I AM IN THE FUTURE, WHERE IS MY HOVER BOARD?

The future is here. Marty Mcfly arrived on the 21st of October 2015 and decided to hop on a hover board in his powered laced Nikes. We still have 9 months left in the year for people to fulfil their Marty Mcfly fantasies (imagine the convenience of powered laces?), fantasies built on clever product placements throughout the movie.

In 2011, Nike teased the world with the release the first iteration of Nike Mags, a replica of the infamous shoe that had sneaker heads drooling since 1985, designed by non-other than the original designer himself Tinker Hatfield. The small difference? The laces were not powered. Fast forward four years and Nike have confirmed the release of the next iteration of the Nike Mag with patented powered laces. The appeal and demand of the shoes goes beyond just standard kicks, the shoes emotionally connect with cult followers of the popular movie. And therein lies the opportunities for the companies involved in the movie. Are any of the other companies following in Nike’s footsteps? (See what I did there?)

Redditors pointed out that PepsiCo has an opportunity to make a significant return if they were to release futuristic shaped bottles similar to the ones in the movie, if released to the market in 2015. A google search for the terms “reddit”,”pepsi” and “back to the future” indicates the popularity of the idea, and the impact of product placement in movies with a cult following. Pizza hut? Why not rebrand their logo on the day to reflect packaging from the movie and re-release the killer solar shades for each pizza bought on the 21st of October? They’ll go like no tomorrow. (I kid you not, this was Pizza Hut’s slogan)

2015 will be the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future II, and involved in the film can potentially reap in returns from an investment made back in 1985.  But did the executives see this coming? Return on Investment in the marketing industry is already hard to define, so how can we quantify intangible benefits of product placement from nearly 3 decades ago? Did the executives knowingly let these ideas grow over 30 years, ready to pounce now? Or are they surprised about the popularity and demand for the products, and are now scrambling with their R&D teams to maximise on these unanticipated opportunities? What we do know is that demand for these products has steadily gained momentum, and 2015 will be the boiling point. Will the companies cash in, or let the opportunity slip? Given the consumers have been waiting for the past 30 years to get their hands on these products, it should be a no brainer!

I know I’ve been waiting for the new Nike Mags. Maybe the hover board too.

Someone please invent a hover board.

Please.

 

Written by Duc Ho, Quantitative Analyst

For further information on THINK Global Research, please contact Kristy Ihle (Managing Director): info@thinkglobalresearch.com.

 

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