NEW YORK — HBO scored a success with “The Penguin,” the spin-off of the 2022 film “The Batman” that stars Colin Farrell because the titular gangster. The show notched 5.3 million viewers during its opening week and has since been viewed by 12.5 million people across platforms, making it a large platform for brand partner Jefferson’s Bourbon.
“I’m an enormous believer in partnerships,” said Laura Galietta, executive vp and head of name strategy and solutions at Warner Bros. Discovery, during a panel at Advertising Week New York. “The best partnerships are those that elevate each brands, and where you discover the ethos and connection between the 2 that makes each properties sing.”
The partnership kicked off in July at San Diego Comic-Con, which featured a recreation of the Penguin’s lair, the Iceberg Lounge, that served exclusive Jefferson’s cocktails. Last month, the brands got here together for an invite-only, influencer-heavy dinner at celeb-favorite Emilio’s Ballato in New York. When “The Penguin” debuted on Sept. 19, Jefferson’s was featured in a custom title sponsorship.
Jefferson’s Bourbon was founded in 1997 and joined the Pernod Ricard portfolio in 2019 after its acquisition of parent company Castle Brands. Despite its wealthy tradition, the precise requirements for a spirit to be classified as a bourbon results in a scarcity of name distinction and a “sea of sameness” in the category, explained Jenny Hermanson, senior director of omnimedia strategy at Pernod Ricard.
“We wanted to search out a partner and a possibility to inform our brand story in an unexpected way, and I believe ‘The Penguin’ presented such an incredible opportunity for us since the story was very akin [to ours] in that it was all concerning the unconventional rise and character of [Oz “The Penguin” Cobb],” Hermanson said in the course of the panel.
“The Penguin” is a crime drama set in the world of Gotham City established in probably the most recent “Batman” film. At first glance, a dark and violent show a couple of comic-book gangster won’t appear to be an appropriate fit for a bourbon brand, but that wasn’t the case for Jefferson’s.
“Our brand is born from a really untraditional aging processes — certainly one of our SKUs is aged out at sea — and so we desired to tell that distinct story,” Hermanson said. “We desired to give attention to the backstory of our brand, much like what the show is about, the backstory of Penguin.”
Life cycle of a partnership
Warner Bros. Discovery takes a thoughtful approach to partnerships on HBO and Max on account of the premium positioning of the platform and content and the intentional nature of streaming in which consumers vote with attention and time, explained Ryan Gould, head of digital ad sales at Warner Bros. Discovery.
“As projects go from development to get greenlit, our team gets read into the creative ethos and storyline,” Gould said. “We understand the standard of the content, we understand the storyline and the character of the content, after which we start to construct a prospect list of the brands that we would like to exit and partner with.”
For Warner Bros. Discovery, the life cycle of IP doesn’t start the day of premiere and end with the finale, hence why the Jefferson’s partnership began two months before “The Penguin” debuted. The show immediately put up strong viewership numbers and has continued to grow momentum, due in some part to the real-life activations, influencer engagement, social and paid media.
“We’re moving away from a world that is just put in one ad in a spot, or simply a logo. Fans expect greater than that. If you possibly can do it right, the worth for everyone seems to be immense,” Gould said.
Driving culture
Brands that partner with Warner Bros. Discovery not only work with Galietta’s brand strategy and solutions team, but a bunch inside that team called Courageous Studios. The in-house brand studio helps create additional branded content, like a long-form video that plays before episodes of “The Penguin” that captures the world and variety of the show through animation.
“We wanted to keep up the integrity of our brand message, but we also saw value in the show, and we desired to stay true and authentic to the show,” Hermanson said. “We weren’t just attempting to insert the brand simply because it was going to be a trending show — there needed to be a worth exchange there.”
Partnerships just like the one with Jefferson’s allow Warner Bros. Discovery to flex its marketing muscle without diluting the facility of its ad platforms or the equity of brands like HBO, a network whose IP has claimed a distinguished role in popular culture for about 4 a long time.
“The easy thing for us to do as an organization could be to have significantly high ad loads and sell into these assets through multiple creatives that break every seven to 12 minutes,” Gould said. “We do not believe that is a long-term viable option for IP that, quite frankly, drives culture.”
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