January 2, 2002

-an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal

Dracula, Prince of ... Marketing?

America has found a new marketing superstar who comes from a very unexpected place, Transylvania.  All of a sudden Dracula, the bloody count, has become a one-vampire phenomenon in the marketplace.

Over the last two years, the classic English B-movie studio Hammer Films has been busily reissuing their old catalogue of horror films in the DVD format.  Baby Boomers recapturing the thrills and chills of childhood Saturday night monster movies have snapped up the films in huge numbers.  The best sellers are, of course, Hammer's trademark "Dracula" films starring Christopher Lee.  Over twelve "Dracula" films were made starring the venerable Mr. Lee, and fright fests like "Dracula:  Prince of Darkness," "The Horror of Dracula," and "Dracula Has Risen From the Grave" have risen to the top of DVD sales charts. 

Given this rather unexpected success, Hammer has reached even further back into the vaults to reissue lesser known classics such as "The Scars of Dracula," "The Satanic Rites of Dracula," and "Taste the Blood of Dracula."  With aging Boomers seemingly insatiable for all things Dracula, it was no surprise that Hammer in association with Sony Pictures has brought back Mr. Lee as the indestructible king of bloodsuckers in a new direct-to-DVD feature "Lick the Bloody Stump of Dracula."  Although lambasted by the critics, it has sold astonishingly well.

 "The Dracula brand is so strong among the Boomers that it is breeding new marketing opportunities," says Leonard Gustarverfesterson, Editor-in-Chief of "Marketing Now Quarterly."  "New products trading on the eight-hundred-year-old count's resurgent popularity are being very well received and are quite profitable."

"Work the Abs of Dracula," a self-help/fitness video featuring the remarkably fit Mr. Lee has been a surprise crossover hit with senior citizens as well.  It features the Count in workout togs exercising to up-tempo oldies in an eerie, fog-shrouded graveyard setting accompanied by energetic, scantily clad "Brides of Dracula."  Though coming from out of left field, its success does not surprise Mr. Gustarverfesterson.  "Aging Boomers see Dracula as not only a beloved figure from their childhood but also as a timeless model of suave continental style and eternal youthfulness.  These are qualities that the target audience greatly values."

An additional new line of home CD-ROM software will roll out this spring beginning with "Manage the Assets of Dracula."  Using a Windows based software system, Dracula emerges from his massive sarcophagus and leads an interactive tour of his crypt which features stock, bond, money market, and real estate accounts.  Then the Bloody Count introduces his undead accountant, Count Myron Robinowitz, who then guides the user through a program of tips and guidelines for both income and equity based long term financial planning.

Surprisingly, crossover into the adolescent and youth markets has also occurred.  "Down With the Count," an IBOX and Playstation compatible videogame features a street-smart, gangsta hip-hop Dracula stalking victims in the "Hood as well as busting out in break dancing and rap vignettes.  With an eye towards the pre-school market, Hammer Studios will soon introduce "Little Suckers," a Saturday morning cartoon series...

...and then I woke up.