Coke’s exclusive tie-in doesn’t predict Hollywood’s future.

Don’t expect studios to start delivering one-partner projects despite the landmark deal between Warner Bros. and Coca-Cola.

Coke alone will tie in with whopper Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, slated for holiday release on Nov. 16, for the subsequent video release, and for the second film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The company ponies up an estimated $150 million in marketing support, including long-term reading programs worldwide and what’s expected to be heavy display activity. The multi-year deal covers flagship Coca-Cola, Minute Maid, and Hi-C.

“One-partner movies have been everyone’s goal all along, but it’s tough to get one tie-in partner to foot the bill,” says Ira Mayer, president of EPM Communications, New York City. “There are only so many Coca-Colas.”

Few brands can afford to shoulder all the media support that a major film needs — and few creators have as much veto power as Potter author J.K. Rowling. The hype-sensitive Rowling reportedly nixed deals with Kraft Foods and Burger King. Warner Bros. entertained scads of pitches, but deferred to Rowling, who wants to protect the property from over-commercialization. One Hollywood insider says Creative Artists Agency, which works for Coke and represents Sorcerer’s Stone director Chris Columbus, helped convince the director that the film needed at least one promotional partner. Coke declined to comment on negotiations or agency relationships.

Rowling’s prowess is an anomaly. “She has a lot of pull because the studio wants to do more business with her. They want a franchise,” says T.L. Stanley, columnist for licensing marketplace What’sHotNow.com.

That’s likely to be Coke’s endgame, too. The outrageously popular Harry Potter series is planned as seven books. The summer 2000 release of the fourth, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, had kids standing in line at midnight to get a copy. If Warner Bros. and Coke can get the same kind of interest in seven films, they’ve struck gold.

That may be one reason behind Coke’s plan for long-term literary programs. The company will spend the next several years developing global “broad-based reading initiatives” that liken imagination and reading to Potter’s magic. Characters won’t appear on packages, but Coke and Warner Bros. will develop imagery tied to the film for secondary packaging and displays.

A multi-country, multi-year marketing plan makes the deal even more unusual, and wrings more out of Coke’s $150 million than a mere month’s worth of pre-release TV spots or premiums. “It’s more of a franchise agreement than a single film,” says a source familiar with the deal. “It’s designed to help the property’s longevity. If they sold out on the first film, how could they keep it going?”

Still, studios will keep courting partners because promotion breaks through ad clutter. “Studios are getting more strategic in the types of partners they want,” says Mitch Litvak, president of The L.A. Office, Los Angeles. “There are partners for every movie.”

For all-family films like Sorcerer’s Stone, that will continue to be QSRs and packaged goods companies. “It’s all about traffic,” Stanley says. “I can’t see any other way for [studios] to get kid and gatekeeper exposure.”

Would consumers prefer less promotional hype? Maybe, Stanley concedes. “But an event movie that doesn’t have tie-ins might be a bigger signal to marketing-savvy consumers that maybe this film isn’t important enough for tie-ins.”

Mere exposure won’t cut it, Litvak says. “If your promotional mechanism is not creative, it’s just going to tick people off. Just slapping on a [property] logo isn’t working anymore.”

Coke isn’t putting all its eggs in one entertainment basket. A late-February deal with Walt Disney Co. will put Disney-branded, Coke-produced kid drinks in U.S. supermarkets this year, with plans to go international in 2002. The line starts with Mickey’s X-treme Coolers vitamin-fortified juice drink in Raspberry Rage, Bora Bora Berry, and Citrus Chiller; and Pooh’s 100 Acre Wood Apple-Berry, 100-percent juice in four apple/berry blends. Coke’s Minute Maid division handles production. Coke and Disney share marketing chores including ads, promos, themed packaging, and in-store displays.

Coke’s exclusive tie-in doesn’t predict Hollywood’s future.

Don’t expect studios to start delivering one-partner projects despite the landmark deal between Warner Bros. and Coca-Cola.

Coke alone will tie in with whopper Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, slated for holiday release on Nov. 16, for the subsequent video release, and for the second film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The company ponies up an estimated $150 million in marketing support, including long-term reading programs worldwide and what’s expected to be heavy display activity. The multi-year deal covers flagship Coca-Cola, Minute Maid, and Hi-C.

“One-partner movies have been everyone’s goal all along, but it’s tough to get one tie-in partner to foot the bill,” says Ira Mayer, president of EPM Communications, New York City. “There are only so many Coca-Colas.”

Few brands can afford to shoulder all the media support that a major film needs — and few creators have as much veto power as Potter author J.K. Rowling. The hype-sensitive Rowling reportedly nixed deals with Kraft Foods and Burger King. Warner Bros. entertained scads of pitches, but deferred to Rowling, who wants to protect the property from over-commercialization. One Hollywood insider says Creative Artists Agency, which works for Coke and represents Sorcerer’s Stone director Chris Columbus, helped convince the director that the film needed at least one promotional partner. Coke declined to comment on negotiations or agency relationships.

Rowling’s prowess is an anomaly. “She has a lot of pull because the studio wants to do more business with her. They want a franchise,” says T.L. Stanley, columnist for licensing marketplace What’sHotNow.com.

That’s likely to be Coke’s endgame, too. The outrageously popular Harry Potter series is planned as seven books. The summer 2000 release of the fourth, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, had kids standing in line at midnight to get a copy. If Warner Bros. and Coke can get the same kind of interest in seven films, they’ve struck gold.

That may be one reason behind Coke’s plan for long-term literary programs. The company will spend the next several years developing global “broad-based reading initiatives” that liken imagination and reading to Potter’s magic. Characters won’t appear on packages, but Coke and Warner Bros. will develop imagery tied to the film for secondary packaging and displays.

A multi-country, multi-year marketing plan makes the deal even more unusual, and wrings more out of Coke’s $150 million than a mere month’s worth of pre-release TV spots or premiums. “It’s more of a franchise agreement than a single film,” says a source familiar with the deal. “It’s designed to help the property’s longevity. If they sold out on the first film, how could they keep it going?”

Still, studios will keep courting partners because promotion breaks through ad clutter. “Studios are getting more strategic in the types of partners they want,” says Mitch Litvak, president of The L.A. Office, Los Angeles. “There are partners for every movie.”

For all-family films like Sorcerer’s Stone, that will continue to be QSRs and packaged goods companies. “It’s all about traffic,” Stanley says. “I can’t see any other way for [studios] to get kid and gatekeeper exposure.”

Would consumers prefer less promotional hype? Maybe, Stanley concedes. “But an event movie that doesn’t have tie-ins might be a bigger signal to marketing-savvy consumers that maybe this film isn’t important enough for tie-ins.”

Mere exposure won’t cut it, Litvak says. “If your promotional mechanism is not creative, it’s just going to tick people off. Just slapping on a [property] logo isn’t working anymore.”

Coke isn’t putting all its eggs in one entertainment basket. A late-February deal with Walt Disney Co. will put Disney-branded, Coke-produced kid drinks in U.S. supermarkets this year, with plans to go international in 2002. The line starts with Mickey’s X-treme Coolers vitamin-fortified juice drink in Raspberry Rage, Bora Bora Berry, and Citrus Chiller; and Pooh’s 100 Acre Wood Apple-Berry, 100-percent juice in four apple/berry blends. Coke’s Minute Maid division handles production. Coke and Disney share marketing chores including ads, promos, themed packaging, and in-store displays.