Bob turning green?

Make way for Bob! HIT Entertainment's marketing machine is getting ready to roar—and retailers should be rejoicing. Bob the Builder—Project Build It, being touted as a preschool television first, shows Bob and his crew build an entire town from scratch in a serialized format.

Premiering on PBS KIDS this fall, the new series will feature 75 mini-adventures that can be aired in succession, although individual stations have the right to air the programs in any sequence. In this format children can watch-along and build-along as the team creates the town from scratch. The series also introduces a new member of the team, Scrambler, an all-terrain vehicle whose catchphrase is “Let's scram!”

“The way we look at it, we are making Bob the Builder into an evergreen property,” says Jamie Cygielman, senior vice president, consumer products U.S. and Latin America, for HIT Entertainment. “Bob is 6 years old now and we have been working on this for a while—how to take Bob to the next level.”

Cygielman explains that reaching that elusive evergreen plateau is driven first and foremost by the storyline. “We realize it has to be driven by content, so we worked closely with our animation division, HOT Animation in England. In creating the new series, kids can follow the building of the town from the ground up,” Cygielman tells Playthings

The strategy behind the new series is three-fold. First, there is a DVD/VHS launch at retail, Bob's Big Plan, the story behind the new television series (see sidebar). Questions that kids may want to know are answered on the DVD like: How did Bob get the job? Is Bob leaving Bobsville for good?

The new series launches Labor Day weekend on PBS KIDS. As all of this is taking place, toys will begin to roll out.

Of most interest to the retailer is the “Watch Along & Build Along” marketing support strategy. This strategy will be looking to produce an enormous number of gross impressions. Fueling the “Watch Along & Build Along” program is a national television, print and outdoor billboard campaign that it expects to harvest more than 160 million impressions for Bob. The campaign involves manufacturers Learning Curve, Oak Brook, Ill., and Lego, Enfield, Conn., which will produce role play, vehicles, playsets and construction toys.

Learning Curve is producing the interactive Bob's Electronic Building Workshop (SRP $29.99) and talking Remote-Controlled Scrambler (SRP $24.99).

Lego has five new playsets ranging from Benny's Set ($9.99, 19 pieces) to Scoop and Lofty at the Building Yard ($29.99, 59 pieces).

“Everything will drive the sales of toys,” says Cygielman. “The [Bob's Big Plans] DVD will drive the kids to PBS KIDS and the show; the show will get them involved and want to build; that directs them to the toys…that's the beauty of it…the video, the series and the toy partners are all aligned. All cylinders are working together. It's an immersive world.”

The determination to make Bob an evergreen is shared as all three partners will support this program through individual advertising efforts. Beside HIT marketing the property, Learning Curve will handle TV advertising and Lego will be providing print support. The advertising salvo begins mid-August and run through the holidays.

Also, the home entertainment release of Bob's Big Plan will be cross-trailed on millions of other HIT Entertainment home videos and promoted in-store through 18-, 24-, and 36-count POP displays.

How much more can a retailer ask for in marketing support?