Back from the Dead

Two marketing events struck an emotional chord with me this week. Many brands die, day in and day out, but just as many get pulled out of the brand deathbed and are brought back to life. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the beer, wine and spirits category. College students across the country are probably rejoicing at the news about the $10 Million revitalization effort for Genesee Cream Ale. I don't know about you, but I know lots of people, including myself, who enjoyed Genny Creams in their college years. Ah yes, the glory years for me and Genesee Beer. Why? Because, it was cheap! Genesee Cream Ale owned the college crowd. In recent years, that position was usurped by Pabst. PBR's were the brand of choice for the college set. In fact, Pabst rode many years of sales growth based on the nostalgia craze. It was the ultimate fad brand. Ten million dollars buys a lot of visibility, but can Genesee Cream Ale accomplish the same results?

The private equity money of KPS Capital Partners is betting that this can happen. They hope to do the same with Labatt's. Labatt's Blue, or as it's sometimes referred to, Blue LaBatt's, is the ultimate niche beer. It has never really found a place of strength in the beer category. Labatt's isn't a dead brand; it's only on life support. KPS Capital Partners formed North American Breweries when it purchased these two venerable brands. They gain efficiencies by combining the marketing and sales teams. There's a lot to work with - two venerable brands that have lost their way, yet have appeal and a personal connection from the past. The trick is to turn those attributes into engagement.

The entertainment industry is famous for bringing old television shows out of the brand graveyard. This week CBS announced plans to do a remake of Hawaii Five-O. Right now, I'm sure you can hear the Five-O theme song by the Ventures humming in your mind. A TV show brand remake is often a very bad idea. Think Saved by the Bell, The College Years; Return of the Munsters; all the Brady Bunch sequels and too many others to mention. Hawaii Five-O was a classic. Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett, the stoic head of Five-O, along with his cohorts Danny, Chin Ho and Kono. How can you recast this cast? These characters are indelibly etched in your mind as is the famous McGarrett line, "Book'em, Dano, murder one." What was great once often isn't as compelling the second time around.

In reading various reports, there were a number of different comments from people about who they'd cast in the remake. The one that piqued my interest was Tom Selleck as Steve McGarrett. He's perfect. He's synonymous with Hawaii based on his years as Magnum on Magnum P.I.; which was, incidentally, set in Hawaii. It's hard to replicate success. Although a new Hawaii Five-O might work. It fits into the CBS lineup of hour-long, crime based dramas and has a tremendous amount of residual halo from being on the air close to 20 years. The problem is the audience demo that watched the original show is getting on in years. I know that firsthand!

Hawaii Five-O isn't the only potential remake in the works. Warner Brothers and TNT are working on a remake of Dallas, the show that owned television ratings in the late '70's and early '80's. The trials and tribulations of the Ewing clan led by the villainous J. R. Ewing. Who could be cast to play J. R. Ewing? Larry Hagman was a classic in the role. Could the show be made relevant to a younger generation? What appeared to be risqué television in the '80's now is child's play in 2009. Conjuring up images of what the Dallas series would be like in today's era leaves much to the imagination. It was a good once, but can it be good again? That's what both Hawaii Five-O and Dallas face with a brand redo. Finding relevancy in an audience niche in fractured television viewing patterns is a tall task.

If bringing back J. R. Ewing is not enough to whet your appetite for financial pillage and plundering, Oliver Stone's remake of Wall Street, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, is on its way. Michael Douglas is back as Gordon Gekko and better than ever. Set 20 years after the original, around the 2008 stock market crash, it is planned for an April 2010 release. No, Charlie Sheen and his Bud Fox character will not be in the Wall Street remake, which is probably a good thing because he's so closely associated as Charlie Harper on Two and a Half Men. Wall Street is a classic movie that still stands up, aside from the outdated computer monitors. That's one brand redo that I'm really looking forward to. Is greed still good? We'll have to wait
and see.

Give me your thoughts and ideas on who you might cast for the characters on Dallas and Hawaii Five-O. It makes for interesting conversation. I like Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Danny Williams.