Our friends over at theswca have released their latest blog article on the incredible vision and strategic oversight of two titans of the sales and marketing world, Richard Sears (Sears Wishbook amongst others) and Bernie Loomis (President of Kenner). Although Richard died long before Bernie was born, the way was paved for Star Wars toys to be readily available to children throughout North America via a series of promotions, slogans and promises.
Prior to the 1977 holiday season, executives at Kenner developed one of the most farfetched marketing ideas in the history of the toy industry, the “Star Wars Early Bird Certificate Package” campaign. Richard Sears himself would have been impressed by this now infamous marketing scheme, which was essentially an IOU tucked inside an empty cardboard envelope decorated with Star Wars characters and imagery. To sell this concept, Kenner invested in a 30-second television advertisement placed into heavy rotation during children’s programming on all the major television networks. The commercials followed a model that Kenner advertising became known for during the 1970s and 80s, which featured children demonstrating play-patterns for the “toyetic” items being marketed, as well as easily recreated environments to stimulate children’s imaginations.
Why not take some time to check out the many other articles that theswca blog has posted over the last decade.