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June 07, 2004
Goody Bag Mania
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What started as bags full of party favors after a friend’s birthday party has evolved from candy and toys into thousands of dollars worth of the hottest consumer products. Somewhere in its evolution, the goody bag has grown into a treasure chest-size tool for spreading favorable buzz about its contents.
The Frenzy
The little party “thank yous” are distributed at major award shows and other events that set a world stage for top celebrities who pioneer trends for the beauty and fashion world. Inside these exclusive bags, one can find anything from free clothes, jewelry, beauty products, gym memberships, up-and-coming electronics to exotic spa getaways. Contents may change but one thing remains certain: the bags are well thought-out to include precise items that will fit anyone’s taste and lifestyle. In the end, the bags should satisfy celebrities enough for them to show up to an event and use the products, so in return we are able to take lifestyle cues from some of the world’s most influential people. Today’s goody bag frenzy is proof of the power of association of a celebrity with a particular brand or product to its durability on the market.
Celebrity Positioning
The main purpose of involving one’s products or services in a bag is marketing or, more specifically, brand positioning. Placing an exciting and original product into the right hands at the right time gives the product’s image an instant boost as well as spreads brand awareness. The bags are viewed as an added bonus for showing up, a powerful promotion mechanism to its distributor. The bags alone generate incredible press coverage done considerably cheap, where the contents are talked about and featured throughout many entertainment media outlets such as television and magazines.
The recent trend amongst celebrities revolves around luxury products and services of which no star, high-maintenance or not, can ever have enough. Therefore, manufacturers that deal with the art of pampering and beauty are sure to grasp the organizer’s and celebrity’s interest, which can bring high-end endorsement backing for the supplier’s brand. This sudden beauty trend for goody bags is quite clear judging from the 2002 Academy Awards that held close to US$10,000 worth of beauty products in its bags to get its presenters and nominators in the mood pre-event and pampered for the post event.
High Standards
Celebrities and manufacturers such as cosmetic companies all benefit from the goody bag, whether it’s putting them together or being on the receiving end. Top-notch celebrities, also perceived as trendsetters, are sought after to maximize usage and to give a sense of validity to a manufacturer’s product or service. In the end, once news of an array of extravagant freebies spreads, you can be sure that there will be overzealous celebrities willing to attend while admirers stand by, ready to mimic. If you supply the goodies, they will come. But it doesn’t come without a price.
The gifts are getting swankier with time because a nice, full-size bag is plainly more appealing and tends to draw more attention, stirring talk and pleasing the bags’ participating manufacturers. Standards are set higher than the year before with events attempting to outdo themselves from the previous year. Event planners or special committees are responsible for strategically selecting the products and brands and then carefully positioning and presenting each bag. Karen Woods is president and founder of Backstage Creations, a company that does gifts for events such as the MTV Music Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards. In addition to creating gift baskets, the company brings corporate clients backstage at award shows and provide them an exclusive opportunity to personally introduce their products and services to the performers/presenters in a room called The Retreat. “The approval process (for a gift basket) typically begins six months ahead of the event, and we carefully select items that work together in the basket to create the perfect image for the specific event,” Woods said.
With all of these goodies, the gift bag can be quite expensive. If celebrities find themselves leaving the Oscars without a “little golden guy,” the goody bag can be a nice consolation prize. In the last couple of years, the Academy Awards has grown to be recognized as the zenith of all goody bags, priced around US$46,000 a bag this past year, having grown from US$20,000 in 2002 and US$10,000 in 2001. The event celebrates the highest honor in filmmaking; therefore, linking any products or services as “Oscar-worthy” builds much respect and weight for the brand name.
One technique widely used by companies that coordinate goody baskets is to make sure that each setting of a bag is reflective upon the culture of the brand and, in the end, coinciding with the overall theme of the event. For instance, at this past year’s Oscars, one of the top five cosmetic companies in the world placed its US$2,000 dollars worth of products into custom made T. Anthony suitcases, carrying on the event theme of elegance and chic to both brands.
Getting In
While celebrity affiliation with your product is considered a huge success for one’s brand, making it into the bag is not easy. First, there is a very selective and secretive decision process, where a product must be submitted to the committee for consideration up to six months prior to the event. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences organizes the Oscar’s goody bag, whose gifts are selected among thousands of products and services sent from manufacturers. Amongst the decision process, your product or service is usually in competition with a long list of others all willing to donate their goods to the event. The limited space of products usually allowed to be put in the bags can run anywhere from 25 to 140 items per bag, depending on the size of the event. In addition to donating products to an event, there also exists a fee that the supplier must pay in order to secure their goods. Backstage Creations fees can vary anywhere up to US$5,000 dollars for placement in their gift baskets. Another factor to consider is that the exposure or usage of the product or service placed into the bag is not always guaranteed. For last year’s Grammy and Oscar awards, a lot of manufacturers did not receive the kind of press they were hoping for due to world events that took place around both award shows. In addition, each product must match the needs of the appropriate audience attending the event as well as possess the ability to stand above its competitors in the bag. According to Woods, “We usually take the most creative products since we try to give the stars items that are unique and unusual.”
For those who participate in several award shows yearly, it becomes an enormous undertaking to provide a considerable amount of products per event. Ecco Bella Spa, whose products are based on natural ingredients and a holistic philosophy, participates in 25–30 goody bag presentations a year with donations of around 50–500 products per event. Still, most manufacturers are more than happy to play a part in the bag. “Just getting people to try our products is worth a lot to us,” explained Amy Krakow, public relations associate, Ecco Bella. “We usually get a lot of people responding who really like the products and want to know where to find them.”
While some suppliers like to undertake the large expenditure of supplying their products for several goody bags, others opt to work at a lesser amount of events and still see the potential for doing the bags as very high. Kerstin Florian, Inc., whose products and supporting treatments are specifically designed to address the face and body components as an ageless approach to natural health care, participated in just two major events last year. One affair was a spa event for the Grammys and the other the Oscars Presenter basket, where Kerstin donated around 150 gifts to each event, retailing from about US$65–250.
Publicists usually help manufacturers by following up with the celebrities on the usage of the products or services. These follow-ups are then securely placed in consumer magazines that spread the newfound discovery between the celebrity and product onto their readers. Paul Reader, public relations associate for In-Style Magazine, recognizes that the publication is devoted to giving credit to every celebrity and their purchases. Reader said, “We’re all about service; therefore, we are capable of providing the name of the stores, their location and phone numbers where celebrities purchase their products so our readers can live the type of lifestyle that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck lead.”
Companies that give manufacturers a helping hand so their products gain association with high-profile talent include:
Distinctive Assets
913 S Mansfield Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-549-0444
info@distinctiveassets.com
www.distinctiveassets.com
Karen Wood
Backstage Creations
2621 Fifth Street #8
Santa Monica, CA 90405
310-396-7807, fax 310-362-8961
karen@backstagecreations.com
www.backstagecreations.com
In the bag
10805 Lindbrook Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310 234-9990, fax 310 443-1973
info@inthebag.tv
www.inthebag.tv
Mindy’s, Inc.
7020 Hayvenhurst Ave #G
Van Nuys, Calif. 91406
888-475-0323
www.mindysgiftbaskets.com
BIO
Pierce Mattie is president and founder of Pierce Mattie Public Relations, Inc., a leading public relations organization for the beauty, health and fitness industries in North America.