Power Of The Force

After three decades and more than $15 billion in licensed product sales, Star Wars is poised to garner an entire legion of new fans this month, once Star Wars: The Clone Wars hits the big screen. This first-ever animated feature from Lucasfilm Ltd. relates the adventures of the heroic Jedi Knights—including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda—and their quest to restore peace to the galaxy before it falls prey to the Dark Side.

For retailers, there's reason to celebrate: The film will be followed up immediately by a television series that will air weekly on the Cartoon Network, continuing the saga and supporting the hundreds of new Star Wars licensed products that are debuting on store shelves this summer and fall from Hasbro, Lego, Nintendo, Penguin, Dorling-Kindersley, Playhut, Crayola and Jakks Pacific.

Just days ahead of the property's nationwide toy and tie-in book retail launch, Playthings spoke at length with Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing. In our interview, he provided insights on his approach to marketing the latest addition to the Star Wars universe, details of some of the property's newest products, and a glimpse into the future for the brand.

Playthings: How did you approach the licensing program for The Clone Wars?

Roffman: The starting point for us is always with the entertainment and I think this is a case where George Lucas has conceived something that just breaks a lot of the boundaries of animation and really re-imagines Star Wars. So we're excited because we've got the super introduction with the major theatrical film and then followed by the TV series. It's going to be the first time that we've had this kind of weekly exposure, and it's phenomenal entertainment. That's always the most important thing—everything else is secondary.

Playthings: How does the plan for this new series differ from that of the original films?

Roffman: We've always been long-term thinkers about the property, so we've never really planned around events at the expense of the day-in, day-out business that we have with Star Wars, particularly in the core categories with toys and video games and publishing and collectibles. But one of the nice things about this opportunity is that we think that it's opened up a lot of other categories to be kind of perennial, day-in, day-out businesses, like soft goods and back to school and some more fashion oriented items.

Playthings: What new products will debut?

Roffman: There's definitely a core line but we're not going to be that absolutely coordinated with the show to launch new characters [in products] at the same time that they're launched in the TV series. It's a little bit more generally planned than that. We're working with a number of new licensees, obviously we're continuing with some of our core partners, like Hasbro and Lego and Lucas Arts, but we've expanded into the activity category with Crayola. That's a relationship that we're very excited about. Jakks Pacific is going to be doing outdoor/seasonal goods and they're our new kite partner. Playhut is doing outdoor and indoor structures and play tents. That's just the beginning of a long list of new and incremental partners.

Playthings: Will books be a major area for you?

Roffman: In the publishing area, we're working with Penguin for the first time, and they're going to be doing a lot of our juvenile publishing. This is definitely the most comprehensive thing that we've done together.

We're constantly approached by other licensees and seeking out other licensees, because we want to stay current with what's happening in the marketplace. We're always looking at new categories and companies, and at the same time we value our existing relationships very much. It's just a dynamic business and you have to stay ahead of the curve.

Playthings: When you screenedThe Clone Warsfor licensees, what was the reaction like?

Roffman: People were blown away. We currently have never seen anything like this in the world of television animation, and I think that people were genuinely excited by the quality of the entertainment and they were excited by the opportunity to have this kind of day-in, day-out exposure for Star Wars.

I think that everyone saw it as a major opportunity and we collectively wanted to make sure that we were doing the right thing. We've learned a lot over the years in terms of how to flow product and how to not overdo it at any one point, so I would say it's more an art than a science. But we work very closely with our licensees and retailers to try to do it right, and to make sure that we've got a successful launch, and then looking at how you've managed it over the long term so that it is a robust day-in, day-out business.

Playthings: How will Lucasfilm be supporting the property at retail and keeping it visible?

Roffman: To launch this, we felt it was appropriate to have a fresh new look for the product line, so we designed all-new packaging that has a white and blue basis that derives very much from the clones. We also felt it was appropriate to have a launch date, so that rather than have stuff just trickle out we created an event for July 26 when the product could all be unveiled. That's worked very well for us in the context of the films previously. We work closely with our key retail partners to make sure that they're going to have an impactful presence for Star Wars.

So we've got some unique arrangements with Toys “R” Us, Target and Wal-Mart. Toys “R” Us, just in terms of the sheer size of the commitment, is probably making the biggest statement. They have a feature shop in every store, they've got countdown clocks ... Target [is] doing some very innovative things, and there will be a very big presence at Wal-Mart.

Playthings: Can independent stores participate?

Roffman: Sure! One of the things that's nice about Star Wars is that there is such a strong community that it's a natural opportunity for the small independents, the mom-and-pop shops. We have the 501st Legion of stormtroopers out there to do a lot of appearances, and they'll often be seen at events. I know bookstores have done a lot of things in terms of readings and participation in programs … we definitely encourage those types of things. That's in general our approach to the whole Star Wars community. Normally, [the independent retail stores] work with the licensees; for example, bookstores can work with [our publishing partners] to get point-of-sale materials.

Playthings: What role will the Web play?

Roffman: The Web obviously is very important today as a communication and marketing device, and for us it begins with Starwars.com, which is the official site, and right now if you go there, the site has been taken over by The Clone Wars. We're also working closely with Cartoon Network and with our licensees; Hasbro and Lego both have robust Star Wars presences. And we link out to lots of other sites. There's a ton of fan sites out there that we either cooperate with or [that we] allow to promote Star Wars. We're putting together all of our plans as the TV series rolls out, but it's safe to say that we'll be making extensive and innovative use of the Web.

Playthings: Will the series to appeal to adults?

Roffman: We have high hopes that this will be like most of the other aspects of the Star Wars franchise, which is that it has an enormous breadth of appeal. George [Lucas] always says that Star Wars was aimed squarely at 12-year-olds, and it was just our good fortune—and maybe his brilliance—that it appeals from 4-year-olds to 80-year-olds. I think The Clone Wars has a similar potential. The show is vastly entertaining. The quality of the animation is extraordinary. We think there's tremendous potential there.”