LOS ANGELES – Eat, pray, love, shop?
There are plenty of opportunities to plumb the depths of your pocketbook, if not your soul, when the anticipated adaptation of the best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love hits theaters next Friday.
Look for candles and moisturizing creams; jewelry, book marks and tote bags; a branded digital reader pre-loaded with the book; a Republic of Tea blend; a line of designer clothing by Sue Wong; and a weekend special on HSN filled with products pegged to the movie, including prayer beads, scarves and hundreds of other items from the countries the storys main character visits on her quest for self.
Eat, Pray, Love follows author Elizabeth Gilbert, a 30-something magazine writer trying to escape an unsatisfying marriage and rediscover an excitement for life. The film is directed by Glees Ryan Murphy and stars Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, James Franco, Richard Jenkins and Billy Crudup.
Adapting such a popular book – especially with women – into a star-studded film makes it the ideal marketing opportunity for dozens of products, says Ryan Schinman, chief of Platinum Rye, an entertainment marketing company not working with Eat, Pray, Love.
Eat, Pray, Love is a brand, he notes, so products that partner with the film become associated with a beloved book as well as the movie stars who tell the story on screen.
It doesnt have to be a Marvel or Disney film to have different products, he says. The entire point of these tie-ins is for brand awareness or to sell more product, and that applies both to the partnering brands and the film itself.
Another bonus is that each licensed product helps advertise the movie, potentially offsetting the studios promotional costs. Plus, big-budget, highly anticipated films such as EPL often come out during key seasons, like Christmas and back to school.
Creating a collection of Eat, Pray, Love jewelry, tote bags and bookmarks was a totally natural fit for Dogeared Jewels & Gifts, says founder Marcia Maizel-Clarke.
We love being associated with something thats so powerful, like the journey of this woman who found out who she was, Maizel-Clarke says. The brand awareness for us is going to be great.
HSN developed 72 hours of programming (which begins airing today) to showcase its Eat, Pray, Love-related products. The network never aligned itself with a film before, but this lines up with our core audience, which are women, chief executive Mindy Grossman says.
Its really about finding the perfect marriages that work, Schinman says. If you want to help sales and get more viewership, film is a terrific way to do it.