TAG Best Kids Marketing Campaign: "Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Intergalactic Encounter"

Selling to Kids, May 3, 2000

The Team

George Leon, VP promotions, 310/235-5404; David Bernstein; Lorna Good; Devin Velk; Keith Lowenadler

The Case

The seven-year-old "Power Rangers" franchise faced the challenge to remain fresh and exciting in kids' eyes, not unlike any hot kids property. The folks at Fox Kids took a unique approach to building brand endurance: change the show's theme every season. The property changes slightly each year, evolving the brand from "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" to "Power Rangers Zeo," to "Power Rangers Turbo," to "Power Rangers in Space."

When the network launched the latest iteration, "Power Rangers Lost Galaxy" last March, Saban Entertainment and Fox Kids were looking to reinvigorate the brand by bringing it to the market in a way that allowed kids to interact with the property.

The Strategy

Riding on the success of a similar 1998 "Power Rangers in Space" rocket tour, Saban planned a "Lost Galaxy" tour that would bring the brand to kids across the country on a variety of levels.

The first step was to create a "lost galaxy," which Saban accomplished by building a moonbounce with Inflatable Design Group.

Saban equipped the "Lost Galaxy" bounce with a 30-foot slide, strobe lights, four "planets," a mission control center and "rock craters." Those features gave the traveling universe wider age appeal, says George Leon, vice president of promotions. The 5,000 square-foot moonbounce used $500,000 of the $700,000 budget and was declared the world's largest inflatable structure by the Guinness Book of Records.

Fox Kids ran an on-air sweepstakes during the February sweeps. One lucky winner got an "Intergalactic Encounter" party for 35 of his friends, plus every "Power Rangers Lost Galaxy" toy in the 1999 line.

The moonbounce began a 31-market tour in March and visited Wal-Mart locations through October. Saban pumped the tour using print promotions in Fox Kids Magazine, weekly teaser spots on the "Fox Kids Countdown" radio show and a dedicated page on the Fox Kids Web site.

The Results

"Power Rangers Lost Galaxy" launched with a 10.7 rating and a 34 share with Boys 6-11, the key "Power Rangers" demographic. Fox Kids received 92,000 sweepstakes entries, and Bandai's toy sales were up more than 400% in each tour market. This tour not only met its goals, it turned a cooling property into a hit with kids all over again.