Story Ever Told" at $19.98 on VHS and $26.98 on DVD to take advantage of the Easter retail rush.

"Easter provides the last real spike in retail traffic until later in the year and it's a good time to promote catalog titles with a religious theme," said Lewis Lagrone, executive director of marketing for MGM.

For Mother's Day, the studio will release "Return to Me" starring David Duchovny on April 10 at $14.95 on VHS and $19.98 on DVD, along with a collection of movies with romantic themes. These include "When Harry Met Sally," "Mystic Pizza" and "Moonstruck" at $9.95 on VHS. "They're priced to be impulse buys, and that's what our accounts want," said Lagrone.

MGM will also launch an ambitious promotion for Father's Day on May 8 with a large collection of westerns and action films such as "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Horse Soldiers" released for the first time on DVD at $19.98.

Warner Home Video will use Father's Day to launch "Warner Explorations," a new program with an ongoing release schedule of history, science, military and personal growth videos. Also in time for Father's Day, Warner will release the National Geographic titles "Legacy of Attack: Pearl Harbor" and "Pearl Harbor: Beyond the Movie" for $9.95 on May 29.

"The videos not only have tie-ins with Memorial Day and Father's Day but they'll be released just in time for the theatrical debut of Disney's new 'Pearl Harbor' feature film," said Mike Saksa, vp of domestic marketing for Warner Home Video.

Warner is also timing the May 1 release of its hit comedy "Miss Congeniality" to take advantage of Mother's Day shoppers. The Sandra Bullock comedy that earned $110 million at the box office will be $22.98 on VHS and $26.98 on DVD.

Paramount Home Entertainment will also use Mother's Day as a springboard for "What Women Want," the $175 million box-office smash that will street on DVD May 8 at $29.99. "It was originally scheduled for release on May 15, but this was moved up a week so that it would be in stores before Mother's Day," said Paramount spokesman Martin Blythe.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment will release "102 Dalmatians" just before Easter on April 3 at $24.99 on VHS and $29.99 on DVD, along with a two-pack of "101 Dalmatians" and "102 Dalmatians" for $39.99. For Father's Day, Buena Vista will release the action-packed "Jerry Bruckheimer Collection" on May 22 with titles such as "Armageddon," "Enemy of the State" and "The Rock" for $14.99 on VHS.

New Line Home Video will combine catalog titles and a new release for its Father's Day collection of action films that will include "The Cell, "Blade" and "The Long Kiss Goodnight." The collection will street on June 5 for $14.98 on VHS.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will target moms with a low-priced collection of romantic comedies and dramas. Titles such as "Working Girl," "Great Expectations" and "Polish Wedding" will hit stores on April 27 at $9.98 on VHS and $24.98 on DVD.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment will try to reach Easter shoppers with a DVD special edition of "Jesus Christ Superstar" for $29.99, and will release a collection of military titles on May 15 for Father's Day that will include "Midway" and "To Hell and Back" for $9.95 on VHS.

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment also has a full lineup of action titles geared for Father's Day shoppers. The collection streets on June 15 and will include "Men in Black," "Air Force One" and "In the Line of Fire."

And Artisan Entertainment will release a collection of eight John Wayne classics in time for Father's Day, including "The Quiet Man," "The Sands of Iwo Jima" and "Rio Grande." The Duke series will street May 22 at $14.98 on VHS and $19.98 on DVD.