BUENA VISTA PUMPING UP RENTAL MARKETING EFFORTS

DAN ALAIMO

BURBANK, Calif. -- Buena Vista Home Video is upping the ante in the rental market. Applying the same high-powered marketing tactics it perfected for sell-through, Buena Vista is breaking new ground with aggressive post-street-date campaigns on behalf of its rental titles. "We are applying some of the philosophies that we have used in the sell-through business to the rental business," said Kelley Avery, vice president of marketing. Buena Vista is the video sales, marketing and distribution division of Walt Disney Co. "We are putting programs into place that can benefit every retailer in the business, from supermarkets to mom-and-pops to the large video chains. We've always believed strongly in utilizing consumer marketing tools to create events in-store and to help the retailer turn product," she said. "In our view, the consumer marketing is the key. We are committed to it," Avery said. The company launched its efforts last spring with strong ad spending for "Money for Nothing," "My Boyfriend's Back," "Fatherhood" and "What's Love Got to Do With It?" The results were encouraging, said Avery. "We tracked the performance of those titles with video retailers and on average we saw about a 25% lift in turns, which went as high as 31% for some retailers," she said. "These findings were instrumental in developing a much bigger multimillion dollar TV advertising campaign on 'Tombstone,' 'Iron Will' and 'The Air Up There,' " said Avery. The television and radio campaign for those titles began shortly before they streeted in mid-June and continued through the Fourth of July weekend. In-store point-of-purchase materials also helped to drive rentals. The program will continue in the fall with "The Crow" and "Mother's Boys," two action titles from Miramax Home Entertainment that will be released on Sept. 14. Besides the national advertising, a double-sided standee and a theatrical-sized poster will promote the titles as a "Double Thrill Combo." The post-street-date programs were created out of discussions with retailers during which they requested promotions that would create more of an event in the stores and drive in more traffic, said Avery. "Not only are we bringing the regular customer back in, but this also is bringing in the lapsed video renter. If retailers can get that customer back into the store, the results are very positive in terms of increased sales," she said. Supermarkets with video rental programs are especially receptive to programs like this, she said. "Supermarkets understand consumer advertising because they've experienced day-in, day-out impact on sales with other products that they have. The supermarkets that are in the rental business will benefit greatly," she said. "One of the advantages supermarkets have is their ability to utilize their consistent advertising. It's a regular part of their marketing. So they can use hot rental releases to pull that customer into the store, not only in to rent a video, but to buy other products. They also have the opportunity to use that traffic to capture the sale of a videocassette," said Avery.