Skoal Urban Cowboy

Skoal Urban Cowboy

This marketing report for U.S. Tobacco (now called U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, or USST) is a plan to recruit new dippers for Skoal brand smokeless tobacco by linking the brand to movie stars John Travolta and Charlie Daniels in the popular 1980 movie "Urban Cowboy." The conclusion of the plan states:

"In the same way that Travolta's film Saturday Night Fever touched off the worldwide disco craze, we can anticipate that Urban Cowboy will greatly expand the love affair that America has had with cowboys. Since smokeless tobacco has always been associated with cowboys, and a lot of young people will want to emulate their hero, the opportunity to promote the use of Skoal through the tie-in promotion program is extremely positive, since more people who have seen the film will be receptive to the Skoal message. The first objective is therefore to get as many people as possible to see the film and assure that they know the product used by Travolta is Skoal.  The second objective is getting the target audience to try dipping themselves."

Note: This document was available online for only a short time several years ago, and was then pulled from the Internet. However, the text of the document was captured during that time, and it is reprinted below ---

THE SKOAL URBAN COWBOY PROMOTION AMI - AXIOM MARKETING INC.

OBJECTIVE

1) To capitalize on the enormous publicity regarding the lifestyle of the contemporary urban cowboy the movie will generate.

2) In particular, to capitalize on the use of Skoal by John Travolta in the film. An activity that can be expected to be evaluated by all the would be urban cowboys who will regard everything their hero does as being the "in" thing to do.

3) To capitalize on Charlie Daniel's appearance in the film, which adds more credibility to his role as a spokesman for Skoal.

4) To develop a national advertising/promotion program with maximum visibility and top-of-mind awareness as the smokeless tobacco used in the film, and by the urban cowboys the film portrays.

BACKGROUND

There are many advantages to developing advertising/sales promotion programs which tie in with a major motion picture. They are: piggybacking on the tremendous advertising and promotion generated by the studio, the association of your product with a big name star and taking advantage of that association through your own tie-in program. The one drawback is that you are not in a position to be as creative as you should be, since all promotional materials and ideas must be submitted to the studio for prior approval and cannot conflict with their own advertising, promotion or licensing programs. Also, studios are notorious for being extremely late in developing their own advertising or promotion plans....

RECOMMENDATION

We recommend that every effort be made to entice young-adults to see the film which then sets the stage for a stronger promotion to communicate the idea of dipping and increase the sale of Skoal. It is our understanding that Skoal will be able to use John Travolta's likeness in promotiong the tie-in with Urban Cowboy.

Paramount has intimated they prefer to see a promotion centering around John Travoltal Urban Cowboy, with secondary attention being given to Charlie Daniels. By doing this we can anticipate much greater cooperation and assistance from Paramount on both a national and local level.

NATIONAL PROMOTION

We suggest the development of a national contest revolving around a choice of questions which must be answered by the entrant which will require seeing the film. Entrants will be requested to include a portion of the band from any one of the U.S. Tobacco smokeless tobaccos or reasonable facsimile. The suggested prizes are as follows: First Prize Category -- The winner and three friends are flown to Houston, to see Gilly's, the bar at which most of the movie takes place. Prize to include transportation, spending money etc. The winner and three friends go to the best known rodeo in American, etc.

The winner and a friend are flown to Hollywood to meet John Travolta, sight see, take studio tours, etc. The winner and three friends fly out to a Charlie Daniels concert. Includes tickets, VIP treatment, sound track album, singles and a complete Charlie Daniels record collection.

Second Prizes: A complete Urban Cowboy outfit. Charlie Daniels record collections. Third Prizes Urban Cowboy soundtrack albums Urban Cowboy/Skoal Premiums T-Shirts, Belt-Buckle, Puzzle

Third Prizes: Urban Cowboy soundtrack albums, Urban Cowboy/ Skoal Premiums, T-shirts, Belt Buckle, Puzzle.

MEDIA SUPPORT

The use of national print media is recommended for the introduction of the promotion. Elements to include - see the film, enter the Skoal/Urban Cowboy contest, buy the self-liquidators, special offer to try the product.

NATIONAL P.O.P. [Point of Purchase] SUPPORT

To obtain longer term visibility and enhanced association with the film the use of a colorful P.O.P. piece and a take one is recommended. The take one pamphlet should include the Charlie Daniels guide to dipping, the entry form, contest rules and the self-liquidating primium offer.

RETAIL ACCOUNT PARTICIPATION

In order to encourage retailers to provide primary visibility for the P.O.P. material it is recommended that space be left in the entry form to include the retailer's name. The winnimg entrants retailer will then be entitled to receive a separate set of prizes. A similar contest can be developed for U.S. Tobacco and distributor salesmen.

LOCAL PROMOTIONS

The key to local promotions relate to the use of radio spots in key target markets where Skoal has strong distribution or wants to use the promotion to strengthen its market penetration. We recommend using Charlie Daniels as the spokesman and creating special spots to promote the film tie-in and the national contest. We can negotiate special promotions in each market whereby the radio station will promote, at its expense, a local contest with special prizes for the winners. Aside from free tickets to a private screening, which can be awarded to the public, local salesmen and retailers, Charlie Daniels records, free cans of Skoal, one major prize will be necessary. We recommend a free trip to the Charlie Daniels concert closest to that area when he finalizes his next tour.

THEATRE HANDOUTS

We recommend the development of a 17"x22" handout which folds down to 8½"xll" for distribution to movie goers as they leave the theatre. The contents to include: still pictures taken during production of the film; some background on the film and the characters portrayed in it; the art of dipping by Charlie Daniels; special Skoal offer or cents off coupon; self-liquidating premium offer, and a full page, 4-color Skoal/Urban Cowboy ad...

PARAMOUNT PICTURES PARTICIPATION

At this time, we understand that no national product tie-in promotions are contemplated for Urban Cowboy, based on John Travolta's refection of all ideas submitted thus far. Preliminary information coming back from Paramount indicates that John has no objections to a Skoal/Urban Cowboy promotion, pending submission of the advertising/promotion program which Travolta, his agents, and Parmmount must approve. Assuming that all necessary approvals will be forthcoming, Paramount has indicated they can offer the assistance of their field force...

CONCLUSION

The opportunity to tie-in with a film whose primary audience will be young-adults in the 18-30 year old category, with the heaviest concentration in the 18-24 year old category, provides U.S. Tobacco with an unusual opportunity to promote the use of Skoal smokeless tobacco. In the same way that Travolta's film Saturday Night Fever touched off the worldwide disco craze, we can anticipate that Urban Cowboy will greatly expand the love affair that America has had with cowboys. Since smokeless tobacco has always been associated with cowboys, and a lot of young people will want to emulate their hero, the opportunity to promote the use of Skoal through the tie-in promotion program is extremely positive, since more people who have seen the film will be receptive to the Skoal message. The first objective is therefore to get as many people as possible to see the film and assure that they know the product used by Travolta is Skoal. The second objective is getting the target audience to try dipping themselves.

Title: Skoal Urban Cowboy Document Date: 1980 (est) Length: 11 pages Bates No. UST 2757987-2757997 URL: No longer available on the Internet

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