Best Event Marketing

Selling to Kids, March 21, 2001

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" The Team

Universal Studios Consumer Products Group: Jill Jones, EVP Creative and Marketing; Amy Taylor, VP Marketing; Angela Jackson, Brand Manager; Tim Rothwell, VP Sales and Business Development; Robyn Hansen, creative director; Debbie Jackson, director of publicity; Michael Gottsegen, director of retail development; Universal Pictures: Beth Goss, SVP Promotions; Elizabeth Gelfand, VP strategic marketing; Pam Blum, SVP Marketing Services.

Contact: Jill Jones, 818/777-4918

The Case

While Universal's fourth quarter release, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," was a perfect fit for the holidays, the film also entered the market during an extremely competitive period, when studios release their highest profile movies. "Grinch" had two big competitors: Disney's "102 Dalmatians" and Paramount's "Rugrats in Paris." Each studio tried to establish their movie as the family film event of the holiday season.

The Strategy

While the production of Dr. Seuss' literary classic generated a lot of excitement, it wasn't initially established as a strong franchise like "Dalmatians" and "Rugrats." Instead, Universal aligned itself with established corporate partners with broad, but varied target audiences.

"People may think [the solution is] just throwing money at something," says Universal Studio's EVP Jill Jones, creative and marketing, consumer products. "But it's finding the right partners who believe in the same thing you do."

The studio teamed up with Kellogg's, Nabisco, the U.S. Postal Service, Wendy's, Visa, Hershey's, Sprite, Ziploc and several retailers. Outcomes included Oreos stuffed with green filling and post offices decorated like Whoville.

To keep everyone on the same page, Universal held "Grinch Summits," meetings in which every partner involved came together to discuss initiatives.

"Everyone [knew] they needed to participate and bring ideas to the table," says Jones.

The Results

"Grinch" opened as the number one film its first weekend with gross receipts of $55 million. The movie went on to become one of 2000's highest grossing films.

According to NRG Tracking, pre-awareness for the film stood at 99 percent. Estimated media impressions were more than 543 million.